To wonder why when choosing a school parents go for the easiest option despite it not always being the best choice for their kids.

[Jackpack]

My Ds is due to start high school in September. We put down a catholic school with a great reputation, good feel to it and with excellent ofsted reports and results and for our second choice we put down an equally good community school, both around 2.5 miles away. My Ds does go to Catholic primary so he'll move up with the majority of his friends, most of whom live closer to the school but he'll also have kids in his year that live close by to us as one of our local primaries is a feeder to the secondary, so making friends local shouldn't be a problem.

The reason I chose these two schools is quite simple, the rest in our town are diabolical, in every way imaginable. I wouldn't ever want my child to go there and if we'd have been allocated one of these schools then I'd have quit my job to joke school him. That's how bad they are! So, there are I think seven children in our street in the same year as my Ds so they are going to secondary as well this year. Each of their parents have chosen one of the failing schools to send them to and two of my friends, and a family member have chosen to do the same.

Obviously it is their choice to send their child to whichever school they like but why on earth they have chosen these schools i don't know, but then it dawned on me, because it's easier for them, the parents not the child I mean.

Sending their kids to the nearest school means they won't have to get up early and drive them to school. One of my friends was on Facebook recently raving that she can stay in bed longer come September as she won't have to take her child to school. I mean come on. I realise that a lot of kids do go local and there are certainly advantages to that including walking with friends etc but what's more important, thier kids get to walk to school with friends or that they get a better education. If all the schools in the area are equally as good then o can see why parents would want their kids to go to the local school, but when they're all exceptionally bad why not try for a better school slightly further away. It's just seems like laziness to me.

My senior-school aged child goes to the nearest school because I am a single parent and no amount of getting up even earlier than I do already will allow me to be in three places at once, including my place of work, the oldest child's school and the primary school.

It's nice to know that not only am I judged for being a single mum, for being a full-time working mum, for claiming tax credits...there are people out there assuming I send my children to the crap school 'cos I'm a lazy bitch. Jesus fucking wept.

Oh and as a teacher, I love (in a deeply ironic kind of way) the notion that only teachers in Catholic schools are caring and capable of providing a good education and that teachers in so-called failing schools don't give a shit. I have worked in both. My experience is the opposite.

Perhaps they have bright, motivated children who will do well regardless?

I don't believe this at all. A bright child in a school with poor standards, a high turnover of teachers, behavioural issues, a high number of exclusions and a very low number of children achieving good exam passes might do OK if they are incredibly self-motivated, but in my opinion it is more likely that they will do worse than they would have done in a better school.

As for the OP's question, my kids will go to the local secondary school, BUT we specifically chose to live here because of the excellent schools. We moved from where we were living previously because the schools were so poor.

No - bright, motivated children with good parental support do better than "OK".

I don't care that you don't care :)

My child is going to the school I think suits him best.

It's not the nearest school (CofE) or the 2nd nearest school (Catholic)

It's the 3rd nearest school.

I didn't select the 2 nearest schools because

a) I think education and religion should be separate and

b) The 3rd nearest school is OFSTED Outstanding, has a really good reputation, DS loved it when we looked around and I got a really good vibe from it.

I really don't understand your thread, but have the medal you clearly think you deserve for choosing a school.

"but in my opinion it is more likely that they will do worse than they would have done in a better school."

An opinion not borne out by the evidence!

Im a single Mum too and dd only goes to an independent school because she's got a bursary and My Mum pays the rest.

Not wanting to get into a debate about private schools (honest!) but does the bursary thing not work you? They generally aren't guaranteed for the school life of the child - do you just hope that your child won't lose it at the end of the year?

Worry you

Sir Chengin she has a year left at school and then hopefully onto Uni and thats the one that worries me.

You've been lucky! I know someone who had to take their kids out of school when they lost the bursary and another who had sleepless nights very year in the lead up to bursary app stage.The uncertainty would terrify me

Perhaps the parents of the other children wanted to make sure their children were not in the same school as your son and therefore would not run in to you and your competitive parenting.

As for 30 seconds prayer at RC school LMAO - RC teaching can be incorporated in numerous ways. I learned that Mary I was a really good queen returning England (St Mary's dowry) to the RC faith.

Loads of other things were skewed. This school might not be, but why do you assume it won't be?

Oh and unless it is an academey the next ofsted will be terrible.

My Mum helps a lot. Too much if I'm honest and dd is only grandchild.
Dad died and left Mum and I the family silver so yes I'm very lucky

Sorry - lucky was a bad choice of word given you lost your dad. My sincere apologies

We chose a school out of our catchment due to the nearest one having a needs improvement rating and the next nearest being quite run down

So now I do a 15 mile round trip twice a day for the school run when he could have got a bus at the end of our drive to the other two....
He's happy tho and so am I.

It's ok Sir Chenjin You didn't know. I sometimes think I'd rather have Dad than his money.

I can well imagine