Having a bit of a dilemma and wonder how many people here put the quality of education first before any other consideration.
I have an opportunity to send my DD to the best school in town - not catchment but I teach there. It is a very strict free school (silent corridors, dedicated reading time, calm atmosphere, disruption dealt with super efficiently). I strongly believe the school is great and serves it's purpose of educating kids well, particularly from a very deprived area (inner city).
My DD would receive great education in a disruption free environment. There are some negatives however
- school day ends late-4pm for all students and I would not let her come back on her own in the first two years. We walk/cycle through a rather rough patch of the city and my DD is tiny. This means she would have to wait for me often till punishing 5pm.
- sports facilities are awful, only a tiny courtyard to use. No real pitches, etc and my DD loves football and other sports
- when she makes new friends, they will all live far- I will end up driving her around
- very academic, so only traditional subjects to choose for GCSE
-i may end up tied to the school for longer than wish for
Our catchment school is a large comprehensive, 'good' according to Ofsted but the behaviour is just as in many schools (a lot of isolations, exclusions, etc). The results are fine, not as good as in my school but fine. A part of me really wants to provide my child with a normal teen experiences that I had as a child
- she can walk to and from the school with her friends, half of the estate end up in that school.
-She will make friends who will most likely live locally so they can see each other after school- she is big on being outside.
- they have tones of after school activities and sports to choose from.
- wider GCSE subject choices
In general, my DD and then my son who will go to a secondary a year later are pretty good kids who are obedient, well mannered and do their homework without nagging. I wonder if they really need all these routines that are designed to support the children from unprivileged backgrounds. I hope they can do well anywhere. But some part of me worry that I may make a wrong decision which will impact their life😏