We live in Surrey. We moved from a mid sized house in a town to a large one in a village which is lovely… but we are now faced with a secondary school dilemma. Most kids on our road are at at private school. It’s a bit of a dead zone for state secondary.
We are high earners but mortgage, house renovation costs and childcare swallow up a high chunk of our income. Usual story!
We are in catchment for a Good secondary. But most people say “o yes, I think that has improved” because it “required improvement” for a very long time. We viewed it and it was just ok. Head clearly doing her best … and worryingly strong on discipline.
We could move back into the nearby town to be in catchment for an outstanding state secondary (the catchment is less than 1km and comparable houses start at around £1.3). I viewed it and it was clearly better, although more of a music/drama focus than sport. (Our son loves doing a different sport every day at their large outstanding primary.)
Or we could downsize/stretch ourselves and go private… but we have three kids. Right now the sums wouldn’t add up. We’d be paying double fees for 7 years and triple for one! And my husband and I were both state educated in the Grammar system so the private world is totally new to us. Is it worth it?
My husband is reluctant to move - of course. But I see it as a move costing £200k vs private school fees of £500k. Maybe that is too simplistic.
Help!