Hello, we've recently moved to a new area close to an infant school which is a feeder school for a popular junior school. But we were in 9th place and sent to a school which is 30 min walk away (we don't drive). DD started anyway and the school turned out to be really great with its system, teachers and atmosphere. It was really organised offering a great care and education. Most of all DD made friends from day one and was very happy and looking forward to going to school everyday. The parents were also very welcoming which made me feel easy in the new town.
After only two weeks we were offered a place from the closest school we had in mind. It's only 3 min walk so daily it's about 2 hours difference so just made a decision to move her assuming the closest school would be as good. Also DD can make friends easily so we didn't worry as well.
However, it's been a week and we can tell the current school is not as good as the previous one in terms of school system and atmosphere. Most of all, DD keeps telling me she prefers the previous school and misses the school and friends. She hasn't really made friends yet and says no one is speaking to her and she doesn't want to bother other kids. She's quite social so it was unexpected and quite sad to hear. When school finishes she seems happy and teachers say she's settling well but every morning she says she doesn't want to go to school and wants to return to the previous school.
DD is in Y1 so will be moving to the junior school after 2 years. It's in next door and most of the kids will be transferred too. The junior school is an outstanding one and academically highly focused so locals would like to send their kids here which we also considered when moved in. However we are not sure now what would be right for our DD. The school run distance still matters for the next 5 years but if DD is unhappy I can travel. If we want to return the previous school we would need to contact the council again since they only deal with the admission not the school and don't know what we would need to prove and whether the previous school even would have a place ideally in the same class.
Should we wait a little bit longer and hopefully DD gets used to it or if we want to move is it better to do it asap? The thing is she might settle eventually but I will always compare the schools and regrets my decision... I was the one made all these decisions and feel terrible now..