How important is choice of infant school?

[Howdowepick]

DH and I are completely unable to choose our first choice infant school for DS. We've been through all available metrics, considered location, costs, wraparound, spoken to parents etc. and still can't pick. I know we are overthinking because it's our PFB and we want to get it right, but I don't know how much it really matter because both are infants which are feeders for the same outstanding Junior. They align curriculums between each other and with the Junior.

The differences we think really matter and how we see them differently are:

School 1 - seems to focus a bit more on well-being/happiness, does Forest School and a lot more music and sport.

School 2 - is a more traditional style, possibly stronger academically but for Infants it's hard to gauge. Parents do say it's nurturing.Only one outdoor lesson per terms. Very little music or sport beyond the minimum until Y2.

DS is very very young in the year, he's active and loves the outdoors, My gut feel is he would enjoy School 1 more but he is so obviously young in Pre School - the least attentive, for example, and I don't know if the more traditional setting of School 2 would set him up better for his future. He is bright and I don't want him to waste his opportunities. That's not to say school 2 is ill disciplined, they just seem to have a more cuddly approach.

Given they both end up in the same Junior school, would a less academic and less rigorous infants be a bad thing? Will he do better if he's having more fun? Or given he's so young and inattentive, is the more firm approach from the start more important?

School 1 sounds better...
But for me the senior leadership team/vibe of the school was very important and whether they have a track record and what do they want the school to be like
We picked the school with the recently promoted from deputy new head teacher, with her own children attending the school. Fabulously engaging and welcoming, wants good results but more importantly well rounded happy children. She has never disappointed and my kids are so happy, she was even asked to go support a failing school and we were all worried she might not come back but fortunately she turned them around and has come back...
(oh the academic results are ok, the ofsted is just good and the nearby school on paper looks better - but I really do feel my kids are having a more positive school experience than the other school)

I agree that school 1 sounds slightly preferable for infants age, but I would honestly try not to overthink it. They both sound like good schools so I really think either decision would be a good one. The most important things at that age is that your DC is happy and the school is convenient in terms of your routine/pick up/ drop off etc.

Go with the one that will most suit your child. From your description I would have chosen school 2 for my DS but for your DS it sounds like school 1 would be a better fit. Both sound absolutely fine though and as a PP said a child with engaged parents will do well anywhere, particularly at infants stage.

Local school unless you have a clear preference. Close to home and local friends are unquantifiable benefits.

If they are equidistant, I'm not sure there's enough in your post to judge. I would be wary of schools saying they do things unless this is independently verified by people who actually have children at the school. For example, a big sports field is not an asset if they are only allowed on it for 2 weeks in the autumn and 3 weeks in the summer.

School 1.

Assuming they’re both a reasonable distance away that is - proximity makes life an awful lot easier!

Outstanding means very little IMO - it's a snapshot in time, not a true picture if everyday.

I'd 100% go for fun & outdoor stuff over academia. KS1 is all about learning to be at school as well as the literacy & numeracy. They need to enjoy it to set them up for their learning career.

You can do loads of stuff at home to bolster the academic sides, but you can't make them love a boring school.

It feels massive, I know, but go with your gut. It's a better situation than having two terrible schools to pick from!

In your position I would absolutely go for option 1.

At this stage getting him to love school is the key aim, and given personality I'd say school 1 would be better for that for all but the kind of very quiet child who just wants to curl up with a book in the library and hates mud. Actually, his being young in year makes me think even more that he'd get on better at school 1, he's at the age where learning through play is really important. They'll still learn a lot at forest school etc, but for a younger and outdoorsy child it will be absorbed more easily, and enjoyed. Nurturing is also especially good for the younger ones in the year.

You can always do a little more maths and English at home anyway. The first three years a lot of it is reading to you, so by doing that most evenings you will be helping him a lot. Again easy maths you can easily add to at home. My DC loved 'raisin maths' (adding, subtracting, multiplying and division using raisins and eating the spoils).

Count every time you go up and down steps, look for letters in signs and car number plates, have a read the door number challenge as you walk around etc... All fun, and all can help him. Deep in lockdown my two loved a game on our daily walks where we went through the alphabet from A-Z and they had to find either the letter in a sign, (like 'A for apple store') or something that began with that letter ('B' for bin), and we had to find that letter before moving on to the next, so a sort of alphabet treasure hunt.

I'd probably go for School 1 and from what you've said, I think you're more sure of School 1. One thing that may help, did DS come with you on the visit to School 1? If so, did the teachers show interest in him, tr and make school sound like a fun thing? The school we chose did this with DD, the other school we looked at didn't even talk to her.

Honestly go with your gut. I had a choice of two primary schools, one on paper is slightly better than the other, however I looked round both and really disliked the ‘better’ school. The slightly ‘worse’ school (I suspect because they don’t go stupidly OTT with SATS preparation) had nicer staff who didn’t look like they were exhausted, better facilities, more emphasis on pastoral side and placed importance on the outdoors, art, music. It just had a wonderful atmosphere! We chose that school and have never regretted it, it was 100% the right choice. DD thrives there and although it wasn’t a consideration for her, the SEN provision that DS needs is far better at that school also. I would always prioritise happiness over anything else at this age!

We had similar in that we were in catchment for both a 'good' school with a reputation for being very good with pastoral care, strong school ethos of being a good friend and trying your best but that had a 'requires improvement' rating a few years ago and an 'outstanding' school that has an excellent reputation for being very academic but is slightly further away (still walking distance.)

