Wwyd? Dh and I can't quite agree

[Marvelendgamekids]

Dd starts school in September. She's been offered our higher preference school. It's a church school which I like (I know others wouldn't but it's a plus for us) good ofsted, good results, our eldest went there (now left) as we lived in the area at the time, but it's 1.5 miles away. So a good 30 minutes walk, although as I work I'd be driving and using the wrap around childcare anyway a lot of the time, so only a 3 minute drive.

I'm having second thoughts, there is another school a 5 minute walk from our house. Ofsted and results haven't been very good at all recently, but, it's still a popular and nice local school, usually very oversubscribed. I could walk dd to/from school some mornings and afternoons which I've always wanted to do, and she might make more friends locally. Oh and the school do still have places.

Downside is if I was driving to go straight off to work, it's actually slightly awkward due to having to go all the way around a one way system and school being in the middle of a housing estate.

I'm really torn, dh thinks we should just let it be and stick with the church school, but equally he hasn't got a strong opinion and is happy to leave final decision it to me. Other people think I'm mad not to just send her to the closest school.

We went to primary school 3 miles from home; nice walk across the park to get there so it was great in the summer walking with mum and the dogs but we were usually driven in winter. Final two years of primary we could walk back by ourselves in summer if we were bringing friends (there was one main road so the teacher would see us across it and then leave us by the park) and we had a great time marching across the woods in a pack. One kid on our road went to the same school, plus a couple more round the corner. We made local friends with other kids on the road and at brownies, so we had quite a big circle about. Plus a lot of other kids travelled for school so parents were all happy to facilitate playdates by dropping is off. Your DS's experience of not having any other kids in his year locally might not be the case for your DD, plus she might be more social and make friends who live nearby too. It's only 1.5 miles, if you prefer the school then go for it.

I'd go for the better school.
Are there any clubs (Brownies etc) run from the local school? If so, then she can meet more local children there.

1.5 miles isn nothing. Many children travel more than that to their closest school. It's not as if friends from the church school are going to be living so far away to make playdates impractical. The worst that can happen is that you have to make slightly more effort to organise it.

If the school is definitely better then it doesn't seem logical to chose the lesser of the schools just because DD might miss out on walking home with her friends in 1 out of 7 of the years she will be there.

I really don't understand the viewpoint that primary education doesn't matter as much as secondary? The primary is laying the foundations of your child's education; how they learn, how they understand the concepts in maths, how to construct sentences, the purposes of verbs, adjectives, etc? How can anyone dismiss that as being relatively unimportant? I know the exams are what counts more to some, but surely the early development of your child's abilities will count more long term? GCSEs are of course important, but only inasmuch as they will count towards A levels. But primary education is the building blocks, the basics, the foundations on which everything else hinges (if that's not too dramatic).

Personally I would prefer the church school at 1.5 miles, that's not a huge distance and if your DD learns to ride a bike, she could cover that no problem at all and will be able to sort out her own "playdates" come Y6. Of course you can always drive her or walk with her when she's still young.

The HT of any school makes a massive difference; the head at my ds's school was very engaged and proactive and he benefited hugely from her attitude to children with additional needs as this pervades the entire school. Other primary/infant schools around in our area tended to put any children with SEN on the back burner and offered only minimal support. In my view the Head's attitude towards pupils with SEN reflects on the way they run the entire school, with every child benefitting, not just the ones who needed the most help.

I don't think Primary Schools 'don't matter' but I do think they are often very similar in ethos and certainly (around where I live) don't seem to be vary massively from one to another. This may not be the case everywhere of course. I would also say to be very careful about relying largely on Ofsted reports, which are a tiny snapshot of the school and not alwayts accurate/reliable. My work often takes me into primary schools and I would say that visiting the school and getting a gut feeling for it is very important. Some primary schools that may be prioritising the arts and creative learning and outside play (forest school activities) may not have the same results as pushy sats target-obsessed Primaries but will have other benefits. The holisitc care that a school provides is not always evident in grades or Ofsted reports.