Secondary school choices - what would you do?!

[Wiggleroomm]

Secondary school choices - what would you do?!

My daughter is ten years old. She’s very sensitive, she likes to feel nurtured and supported. She is also very bright, sociable and creative. She can be shy in large groups, and she also can struggle and get overwhelmed with school work / reading. I would say she is not ‘academic’ but she does well enough, she could do a lot better if she pushed herself and realized how capable she is.

We have choice of following secondarys:

Choice 1: very small state school (700 in total), most of her friends are going, very heart Centred however known to be underfunded, under resourced, disorganized and never pick up phone. Ofsted rating good and they do well enough in league tables. NO 6th form. They do have some nice club, it appears very friendly, although a little rough round the edges. Has a charming feel to it, and feels like a school!

Choice 2: very large state school, rated one of the top 5 schools in county alongside 4 grammar schools. 2300 kids. Exceptional teaching, facilities and buildings. (Only built a few years ago so very modern, spacious and swish) academic so push children but also lots of clubs and societies. Ofsted rating outstanding. Downsides are that there doesn’t seem to be much in places in terms of smaller communities and nurture. No quiet room they can go to when things get too much etc… unless you’re in a ‘club’ that is. Has a very cold and clinical feel about it! More like giant offices than a school!

I’ve looked round both, my daughter changes her mind constantly and doesn’t have a preference. She changed every day and feels it’s too hard a choice. She likes the idea of a fresh start and exciting new school but worried about size and missing her friends. The small school is also very tired looking, shabby etc.

Ultimately I want her to do well academically but most importantly want her to be happy.

I’ve asked other parents who all have mixed experiences with both, but the bigger school
Is the most recommended.

I feel like perhaps she’d be more suited to smaller school but at same time I don’t want to hold her back when the big school could be a chance for her to grow and shine .✨

Any advice / experiences / opinions most welcome!! Thanks

Do you actually have a real choice or just the illusion of choice? i.e. is there little to no chance of securing a place at one of the school?

Personally I wouldn't overly worry about there being a 6th form or not, that's a whole different ballgame.

Mine were / are at a big school (300 a year) and it has been fine, but the small school sounds ok too and may be a better fit from what you described.

One thing that we found after choosing a smaller school for a more sensitive child is that they didn't find their 'people' and felt more isolated. We moved them to a larger school (as had to move house) and they found more friends and people with the same interests, often based around the clubs etc.

I would start at the big one tbh. Presumably the smaller one isn't oversubscribed?

Big one.

DD started secondary with around 1/2 of her Y6 group but didn't really had anything to do with more than 5 over the upcoming years.

She really enjoyed the fresh start, new people, finding her thrope. The school also had extensive arts department. The buildings were a bit shabby but the money clearly was used for the education.

A small group can mean less provisions if you aren't into the main subjects or the focus the school has. It can also mean social isolation if you can't find your thrope and girls will develop their personalities over the next years and will change.

No 6th form is not the end of the world, DD and several of her friends changed schools after GCSEs but we found that having the resources and the older students did mean there was a good choice of GCSE subjects available as they had the teachers for 6th form.

Here both would be oversubscribed on the first round so not picking the nearest would mean you get neither - just checking you have checked this part?

The choices you make (however many your area does) are treated as equal preference, therefore in number one spot should truly be your first choice even if it is very much a wildcard.

The only 'rules' are use all your choices and make sure your 'banker' is somewhere, better to be at a school you really don't want but is on the doorstep, than being allocated a school miles and miles away that takes multiple buses and ages to get there.

The secondary board is always full of good advice.

Oh and remember nearest school isn't always catchment / admission zone school.

Personally, I would go for a smaller school over a huge one. A school of 700 on roll is just about still at the point where all the staff know each other and after a couple of years most of the staff know most of the kids. My son is in a school of 1500 and has not had any of the same teachers from year 7 to year 9, he has also had a different tutor and head of year every year so far. While staff turn over is high everywhere you are more likely to get lack of continuity in a huge school as there are just more teachers and classes.

Big shiny looking state schools are run as businesses, thats how they fund themselves by having a business arm that runs at a profit. Being a small school where the facilities are older is only a problem if the school is in real financial problems.

I would choose the small school unless she would particularly benefit from the better facilities for example she does a sport that only the bigger school offer.