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Original poster

Different school for each child......advice please.

11 replies

fizzytree · 04/10/2010 21:22

Hello, DD has just started at our second choice school. She is on the waiting list for the local catholic school but no joy as yet. We are catholic and were in Australia at the time of application and stuffed it up a bit, therefore not getting what we wanted.
Anyhow, dd2 is starting school in sept 2011 and we obviously would like her to go to the catholic school as it is a better school etc etc.
Does anybody out there send their dc's to different schools and if so how do you logistically do it.

OP posts:
meltedmarsbars · 04/10/2010 21:24

I have 3 dc's at 3 different schools.

DD1 walks to secondary with her friends (she is 11)

I walk with ds after

dd2 is collected by taxi (sn school).

I sometimes get 2 schools double-booking things.

KateF · 04/10/2010 21:28

I also have 3 at 3 schools. dd1 (Yr6) walks with a friend, dd2 (Yr5) is just round the corner and walks or I drop her on the way to dd3 (Yr2) school which is in the next village. The older two walk home and have keys but are only home about 10 minutes before me. We ended up like this because dd1 and dd2 had very different needs and the same middle school was not appropriate for the two of them.

DiscoDaisy · 04/10/2010 21:29

I have 5 children who go to 4 different schools. My 2 eldest go to and from school on a dedicated school bus as their schools are in the same town about 18 miles away.
My other 3 children are split between 2 schools that are within walking distance of each other and our house and have different start and finish times.

Original poster
fizzytree · 04/10/2010 21:45

Thanks for that. I am not sure how I also would feel getting a better school for one and not sending the other. Or do you think their education is more important than them being together ??

OP posts:
KateF · 04/10/2010 21:53

Well in our case it is absolutely right that they should be at the school most suited to them. They are close in age but like chalk and cheese plus dd1 is very able academically while dd2 has severe dyslexia and needs a smaller, more supportive environment. Some people have said I'm mad to let them go to different schools but the main thing is that they are both happy.

Ladymuck · 04/10/2010 21:57

Would you look to move your elder dd? And would she jump higher up the waiting list by being a sibling?

I have 2 at different primary schools, but I can say it is because they are both at schools which suit them best. I'm not so sure about how I'd feel if I felt one was at a school which wasn't good for them. What is the message that you want to give your elder daughter?

sunnydelight · 05/10/2010 01:20

Would you be prepared to move your eldest daughter if a place came up at the Catholic school? If so, it would seem to make sense to send your younger daughter there, then her sister should have higher priority on the waiting list as a sibling. Obviously though it has to be physically doable in terms of transport and times.

FWIW when we moved UK to Australia we put our eldest in a high school which turned out to be a disaster after a few weeks. We moved him to another school after one term, though he was initially very reluctant to go to "yet another school". It turned out for the best as I knew it would, but I honestly don't think I could have done it if he had been more settled so there might be a window of opportunity beyond which it would be best to leave your eldest where she is regardless or whether the other school is "better" or not. Good luck.

redskyatnight · 05/10/2010 10:22

You might feel differently about the catholic school once you actually have a child there. Plenty of people on MN to testify to their DC getting on better at the "worse" school.

I know it's not the question you were asking but I will have to send my DC to 2 different schools next year as their current school only runs to Y2 and DS will be going into Y3. (2 schools nearly a mile apart) It's common to have to manage 2 schools, purely because of the age of your DC.

Original poster
fizzytree · 05/10/2010 11:51

Thanks for all your advice. Sunnydelight, I would be very happy to move dd1 and she is on the waiting list and applying for a mid school transfer, so fingers crossed something will come up. I think that I will probably apply for first choice at the catholic school and keep my fingers crossed for a space in yr1 for dd1.
It's all my own fault really which makes it ten times worse!!

OP posts:
cat64 · 05/10/2010 16:51

This reply has been deleted

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Ladder · 05/10/2010 16:54

Also 3 at 3 different schools here in 3 different directions too!

One in primary 4 miles away I drive.

One 6 miles in one direction from home, gets a bus.

One 9 miles in other direction on a school bus.

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