Would you choose private school over the local comprehensive in our situation

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We have two sons aged 9 and 7 and we are starting to think about secondary school. The eldest is going into year 5, so we will start looking at options in the autumn.

We live rurally, although only about a five-ten minute drive from our nearest town. Decent transport links to other towns. Kids are currently at the local village school which is about 5 minutes drive. Village school is good. Local comp is average to poor - not dreadful, but with its fair share of the usual issues.

The local town is small and has very little going for it. No decent shops, not much to do for children of any age. There is a leisure centre and a library, but that’s about it. It’s a typical poor town, pretty run down and low level drugs, anti-social behaviour etc. Moving far from this town would not be possible due to my husband running a business here.

We can afford private. There are two options. One is in our nearest city approx 40 minutes away. Would involve bus or train journey. The other is in a more rural town approx 30 minutes away and would involve a mini buss journey. Some local kids go to these schools, but not many.

Kids enjoy school and want to learn. They have decent potential with the right support. They both do a few local clubs.

I want to send them private because I think the education and extra curricular offerings will be great. However, I’m worried about them feeling isolated and lonely. They get on very well with eachother so are never really without company, but I appreciate that may change as they get older. I don’t work and there is no urgent need for me to work, so I can be a taxi. I grew up in very similar circumstances (lived rurally, went to school half an hour away), so I hope I appreciate the difficulties and I’m therefore happy to ferry them around to clubs, friends etc.

What would you do in these circumstances? I want them to have the best education possible and it seems daft not to send them to private school when we can afford it and the local state option is not brilliant, but I also worry they are already a bit isolated living where we live and that I could be making life even harder by sending them to school further afield.

What would you do?

No. I would use the money to move to a decent school district.

If you can afford it, and are tied to your town for DH's business, I'd send them private.

In these circumstances definitely send them private.

I would first do some research about the financial position of the private schools. Around here the privates are dropping like flies, merging, closing etc. It would be awful to enrol and then have it disrupted a year later.

We need to stay near this town for my husband’s business. If it weren’t for that, we’d move nearer a better town.

Yes I agree, you’re right. This has also been on my mind.

Unless his business is urgent medical care then presumably he could commute an hour?

Definitely send them private that distance is quite normal for private schools near me.

Private.
Their new friends will be more geographically scattered, but if you are free to drive them, this should not be too much of an issue.

Why is it ok for your kids to commute but not him?

You could move to a neighbouring town.

But also - don't be naive about drugs etc. at private schools.

I’d rather I commuted than the kids, if moving could work I wouldn’t rule that out.

Private. This is a very normal distance to travel and less than lots of others will do. They won’t be lonely because they will be at school!
Do check the schools carefully though - you can see accounts at companies house and press them to answer on numbers in y 7.

Sorry but moving won’t work, so no point in making this thread about that. There are other reasons (family, friends etc), but the main one is DH’s business which relies on us staying local.

How far away would you need to move to be in an area for a good school? Can your husband not commute?

I faced exactly the same situation, except my ds is an only.

He did taster days at all the possible schools, I did parents evenings and we compared notes. We both preferred the private school in the next market town so he joined in year 7, with a year group of 26 in two classes, and was very happy. Transport was a school bus which took 35 mins.

The difficulty arose with 6th form. Many of his peers switched to state 6th form but I couldn't get him there (rural transport!) so he stayed at private school in a year group of only 6, and was lonely.

Think ahead. Is there suitable sixth form available?

Private

loads of kids travel 30+ mins, really not worth moving for! It’s completely normal, especially in rural areas. My kids had a much longer commute and don’t mind at all - they actually like it - chatting with friends and decompressing. My eldest still meets up with her ‘bus friend’ from a different school a couple of years after leaving school.

That’s interesting. One of the private schools has no sixth form, the other does.

This isn’t an option as I’ve already said.

Whilst I’ve said we wouldn’t have chosen this area if it weren’t for my husband’s business, we are settled here and have put down roots. We won’t be moving, it’s the school options as they are now that I’m asking about.

My husband lived in a really tiny place and went to a private school 40 mins away. It was harder being away from people but they made it work. He’s done really well for himself and has made friends for life at the school. 40 mins isn’t the end Kr the world

How secure is your dh's business? I think if I sent private I would be wanting to start back to work too. If his business goes belly up and they go private then your entire family will be disrupted without a second income to keep the fees going.

Yes definitely private. It’s a no brainier. Have a look at both

Private definitely

We were in your position, except private would have wrecked havoc with our finances. We opted for local comprehensive plus private tutors and lots of extra curricular activities. No regrets from us.

If you can comfitably afford two chilldren at Private, then yes.

I would check as far as you can the fiancial stability of the schools. I dont think small is good really at thr moment.