To ask which school you'd choose?

Hi OP,

Are they both state schools? Do they have similar year 6 outcomes?

If yes to both these questions, I'd choose school 1.

Main reason is that school 2 will also have Religious Education as part of their curriculum. School 2 you said also has less funding, less facilities and less outside space. And I think you said in one of your posts that if you picked school 2, your DH wouldn't be able to work full time? A parent not being able to work full time, if they usually would, in order to do the school run when there's a closer and arguably much better school would be massive.

What is your gut telling you?

My children are at something that sounds very like your school 1. We love the school and are a very scientific household.

My husband has similar misgivings initially but the religion part is much more low key than I think it sounds (yes they say a thank you prayer for how lucky they are and a please look after everyone every morning/afternoon - but it’s sweet rather than super Catholic).

They are good a dealing with poor behaviour and are very hot on values which align with ours - kindness, looking after others, charity, trust etc and therefore there is much less bullying. They are quite strict generally and on uniform compared with others but I think that is what leads to such outstandIng ratings and a very happy school.

We had a similar choice to make, although the Catholic school wasn't as good as what you describe! But it had more options for music, science etc, smaller classes and better academic results.
The state school has the forest club and more space.

Ultimately we based it on the social aspect for us and the kids. Although the Catholic school is a bit closer and more convenient to us, all the neighbourhood kids will be going to the state school. We are not religious (although I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school), so thought we would struggle a bit more to integrate to the school life.

The other point for us was the state school is oversubscribed, and the Catholic schools are unsubscribed. So if for whatever reason we don't like the school, we can always change our mind and transfer to the Catholic one in later years. We can't transfer the other way around.

If your child isn't doing first communion/doesn't attend a Catholic church he won't be doing confessions. They will just mean that the catholic children can do their first holy communion preparation through school.

School one, without a doubt. Logistics trumps most other things tbh. You have to think about the fact you've got to do this school run for 7 years in rain, wind, cold etc. A 25 minute walk there and back twice a day plus all the waiting around in between really does add up. If you go to the local school, they'll be able to walk home no problem in years 5 and 6 then you'll have no school run to do at all. I'm currently doing a 4 mile drive to primary as we moved house and didn't want to unsettle the kids who were happy where they were, trust me, it's a bind. Plus it sounds like the swimming pool alone will save you hundreds in no swimming lessons etc

School 1 obviously. The Catholic religion doesn't deny the presence of space or science.....

What are your options for secondary locally and would a catholic feeder give you any advantage? I say this only because I’m finding that a lot of children seem to find Catholicism around year 4 locally to us to try and get into the outstanding catholic secondary school. We will go private (hopefully) but it is something we’d have had to consider ourselves if we hadn’t been in a position to do so as the catholic school is head and shoulders above our catchment secondary.

My children have been at a cofe primary school that is more religious than I’d have liked. I don’t particularly like some of the Old Testament things that have been taught and I’ve had to do a bit of reinforcing at home that the world wasn’t made in 7 days. They are taught properly in science but I think some of the religious content is not as scrutinised as it should be.

School 1, but consider high school. If the local RC is hugely oversubscribed will your dc need to be baptised and make FHC etc to get in? If you're not prepared to that would they be seperated from all their friends at 11?

I'd choose school 2. We vetoed all faith schools when looking for our kids - made it easier when moving house tbh as there were villages we were able to dismiss because the local school was CofE.

I'm assuming you're looking at primary schools, if so it's also worth taking into consideration which secondaries they feed into, and whether that sways you more in one direction or another.

If they were equidistance, school 2.
But the distance is really important. So school 1.

From someone with large age gaps who has been doing the school run for over 25yrs, go for the closest school.

We’re similarly conflicted though one is a well funded outstanding church of England school with great facilities but 60 sharing a room in reception and the second is a small school with very small class sizes of between 15-20 each year but has a great philosophy of religion class teaching about all world religions. Both do well academically and we got great vibes from both.

I went to a catholic school for primary (had a few nuns teaching me different years) and by 12 was questioning the existence of God etc so I really don’t think it shapes you for life if you’re an independent thinker - also your home environment has an impact. I do remember loving the bible stories that emphasised being kind to each other and thinking of the impact your actions have on others. At primary they don’t really go into the bigger issues, it’s all just nice stories and songs really. I actually think the bible stories are a good way to teach empathy to kids. My partner did not go to a religious school so is terrified of the first school indoctrinating our 4 year old. I would likely teach my kid independently about other world religions at home.

They both sound nice. With school 1 it depends on the religion/denomination, as with c of e schools religion tends to be less full on than catholic schools for example.

I would normally say non religious over Catholic but logistically it sounds like School 1 is better.

I'm not sure if you are baptised a Catholic but if not they do tend to do an awful lot of prayers at a Catholic primary. Confessions seems too much to me at that age as a non Catholic. Does the local priest also have a regular presence. I know a school where all the children had to put their hands up in assembly if they hadn't attended church. I just thought it so wrong as it was up to the parents if they went or not and shouldn't be shamed in school for not attending.
Have you noticed much difference with behaviour and discipline between the two schools. I would think that walk into town would get too much in bad weather and with another to get to Nursery. It's a pity there isn't another school in between!

School 1 by a long shot.
Do not drag your 1year old on 2 hours of school runs a day. It will be hell in winter

School 1. Of course going to a Catholic school won't interfere with your child's critical thinking skills 🙄(and it makes your husband sound a bit dim that he thinks it will, ironically)

School 1. We send our kids to a RC secondary school as it’s much better than the local comp and we haven’t had any problems with the small amount of religious education they do there.

If you’re baptised Catholic then go with school 1, it’ll be great. The trip to the other school sounds really stressful!

Send him to the closer school and you can pray thanks that you don't have to do a 25 minute walk to school and back every day!

Also as someone who works in a primary school - I wouldn’t be put off by a stern teacher. Some of the best teachers I know are ‘stern’ and it means your children will get a brilliant education

School 1 for sure instinctively.

depends if the religion thing bothers you enough to walk the extra distance every morning and evening.

Based on the kids you got to interact with - school 2 but the distance is a little offputting

School 1