To think of moving daughter school part way through the year

[Seaglass87]

I am in two minds and I don't really know what to do.
So when we applied for infant school we got our second choice, not first and went on the waiting list. I have now received an email offering her a place at our top choice.

My DD is in reception and the school she is at is good and I haven't had any problems yet. At parents evening the teacher said how well she was doing, how settled she was and how she's made some lovely friendships. DD seems really settled. She happily goes into school each morning and says she enjoys school. The teacher's are lovely.

However the school she has now been offered a placement at is outstanding
and I have a few friends whose children go there and they rave about the school.

I don't know what to do. I've tried to write a pros and cons list but it all seems so theoretical. Would it be unreasonable to move my DD when she is happy and settled because of the reputation of a school?

I'm about to move my daughter from a school she is very happy at so that we are in the feeder for my preferred high school. We're moving part way through the year as well.
What's on your pros and cons list so far?

I don't have a problem with moving mid-year, and in fact I did this with my DS, but only because he was unhappy. It seems a bit silly to move a happy and settled child. To be honest I'd leave her, unless there's a specific reason to move that you haven't mentioned? Ofsted outstanding doesn't necessarily mean much compared to good, especially if the last inspection was a few years ago.

If the main reason to move her is upgrading from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’ then I’d read the offsets reports carefully and take notes of the dates as well. As post covid ‘good’ is better than a pre covid ‘outstanding’ in my opinion. Other differences can be merely admin related and don’t necessarily benefit a specific child.

I don’t think I’d move a settled and happy reception child

Being settled and happy is much more important than a difference of one ofsted rating rung. The ofsted rating is there to help you guess if your kid will be happy. You already know that she is.

I'm saying this as both a parent and a teacher (who has met ofsted inspectors many times and even worked alongside them as teacher colleagues)

Is the other school still an infant school, or an all-through primary? If you didn't have to move for juniors, then that would be a big plus for changing to the other school now.

What were your reasons for initially choosing the other school first/thinkng it was better? Do any of them still apply, now that you've seen what the second school is actually like?

Yep I'd consider this. My kids went to an infant school that was incredible... but the juniors it fed into was a sack of absolute shit and it caused so much damage when I tried to value leaving them with their cohort and letting them progress there, and then having to move them to get the hell out of that place (SENCO who refused to accept SEN diagnoses etc).

When you applied and looked round, what were the reasons you preferred the school you're now being offered over the one you're now at? Set aside the Ofsted ratings - good/outstanding is neither here nor there. But if there were genuinely things you preferred and still prefer about the other school, and you and your DD already have friends there, I would have thought moving her this early on is a no-brainer.

Apart from being rated Outstanding, what would she benefit from at the new school? Eg walking distance instead of car, better facilities, less staff changes etc?

Yes, we need to hear your pros and cons and the other information that pp have requested in order to offer really considered opinions.

I wouldnt move her if she was happy. Just because a school has an outstanding ofsted rating it doesn't mean she would settle in as happily and have better friends etc.

I understand why you put this school as first choice, but now your DD is happy and you are also seemingly happy with the choice. Why change a good thing?

Have you actually visited the other school? If not, make an appointment to go and visit when the pupils are there so you can get a feel for it.

I am an ex teacher and have taught in primary schools of all OFSTED ratings. The ones in need of improvement are generally fairly dire, but they have the benefit of getting specialist help to get them out of special measures which means they can improve quickly. I gauge taught in two outstanding schools - one of which was wonderful and I’d have loved my child to go there but the other hand brushed under the carpet issues and hadn’t been inspected for a long time due to its outstanding rating. My child would have hated it there and I would not have recommended it to anyone. My friend taught in an outstanding rated school that was outstanding on its context (very deprived area, lots of EAL children) but would be a miserable school to attend for children not in that catchment area - it was geared to them very well which is why it was outstanding. But the loveliest school I have ever taught it was rated ‘good’ and had the nicest family feel to it. Any child could have been happy there and I’d have chosen it every time.

If you’re going to move her, now would be the time in my opinion. She’s only done half a term at the school, and it will hopefully be easier to integrate into a new school while in a reception class opposed to further down the line when she has more concrete friendships in place.

that said, if she is happy and there is no over riding factor to move her, I’d leave her where she is. OFSTED ratings don’t mean anything between Good and Outstanding in my opinion. It can be a matter of paperwork that brings them down. If she’s happy, thriving and has made some friends and the school I would leave her where she is.

She’s only been there a few weeks so these friendships won’t be very strong.

