how many of us, just send our kids to the local school

[southeastastra]

am feeling this is getting more rare now!

I dunno which camp I'm in. All of them, maybe!! We had to move twice in the year before DC1 started school so of course I considered school quality as part of where to move. We chose the area with a Good/Satisfactory Ofsted school over the trendy area with school with Outstanding Ofsted/highest KS2 results in the county (to cut down on DH commuting, & I couldn't stomach how little house we'd get for our money).

Living in walking distance from DC school is extremely important to me.

Local high school is still quite mediocre, I expect to send 3 DC there, but DC1 has ended up in private.

I do. But it's a rural area, only 2 primaries and 1 secondary. We're in the catchment area for the better of the 2 primaries (Ofsted Outstanding) so it wasn't exactly a hard choice!

Me, schools the bus goes to.
I'd have quite liked DD2 to have tried for the Grammar. However, I'm not cross she didn't want to.
Very long days and me still being tied to getting her to and from the bus.

In DD1's class of 15 i would say there are 4 children for whom it is not their 'local school'

Mine do/did for Infant and Junior. We already lived nearby before the children, but I will confess that when we moved a year before admissions I rang up and checked we were still in catchment area. It wasn't necessarily a deal breaker but I wanted to have all the facts.

They are not local for secondary, personal choice as the school suits them better. Also in the case of DD she needed to be in a different school from the majority of the girls in her class - there had been issues.

When we applied for DS1, our local school (2 mins walking distance) was an oversubscribed C of E school, and I simply wasn't prepared to go through the crazy admission system to get in.

We were offered and accepted a lovely primary and, when we moved to a bigger house, we moved to walking distance to this one.

My DC's went to the cofe primary school just round the corner, but we had a choice of a 4 or 5 schools within 20 minutes walk.

For secondary they go to a school 7 miles away, because DS got in on an apptitude test and dd followed under the sibling rule. There are a few schools in between but only one that I would have wanted the dcs to go to but couldn't get into because we are too far away.

Us too, ours go to the local village school.

I just sent my children to the local primary school; because I'd done my research and was confident that it was a good school that I was happy with.

For secondary we sent them to the next town, where the school suits them far better than the local one.

What I mean is some people could feel smug because they send their kids to the local school, but it depends what your options are. I don't think many educated, thinking people nowadays would "just send" their kids to any school. They would check it out first and see what the options are.

There are some truly great local state schools in this country, but there's no guarantee that the one at the end of your street is.

Mine do but we live somewhere where there would be a long drive to go private and there are no schools in the town that hands-down outshine the others. I feel very lucky as I do think it is genuinely comprehensive. My ds (12) has a very mixed profile with very strong strengths and very weak weaknesses so would have suffered either way in a grammar system.

I do - but only because its a great school and has had three consecutive outstanding ofsted inspections. When we bought the house 13 years ago it was a very bog standard comp. I feel very lucky about that if I'm honest.

Never had any option really. We live in a rural area and DH needed our only car for work. So mine went along with everyone elses DC to the local village primary school. They would have gone to the same school even if I had had transport. I didn't buy a property to be near the school. We chose the house because we liked it, could afford it, and it was on a large plot for a new build. I never realised people did go to such lengths for a particular school until I read about it on MN.
All six DC went to the same village primary and then on to the catchment comp. The youngest DS are 16 and 15 so not many school reports etc. to go!

I had no choice, but that doesn't mean I didn't care about their education. I made sure it worked for them.

there are, off the top of my head, 6 primary schools nearer to my home than the one ds1&2 go to. but none of them had spaces. so they go to one 3 miles away. i wish they COULD go to the local school!

I probably won't be able to send my dc to our two local secondary schools. They are both Ofsted outstanding and one has such a miniscule catchment that we are too far away (even though it is our closest school!), and the second is hugely oversubscribed and gives places on a mysterious scholarship/lottery system. Dd will have to go on a bus to our third choice school which is a few miles away.

Me. I did.

Neither of the schools are stunningly brilliant re grades. But the common denominator is that they have a caring inclusive ethos and the pupils are happy there. I went to private school and I was desperate for my children to have the sort of local network of school friends I missed out on. Having said all that there aren't any 'stunningly brilliant' schools round here anyway and as I work full-time ferrying children anywhere wouldn't really be possible. Clearly I Do Not Take My Children's Education Seriously!

Yes - DS is now at his third primary; first was local, second was not quite the nearest (which was full) but another very local one and final one is the local one. And he will be going to the local secondary school. We've moved around the country a bit in the last few years in case it looks as though we are swapping schools all the time .

Have to admit we have always lived in places which have pretty good schools (not 'outstanding' - but generally good).

We did. They are the local schools to where we live and where we work. Lived here before children.

I did (after moving across town to live near by, - although we had already been offered a place) . The school just wasn't right for my DC, and they now attend an RC school, which is the next nearest. - Yes, I frequently kick myself for not having sent them there in the first place.

DD went to the local excellent primary school and is now at the nearest high school. The primary school was outstanding by ofsted's standards and also IMO. The high school is satisfactory, but on the way up. The school has a very ambitious head teacher who is dragging the school up whether it likes it or not. I can't warm to her but she is good for the school.

We didn't really consider schools when we moved here, but have just struck lucky.

Eldest does, even though it is our nearest it is massively oversubscribed and I was really worried about getting a place despite being 0.8km away. Luckily there was a "bulge year" and hoping youngest gets in next year...

Secondaries will be a nightmare.

Eldest does, even though it is our nearest it is massively oversubscribed and I was really worried about getting a place despite being 0.8km away. Luckily there was a "bulge year" and hoping youngest gets in next year...

Secondaries will be a nightmare.

Oops, sorry for double post!

I tried to but there is no room so dd has to go to a school that is miles away and therefore she has very few local friends. However if everyone sent their children to the local school my dd could walk to school, creating less traffic and she could have friends round to play and dp and I could be more involved.

Dd has always gone to the local school.