We chose the first school and have never once regretted it. They do forest school, they really do have a great community ethos, DD enjoys school and we've made friends with other families that live very close by to us. Other people couldn't believe that the outstanding school wasn't our first choice but I just had a gut feeling that the first school would be the right fit for DD and she needed more of a nurturing environment than to be academically pushed at the age of 4. I still think we made the right choice.

@SummerHouse

I'd love to ask a teacher at the junior school where they would send their children! Not helpful, just a random thought... Unless you know any teachers at the junior school??

I don't sadly. One of my friends tried asking during a tour of the Junior and their lips were firmly sealed!

Honestly just make a decision and decide it's the right one. As long as the school 'feels' OK and the children seemed happy you will have made the right choice - that is assuming it's actually a choice and they won't just put you in the one that's closest, which I'm pretty sure they do round here, whatever they say!

Thank you . Not wanting to make this a drip feed, because the following are all factors which DH and I have ruled out as being significant as we feel there are more important factors on which to make the decision, but to answer some of the points which have come up:

School 1: Fractionally closer to home but along a much busier road. Closer to DC2's nursery which would be relevant for the first two years. Wraparound costs £900 more per year. Forest School is ten sessions per year per class, so not every week (in case I've over sold it!)

School 2: slightly further from home but more along a quieter road. Closer to the Junior School (which is further again from home) so once DC1 is at the Juniors, it will be easier with DC2, (although slightly harder while DC2 is at nursery and DC1 at the infants). They do do one outdoor class per term.

Also, to address the point about community, both seem to have good community feels, but School 2 feels more rooted in the local area and because it is oversubscribed, almost everyone is from a walkable local area. School 1 pulls from a wider area so friends could be in the next town. But because School 1 is more open with its information, I know more about what the PTA does for example, which I like.

Don’t be swayed purely by the outstanding ofsted, especially if it was a few years ago under the old framework - very few have held on to it under the new framework (according to an ofsted inspector I had a meeting with in the last couple of weeks).

I wouldn’t say ten sessions of forest school a year would be enough to sway me. Your later posts make me favour school 2.

Which one are you most likely to get a space in? Do you really have a choice?

I went for an outstanding academic school for my very young, active 4 year old daughter .

She honestly spent the first 2 years with her finger up her nose looking into space.

It was so overwhelming moving from nursery into desks/formal learning that she just switched off and didn't even begin to catch up with her peers until Y2.

She's in Y7 now and has caught up and is doing well but in hindsight if I had of thought it through dependent on personality (her sibling was already at the school and it had been a good fit for her) she would have been better off with a less formal school experience for KS1.

@Howdowepick

Thank you . Not wanting to make this a drip feed, because the following are all factors which DH and I have ruled out as being significant as we feel there are more important factors on which to make the decision, but to answer some of the points which have come up:

School 1: Fractionally closer to home but along a much busier road. Closer to DC2's nursery which would be relevant for the first two years. Wraparound costs £900 more per year. Forest School is ten sessions per year per class, so not every week (in case I've over sold it!)

School 2: slightly further from home but more along a quieter road. Closer to the Junior School (which is further again from home) so once DC1 is at the Juniors, it will be easier with DC2, (although slightly harder while DC2 is at nursery and DC1 at the infants). They do do one outdoor class per term.

I don't mean to sound flippant but in your position I would flip a coin and leave it up to fate - both schools sound great, so you won't go wrong with either, and if they all end up at the same junior school then it really doesn't matter too much :)

School 1

At. that age it. is more important to like going to. school, love to. learn things and be. happy.

DD. went to a small Infant, purely because we felt she would be happier there and felt. more cosy. The other option was. twice the. size and. felt more academic, while important, DD would have felt lost.

A "cuddly." school still can be academic, there is lots. of evidence that informal learning in Early Years is vital and brings more than strict routines.

School 1, no question. Infant school should be about play, exploration, being outdoors as much as possible. They have plenty of time for learning at desks when they are older. Sadly in this country we do that far too soon, so go for the school that will hold off as long as possible (said as a teacher and parent).
We couldn't choose a school for DS1, we each wanted a different one so we ended up tossing a coin on the night before the deadline.

Based on the last however many years data I've been able to look up (5+) we would expect to get whichever we choose as first choice, so we're working on that basis.

Just my opinion but I'd say school 1.
For me, infant school was about playing and socialising more than academics.
We chose a different school from the one we expected to choose on paper as it felt more nurturing and kind. It also had a relatively high proportion of children with SENs whose parents could effectively choose their school (in those days they had statements) which made me think that my impression about its nurturing ethos was correct.
It suited my dc down to the ground. They had very little homework and I do accept that it probably wasn't as strong academically as the schools some of my friends chose.
It has made no negative difference to my children (both went to selective state secondary schools; one currently at Oxbridge, the other with offers from great unis) but I credit it with helping them develop into very well-rounded empathetic people - I'd like to think we helped with that too but they still talk about that school with huge affection.

@PyreFire

If he is young for his year then school 1 would be my pick. It's better that he enjoys school in his very early years, as that will set him up to pay attention and enjoy school in his latter years. If it were junior or senior school level, I'd say the more academic school, but at his current age just getting a positive experience of school is most important

I agree, for me early years is about learing to enjoy learnin.