Twins want to go to different secondary schools

Make a point of explaining the wish on the CAF, as otherwise, most schools will offer places to both because they're twins.

I would send them to the same school. Whichever one I wanted them to go to. I don’t believe kids of that age should get to choose. I am mum. I know what’s best. I also would want an easier life. Life is hard enough. You will have so many different events. Different concerts/ sports events etc. My kids are going to end up at different school because our local schools are seperate boys and girls schools. But gosh if I could sent them to the same school and I was happy with it I would.

What you don't explain is why any of these things would present a particular issue?

@Bookish88 it's additional unnecessary time and faff I wouldn't care to deal with for 5 years.

Maybe if you just have the two dc or you're a SAHP or just have a lot of spare time in general it wouldn't be an issue. For me the issue would be time and headspace.

If you don't agree that the things I've listed need some degree of time and headspace dedicated to them, which you'd be unnecessarily doubling up on by having two schools, then let's ageww to disagree.

I'm not sure you've specifically said but I guess they're happy to be in different schools? One isn't going to be leaning on the other to change preferences?

I want to say I'd encourage them to make their own choices (assuming all schools are broadly equal) but you need to have really really really considered the logistics. What if the weather is really shit and they're bot nagging you for a lift? Is one on the way to your work and one not, so you might end up giving one a lift more than the other? Driving to friends, parties and events at weekends? So much to consider.

If one is a dedicated school bus how are they going to get to friends at weekends and in the holidays?

I've got 2 at the same secondary and while some things are easier some are harder too. We went to an evening for higher education options and the kids could pick 3 sessions from a list of 8 that interested them. Mine picked completely different things and I could only go to half of them. Dh works shifts so parents evenings are also a nightmare trying to get round 6 different teachers x 2 on the same night. So maybe those things being on different nights in different schools would actually be easier? Although the same night in different schools would be even worse.

What are DT2's reasons for preferring D over A? Does DT2 want to go to a different school to DT1? Or just genuinely prefers B & D to A?

I think I'd be talking to DT2 and making a list of the pros and cons of D and A before deciding which to put second and which to put third. Of course the local authority will choose in the end so DT2 might end up with A but will feel differently about it if they felt forced into putting A second and D third. However, I would want to be convinced that D was genuinely a better choice than A before agreeing to put it second. I think ideally it would be a shared decision but at the end of the day, you're the parent and DT2 is only 10.

For DT2 will you be relying on the school bus to bring them home after school?

If this is the case, they may never be able to do any after school clubs or you will have to collect them.

You need to make this clear to DT2

What you don't explain is why any of these things would present a particular issue? For example, the collections. Are you actually suggesting that if both twins attended the same school you'd recommend only sending one with money on non-uniform day? And if not, what does it matter?

Likewise, who cares if the PTA is active or not. How does having twins at different schools make that any more OPs concern than if they were at the same school?

Unless there are vast differences between the schools I would encourage them to attend the same one.

I have just had 6 years of my DC never attending the same primary school and the amount of extra faff and bandwidth shouldn't be underestimated
Different inset days
Different IT systems
Different PTAs
Different communications
Different uniform
Different feature weeks
2 summer fetes
2 parents evenings
2 winter fairs........

The list goes on and it's an absolute ball ache.

It will be worse at secondary school due to the extra curricular clubs and the number of different subjects and homework. What if they both have an after-school activity on the same night? How are they going to get home?

How about friendship groups? Sounds like you will be ferrying around a lot, particularly for school B.

My strong advice is that they should go to the same school, probably school A, unless they are can get themselves to school and back independently - it won't help with the admin shit but logistics is a huge headache.

Twins near us put down different preferences last academic year, they both got allocated the same school, the one nearest to us that was first choice for one but not the other, the council said this was because there policy was to place twins in same school. Parents appealed, I’m not sure exactly what happened but they are now in the different schools they wanted initially

@UsingChangeofName I have two dc currently in secondary school. I'm not talking as the parent of a toddler with only a vague notion of what secondary entails.

Collections - various. Foodbanks, harvest collections, Amazon add on, bring a quid for non uniform, more I cant think of.

Xmas fayre dates, concerts, award nights, sports festivals.

Dinner money systems, messaging systems, Inset dates. And yes rules and policies are for dc to be aware of but parents need oversight and input (in our school anyway).

Just lots of general stuff.

Our PTA are very active and raise a small fortune for the school so it's not unusual in our school.

Personally I'd not even consider sending two dc to different schools. But then I wouldn't allow a 10/11 year old to decide which school they attend full stop tbh so the ops situation isn't one I'd have faced.

I'm unsure why you would be bothered if they were at different schools. I'd definitely want to be at a different school to my twin simply so I'm not viewed as half a pair.
As long as there's no huge reason why their preferences wouldn't work I'd let them chose. Spell out the risks associated with chosing specific schools though so they make informed decisions.
BTW my granddaughter didn't get into her chosen schoolwith all her friends. Within a few days she had started to make new ones.

I'd let them have their choices, unless A is much better than D in which case I'd put my foot down about the order of D and A.

I think they get free choice of all the good schools, but they don't get to choose a bad school over a good one.

If you force your second choice it means dt1 gets first choice and dt2 gets third choice. That would have annoyed me.

I would tell them that they have to be prepare that you aren’t choosing a school, only a preference and it’s down to the council what you get. Then say they can pick which school you put as first choice but both need to realise it’s probably going to be A or B distance wise. I’d put the other as option 2.

stress there’s a good chance both will end up with A or both with B.

My twins are at separate secondary schools and it's worked fine for us. They do travel on the same school bus which is a little easier on the logistics. Generally we don't get clashes between the schools. They're linked schools in theory (single sex) but in practice there's no real connection.

Parents evenings etc are easier to arrange, we had several issues in primary when they were in the same class. The only clash I can think of was getting their GCSE results but we worked around that.

Check the term dates of the respective schools. I wouldn't want them to be going to schools that had different holiday dates as that may scupper family holidays

For twins I think it's important for them to develop their own lives away from their twin, so I'd be happy with their choices if they're able to get there themselves and if the schools are decent.

Not really fair to tell one their choice is fine but to make the other change.

It's about more than just the pure logistics of getting there and back. Double the dates for all school things.

Like what ? There just aren't that many things that parents need to attend at secondary school

Two lots of collections
What do you mean ? Monetary collections, or do you mean picking them up from school ? I mean, I can't see why there would be any monetary collections, but if there were, then two pupils will mean two amounts, or, if you mean picking them up occasionally after a late practice or something, then the odds are they wouldn't both be at the same practice anyway.

and PTAs

Quite unusual for there to be particularly active PTAs at secondary - but even if there were, in the very unlikely event at both schools, then there is no compulsion to be part of it

and parent evenings

I would consider it MUCH easier to try to see one dc's teachers one night, and the other on a separate night (likely if at different schools) than trying to meet the impossible task of trying to get round both sets of dcs' teachers during one (usually very time limited) parents' evening. That would count as a reason for it being better to be a different schools, to me.

and all the rest. Different shops for uniform?

Round here, there is one shop that sells uniform for all the secondary schools. Others that sell generic stuff like grey trousers and white shirts, but you aren't exactly going out and buying blazers that often, even if you lived in a place where different schools meant you had to go to different shops.

Two sets of school rules and systems and all the rest

but that is for the pupils to be aware of / manage, not the pupils.