Would you consider secondary school options when buying a house with a 3 year old DD?

[Absofrigginlootly]

DH, DD and I have been living overseas in the states for nearly 3 years. We're planning to come back to the uk this summer and after moving every 1-3 years for the past 18 years I am ready to SETTLE!!

I want a house for us to live in for the next 15 or so years to see DD and any future sibling through school.

The area we are looking at (dictated somewhat by job) is about 10 miles north of a nice city in the countryside. It has many (about 15-20) good/outstanding primary schools (as rated by OFSTED obvs so I appreciate this is highly subjective) in the area which are in catchment and because they're all small local village primaries they are all undersubscribed so I think the chances of getting a place at one are pretty good.

My issue is that the 2 or 3 nearest secondary schools within catchment are currently rated as inadequate/requiring improvement. There are several good and one outstanding secondary schools further away which appear to be in catchment but obviously these are oversubscribed.

How far in advance would you be considering school options when buying a house when your DC were only 3.5....??

We have flexibility about where we live at this point and could choose to buy in the city where there are good/outstanding primary and secondary schools (although obvs these are oversubscribed).... but my heart is in the countryside. I grew up in the countryside and lived in cities my adult life. I'm craving the simple, outdoorsy childhood for my DC that I was fortunate to experience.

Anyone who has been through both primary and secondary school application process - any advice?

Should we be thinking more about the immediate future i.e. live somewhere we like now and find a good school for next January applications (DD will be due to start September 2019) and just deal with secondary school later?

Or should we be playing the long game here? I really don't want to move again!

Although obviously I know life can't be planned to perfection I'm just so looking forward to being settled!

MN jury.... WWYD?

Meant to say posting here rather than education boards because when I looked on there this didn't seem to be the right sort of question for that board (maybe I got that wrong?) and I thought Aibu is full of a good mix of different aged children's parents

Well, what is an excellent school now could be a failing school in eight to ten years time...

Ideally find an area with good secondaries and primaries but schools can change very quickly in a short amount of time and many families move on year five

What W00t said. Those failing schools might be fantastic by the time your child is that age.

If your daughter is 3.5, she won't be starting secondary school for seven or eight years. In that time the failing schools could have become outstanding and the outstanding schools could have started failing.

I know what you're saying but the outstanding schools in the city I'm talking about are on a par with the private schools in the area as rated by the good schools guide etc. Schools like that usually end up like grammar schools in that they become self fulfilling to some extent (pushes up house prices, becomes a "middle class" catchment area etc) does that make sense?

Basically I mean o wouldn't anticipate that these outstanding schools which have made the national press would suddenly start failing???

I know people who moved away from my area when their kids were 5 because they were concerned about secondaries. Which seemed a bit nuts to me, but they wanted to make sure their kids got into better schools, had made all the friends they needed to beforehand, weren't uprooted in later primary etc etc. So I'd be mindful of secondary choices, even if, as others have said, a lot could change between now and then x

But if you want to live in the countryside then you won't be in catchment for city schools.
You need to decide what your priorities are!
Only you and your family cannot decide that.
For us, it was education, so I live in a place I hate so my children can get the best we can give them. There childhoods are short really in the scheme of things.

Agree with PPs, but I'd just say that we moved house when DD was 18 months because the local secondary where we lived then had just installed those beeping gates you get in airports to check the children for knives.

We are share secondary school catchment with a large council estate a mile away. (Not being funny when I say that, as it is where DH's family all live, where I went to nursery, and where we go to church. There is sometimes more of a community spirit there than where we live).

We knew the catchment secondary when we bought the house, but it is the same school DH went to.

In the past some in our area have chosen to send their children to a different secondary, only a short distance further, but just over the border into the next council area. A few years ago that school was in special measures and has since closed, where as the catchment school had been rebuilt and had all new facilities.

Our catchment secondary has just been placed in second measures, but as dd is only yr 2, I am not too concerned. A lot can happen in the next 5 yrs. Some of the things I have heard about some of the alternatives aren't great either.

Yes definitely consider it. We have just moved 6 years after buying a house with a then 3 yr old for that very reason. I believed the 'oh things change' reasoning. They don't change that much really, nor do catchments tend to expand. Do your research OP - make sure you have a few options.

