To move my child from a achieving school which she enjoys because of the travel time?

[Cozytoesandtoast00]

Please help. This problem is going round and round my head.
My eldest son is in year 7 of his secondary school. We chose the school because of its outstanding reputation and results. Our local school was in the "Requires Improvement" category.
He enjoys school. Although says it is hard work and has made friends. The school is in a town centre and we live in a small village. It takes him about 1.5 hrs to get home and by then he's shattered. He leaves very early at 7:15am.
We live in a very 1970's kind of environment. The kids all play on the green outside at stay up later. They all go to the local school which has now improved to a good category. My son has expressed that he feels like he is missing out when he doesn't have time to play outside an be with his local friends.
I feel like quality of life is really important in children's lives and his energy levels are also suffering due to the early starts. I feel that exam time in the future will also be difficult due to the limited time for revision.
My youngest son is in year 5 and I'm reluctant to send him there as he enjoys outdoor time.
One potential option is that I could pick them up to and from school when my youngest starts there and manage my job around that. Although there are no guarantees that I would be able to do this in the future.
Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions that would help? I'm seriously considering moving him. Should I move him?

Could younger child walk home alone or go to after school club so you can collect DC1?

That is a good idea but I'm not sure how happy I'd be with my youngest doing that. I'll give it some thought though. Good point. Thank you.

I dont think that amount of commuting is at all sustainable or fair to the child.

You will need to put youngest in before/after sgcool clubs so you can pick up your eldest or move him.

Its very hard for a child to make this decision as the school is all they know.

Can you visit the local school again (and is there definitely a space?) . Long term that commute wont leave time for homework or friends or anything. Thats such a lot for a child re

Ooops posted early -

They must be exhausted. I would asap move to picking them up and then try and sort a move.

We had a similar dilemma and of course you want your child to do well. Have you looked at the local school or did you dismiss it on the back of its reputation?

We chose the local option which although offered a much poorer Ofsted report would facilitate independence and local friends. Good mental health is as important as the education and it seems this is what is being sacrificed.

You need to either move house to reduce the commute or move his school and sooner rather than later

That level of commute is going to get and feel worse and worse.for friends,social and all your lives.
I think u need to be firm and help him by making a decision as the adult.it might feel nervous to move and he might backtrack on his initial.wamt to but that's quite normal.once back and settled I think he will be so relieved.

Ultimately it should be his decision, but if he’s waiting for you to decide for him then I would definitely chose the local school.

I'm not sure. My feeling - based on nothing admittedly! - is that the dynamic with the local children could change if he were with them all the time.
Personally I would let your son make the decision.

Having local friends is only a small part of the benefit. The not having to spend 3 hours a day travelling, being the main part!

I'd agree that friendships with specific local friends might change (as all friendships do) but it's far more likely that new friends will live significantly closer than his current friends do now - he must never see his friends out of school at the moment; or only if he gets lifts. Being able to be more independent and socialise freely is a big part of being a teenager.

There’s a lot more to life than an outstanding Ofsted rating! With a better quality of life he’ll probably achieve more at school anyway. I’d move him.

I agree! I was in the same boat & hated it! All those pointless hours on a bus while my local friends grew up without me. And I couldn't socialise with my school friends as they all lived miles away - it was a lose:lose situation for me. Moving your son in time for the start of year 8 would be fine & won't impact his education. He'll thank you for it.

I had a pretty much identical commute to my secondary school, I used to finish at 3.30 and get home at 5. I got driven into school 3 days a week and that made a difference. I absolutely loved my school though, I absolutely thrived there so the long commute was worth it for me.
I did lose local friends. As I got older my life became very focused on my school town rather than my home town so from 13/14 ish age my parents hardly saw me.

Poor kid. If he was in his GCSE years then I may be reluctant to move him but I absolutely wouldn't hesitate to move a year 7.

Just goes to show you shouldn't read too much into Ofsted reports. We're looking to move and so I've been looking at schools recently. There were outstanding schools that were inadequate a few years back, and vice versa. My daughter's 'outstanding' school hasn't been Ofsted inspected for 14 years. I'd much rather go on my gut feeling than a snapshot of a couple of days of inspection.

Lesser performing schools often get a cash boost and new leadership as well.

Does the local school have a space?
Have you been able to have a tour round the school before you decide?