Agonising over secondary school choice

How do you know one school is better with dyslexia than another?

I am a bit late to this I’m going against the grain and saying school 2. If school 2 are better with dyslexia and there is a school bus as well as the fact she wants to go there this would be a no brainer for me. She will need more support as the academics become more challenging.
the size of school - my DD goes to a tiny school year group 18 whole school 90 !
with a focus of SPLD being very high but also a very academic school.
most people travel from afar - we don’t which means most her friends live further away.
this did worry me a little regards to social life but honestly it’s been amazing having less children means they have all become very tight knit and have formed very close relationships and they are all getting on so well. She has been invited to more birthdays / social meets etc in the short time than she ever did in her large primary state school.
Weekends and meeting up have never been an issue either. She is super happy and more content with the classes.
if your DD wasn’t dyslexic I maybe would say school 1 but I think the priority is that’s are supported and understood in the environment.

We had the same conundrum. We chose school 2 but didn't get in (until 3 weeks after school started when we moved up the wait list). We stuck with school 1 which was ok and meant DC moved with their cohort and friendships/clubs etc maintained easily.

The transport issues of those travelling the 30 minutes to school 2 has been tricky and expensive as it's out of catchment for free transport. There seems to be yearly if not termly angst about the whole transport thing and the cost goes up frequently and you aren't always guaranteed a place on the bus.

Staff personalities and leadership make a huge difference, but a change can have huge ramifications.

Outcomes for school 1 and 2 were largely similar . My gut said school 2 as I'd been to school 1 and didn't have a great time. ( Largely I think because I should have gone to a secondary 20 miles away with the rest of my junior year - religious school - but didn't and went to secular secondary alone, and was like a fish out of water. I was an incomer whilst been local at the same time).

What we should have done was move DC for 6th form as it was very restrictive at school 1, low numbers and often inadequate teachers. Sending DC to either the large standalone 6th forms 20 miles away (bus) or 30 miles away (bus and train) where considered but ultimately not chosen but I think we should have tried to persuade DC.

It's not an easy decision and I don't envy you. I thought choosing infant school was difficult !

School 1. Teens thrive on local mates and meet ups. School 2 is only a 1/4 size of ours so to me is too small. Options ad yr10 will be more limited. Small schools often mean very limited GCSE options & no more vocational options etc

Does she meet the distance criteria for school 2?

I’d say school 2. It’s not that small and she’ll only be there 5 years. Dd1 travels on the bus for a similar time and enjoys listening to music. Very normal round here. I think that unless there’s a significant issue with a school, go with where they feel most at home. Dd1 has always just known from her visits and at 17 it’s worked well. None of our nearby schools have 6th forms so that doesn’t bother me anymore (it was an adjustment).

My daughter commuted over an hour to the school of her choice for seven years and it really wasn’t a problem 95% of the time. She ended up with a group of friends from the bus and later the train, who were separate from her main friends in school. The vast majority of her friends didn’t live locally, but we felt it was important for her to have the main say in her secondary school and made the commitment to drive her to and from friends’ houses etc. I don’t think the distance from school made any impact on my daughter’s friendships and if anything it strengthened them because they were more prone to having sleepovers because of the distance.

I would research the school bus carefully as I assume you aren't in catchment for school 2.
My ds goes to a 6th form in a village that lots of kids from our village go to but because our village isn't in catchment the school doesn't provide the bus, it's privately run. There has been a lot of chopping and changing of bus providers overthe past few years at one point we thought there wouldn't be a bus and a group of parents had to organise a new of. It's expensive at £1500 per year for a 20 min journey. No public transport either and not cyclable.

How about getting home if she stays late for extracurricular etc?

School bus actually makes a difference as less I would assume penalties for being late as multiple people would be and it is at a fixed time so they would have decided it to get there on time.

is the bus stop near? And assume she would travel with others from the school

I would take a morning off school and catch the bus to school 2 so she can see what it really means to catch a bus everyday

I went to a school that was a massive pita 1 hr to get to (grammar school). It was incredibly annoying but I was very very happy at the school so would make the same choice again.

We were 600 + 6th form (so 700 ish) and it didn't feel small at all. The HT knew everyone well and it was great. There were no big behaviour issues, some of the things I hear about sound unbearable re disruptive students.

It was also annoying that all my friends lived a good distance from me but I did a lot of extra curricular stuff so wasnt bored In the evenings

I am team School 1. You cannot beat.lpcal friends, easy commute and active travel in my opinion.

School 2 has lots of considerations against it - long commute and lots more potential for delays, cancellations, forgotten pe kit or food tech ingredients and if they're ill you have much further to go plus for parents eve, dentist etc. Plus if she wants to do clubs, play rehearsals etc.

If she struggles socially smaller is not always better- smaller pool and less local friends means less opportunities to meet out of school

500 is a very small school - are they able to do plays, fields sports teams, do dofe etc?

Listen to your gut. Aside
30-40 mins is not a long commute for secondary in, say, London - but I suppose it might be different in a rural area if there are fewer buses etc.

Hmm so school one is better for science but school two better for MFL, so pretty even. I wouldn't set too much store on what she does and doesn't like rn – she is in primary school, she has minimal experience of science or MFL.

What about other GCSE options – what sort of range is there? Are CS, DT (food, textiles, RM), drama, music, PE routinely offered? Any extras at either like sociology or further maths?

Yes don't underestimate the commute for you when needed as well. How far away is it – 30 min bus ride could be 4-5 miles for sure, which is not very much and a 15-min drive.

You can probably tell I would go for the bigger local school – those two things were important to me and DH, both having attended as I say far away and relatively small schools (mine was the size of your smaller option, DH's smaller still).

If you do lean towards school 2 I would certainly try the commute over half term.

the main issue with the second school is travel as local friends shouldn’t come into it

and then exactly what it is about school 1 she doesn’t like

yes you are the adults but she is the one who will be at the school you need to listen to her as well and work out whst are concerns you can overcome and what are genuine preferences

It is very often the case that a larger school has more experience/provision for SEN such as dyslexia.
Also, a larger school will have a bigger potential pool of friends.
IId lean towards 1 unless she is desperate for a fresh start

Just to add, my DC go to a large mixed comprehensive. It would be unheard of for current students to swear at prospective parents so to me that is fairly worrying.

I would definitely try the commute together. If it’s just theoretical at the moment she won’t have a good sense of what it’s like to travel that far. Having said that, some kids are fine with this kind of distance and will do homework on the bus.

For me the major consideration would be behaviour. Your dd is very sensibly put off by the disruptive behaviour she has seen. Have a look at parent view on the Ofsted portal and try as much as possible to talk to current parents at both schools. That will help you to get a clear picture of how bad behaviour is in each school. In school 1 the fact that all lessons are with the form will make it very difficult if her form aren’t great - there will be no escape.

As a parent of a Year 7 child about to end the first half term, we are so glad he can walk in 10 mins. He passed 3 grammars and although another school was ‘better’ in some factors, it was a long bus journey home.

If school 1 is improving and most local children are going there, I’d go for that. Do not underestimate how tired they can be after school and will have so much more time for relaxing/homework. Also more flexibility on after school clubs, local friends etc.

You need to make the ultimate decision for a 10 year old. Also remember the back and forth you’ll have to do for parents evenings and other events.