Have you seen the other school?

what do you feel the pros and cons are of moving are of staying? Think short and long term

Ofsted reports don’t mean much in my opinion- schools are told in advance when they will happen and so you don’t get a true view of day to day life there and the smallest detail can mark them down. Also a school with a good rating is more likely to be working hard to get an outstanding the next time whereas an outstanding may just be riding on that result. Also look at how old the reports are. If your child is happy and settled then why move them? I only would if the new school is a feeder for a decent secondary and the one she’s at feeds into one that has a bad reputation/arent good at tackling bullying etc I’ve looked after children who were at “top” schools but they weren’t happy and those schools werent right for them personally. I’ve also found that once parents commit to a school they often big it up even if not totally happy as don’t want to admit it’s not the right choice. Your dc will easily make new friends as it’s still early on in the term if you do decide to move

Are the reasons for wanting the other school due to real failures at the school she is at, or due to the other school sounding better on paper? I mean if the school she was allocated has had fairly poor Ofsteds, a lot of parents moan about it, there seems to be unrest among other kids higher up, bullying etc, then yes I move her before the negatives start affecting her. Get her re-settled into a new class where she will have a better time and education in the next 6-7 years. If it's that the school she's at is good and parents and Ofsted are happy with it, but the other school got even a bit better to be outstanding, then she is likely to be just as well educated and happy overall staying where she is, so it would be pointless to risk unsettling her, or her finding it harder to make friends, to have the same quality and opportunity in her education, just at a school that is a little better on paper.

I would definitely be looking at the ofsted reports as advised. The parents, who are raving realistically know very little about the school if their kids have just started reception year. Do you know anyone with older kids at either school?

Anecdotally, I was taken out of a school I loved to one I did not at this age. It affected the rest of my education and made into an underachiever. Much as this could have a positive effect on your dd, it also may not. So I’d be very careful before moving your dd.

If she's happy and settled don't move her. Simple.

Why on earth would you move a happy and settled child? I've never heard of such angst about young children's schooling as I have on MN. I don't live in the UK and sending kids to school is so much more straighforward here.

I think that as one school is good on paper, and the other - the one your DD is in at the moment - has been good so far (just a few weeks?), the pros that could be most appropriate for you and your DD are:

a) Attending the nearest school to where you live, if most of the other children who live in your neighbourhood go to the nearest school as well, then it may be much easier to have play dates etc with the children who live nearby.

b) However, as you already have adult friends whose children attend the "outstanding" school, is your DD already friends with any of their children, and if so would they be in the same year as your child? If your answers to those two questions are yes, then I think that you should seriously consider the logistics of getting your DD to school everyday (eg. even if your friends at your "first choice" school were to move away, could you - and/or your DPartner, if applicable - still manage to get your DD to school and home again, relatively easily?

As your DD has presumably only been in her reception class for approximately 6 weeks, if she has good friends at the other school too, and if your friends genuinely rave about it, then I really think that most of your pros and cons should be logistical ones, but they should also take into account any strong gut feelings you may have. In fact, if I had a strong "gut" feeling about either school then I might put that at the top of my lists of pros and cons - but I have had many years to realise that I really should pay attention to my guttural instincts.

Good luck with your choices @Seaglass87, whichever you choose I think that your DD is very lucky to have such a thoughtful Mummy 🌻🌻

My parents did this to me and I was so miserable at the new "prestigious" school that they moved me back 10 months later. I developped a lot of anxiety as a result. I'd never move a happy child from a school they love.

My DC high school went from outstanding to requires improvement whilst they were mid way through their education there. A lot of it was around their provision for children with SEN which neither of my dc have. I didn't notice any difference once it had a worse ofsted rating. If she is happy and you aren't having to travel miles to get her there then leave her.

Being a teacher myself and having worked in an outstanding school - ofsted rating would certainly not be a deciding factor for me!!

I would lean more toward saying your child is happy , why move , however it depends on how the move will impact the secondary schools your child is able to go to - will a move mean a better secondary school ? Xx

My children are late teenagers and there appears to be no difference in academic performance at this older age between those who went to 'better on paper' and popular schools than those who didn't.

Don't move a happy child!

We had this situation, albeit slightly differently as it was the first day of school we got offered the place at our first choice. Even that change in plans did cause a lot of angst for my DS, he had to change uniform, change how we got to school, he had done all the settling in/meet the teacher sessions and he loved her, we'd arranged playdates with new classmates who now he would never see again. However, we loved the headteacher at our first choice school and it was outstanding. Flash forward 3 years, the headteacher left in Year One, everyone is fairly confident the outstanding rating will go as soon as Ofsted rock up. Having said that he is very happy, has good friends and is doing well - but not for the "pro" reasons we had on our list. The new headteacher is very religious (we are not) and because its so popular his class is HUGE as children join as soon as they can get a place (36) - realistically, on paper I wouldn't choose it now (nor would I move him though, he is happy and doing well).
I would say look at your pro con list and think about how much things might change. Look further up the school (I feel like most reception classes are quite happy but maybe less so at older ages/junior school). If it wasn't rated outstanding would it change your mind? Because if it wasn't assessed recently the likelihood is that it will definitely be downgraded next inspection. As she's only half a term in, and in reception, she'll manage the change I'm sure but it will be short term disruptive - if it's for long term gain then I'd go for it, but it's quite hard to work out what is long term gain and what might change!

This is common from what I hear