Where we live, there have been massive changes in the secondary school ratings. Schools that were in special measures when we chose DD's school are now highly sought after, and a school that was over-subscribed when we were applying was on special measures by the time DD finished school. A change of Head can make a massive difference, as can a change of academy trust.

That’s far too young to worry about secondary schools. So much can change apart from How good the school is including school admissions criteria, acadamisation and areas of priority.

I planned a move when DS was 3. Picked a location where we were in catchment for outstanding infant, needs improvement Junior school, and outstanding secondary. We have Grammar schools in our area, 3 within 3 miles and all great schools. So, yes if it means that much to you. We have found that our infant school is very academic and gently pushing the kids who have the capability. They are not so great with SEN but do try. As a feeder school for Grammar and private Prep schools, they are used to higher levels of expectations from majority of parents. I think it's important to get kids at Infants used to learning and enjoying being stretched. The junior school has a new head and support from other schools in our area, the last SATs result were above UK average.

I would concentrate on nice area and good primary school.

A lot will change by the time your dd is in secondary school. Failing schools get extra help and extra inspections from ofsted to get them better. Outstanding schools are pretty much left alone and standards can slip. When looking at ofsted look at the dates of the inspections. There is a school nearby who is coasting on its outstanding rating and obvious isn't outstanding anymore but ofsted haven't inspected because they got the outstanding.

We did and no regrets. Time has passed very quickly and we couldn't afford to move again. The children are settled in their community and I wouldn't want to move them.

We did. We moved from one end of the UK to the other with two children who were almost 4 and 2 at the time and schooling was top of the list of requirements.

Moving is very disruptive - and expensive - and we planned the move carefully so it would be the final one unti the children left home. We are in Scotland which makes things simpler as catchment areas are fixed and you can look them up online - buy a house in a set catchment and you're guaranteed a place at the local school.

We're very happy here and have most definitely made the right decision, two childrne now at the secondary we selected and thriving.

Yes
Obviously not to the exclusion of everything else but it was a main consideration for us

We moved partly because the secondary had been good or outstanding for many, many years.

In dds year 8 the head retired. New head came in, has raised all sorts of pretty serious issues and ofsted rating dropped to requires improvement.

Dd is now in year 9. Am not sure when the next inspection is but the teaching and school in general is better than it was before when it was good.

Primaries I have applied for for ds in Sept have a Good ofsted rating and a Requires Improvement. Local parents I have spoken to love the requires improvement school and have all sorts of issues with the good rated school.

Ofsted reports are not the be all and end all of schools. The only comprehensive in the largish town which gets consistently outstanding isn't a school I would want DD at.

The school our eldest goes to used to be a failing school, but a superhead was put in place and it is now doing really well. The "best" school in our area recently got a "needs improvement" OFSTED because they were resting on their laurels. You can't really tell at this stage! The only thing I would counsel is avoid areas which have selective (grammar vs secondary modern) schools.

Your choice is between city (education) and countryside (lifestyle). It depends which has the greatest pull on you.

For me, I chose education, but also because I don’t want to be the only-option taxi in the teen years. So we settled for close-to-countryside but closer-to-transport-and-schools instead.

You sound like your heart is in the countryside, and the primary options are excellent. So I’d move there, enjoy 6-7 years of it and reassess in Year 5. Who knows yet what sort of school your 3.5 year old will need - arts focused, sporty, academically stretching, extra pastoral care etc. And if you have any more children what their needs will be. Schools change, but children do too so you can only make the best decision you can in light of current facts.

What does your DH prefer - country or city?

I am a secondary school teacher and I did. PP are very right to say a lot can change in a few years but I wanted a School in a ‘naice’ area.

Another ex teacher here and I'm v 'meh' about choosing a home based on local schools. Probably because I know that the kindest and most hardworking students come from lovely supportive homes.

One school I worked in went from Satisfactory (which no longer exists as a rating) to Outstanding. Another from Good to Requires Improvement. And the latter was the more nurturing environment by MILES.

I absofrigginlootly agree with you. The good schools do become "self-fulfilling" and you might miss out due to affordability in the future we'll that's certainly the case for London innit?