Would you move to get into a decent catchment?

[Valdeeves]

Would you move to get into a decent catchment or is it not a priority for you?
I'm feeling that I may be unhealthily obsessed and need some help here!

[lalalonglegs]

I think that's a given, sparkling

[Sparklingbrook]

Is it though lala. Outstanding school=happy child? I hope so.

[Jins]

I wouldn't and didn't move for primary but secondary was a different matter. Luckily we didn't have to face this issue

[lalalonglegs]

No one would suggest that Ofsted outstanding school = happy child (although imo there's a greater chance of your child being happy st a school that is well run and at the top of its game). The vast majority of parents ask around about s school's reputation, talk to people who already have children there and visit it to gauge how their child will fit in before coming to a decision.

[littlecrystal]

I would not and did not move for primary (because none were terrible), but would (and considering) move for secondary. My current local secondary option is not that bad, but I am worried about potential teenager gang issues, that horrible hat+hoodie ?style?, wrong friends and greasy fried chicken shops that get visited by students after school. Can you guess by now that I am in South London? :) We will move somewhere less convenient for work but more villagey and hopefully where is less of ?bad choice? options, and obviously an excellent secondary school.

[JenaiMorris]

I can't think of a single school, including some very over subscribed ones, that someone I know hasn't hated (or loved).

It's easy for me to say because there really aren't any 'bad' schools locally and you can generally move schools if need be, but assuming where I live isn't that unusual then I think a lot of people put far too much emphasise on a fairly narrow definition of good. The house price premium for houses near some schools is grossly inflated.

[teacherwith2kids]

I would - and did - move from somewhere where there was a single school option (that was actively bad for my DS - 'Good' Ofsted school but turned him into a debilitatingly anxious selective mute) to one where pretty much all schools were OK or better.

The feeling of freedom from worry that it gave us both - that if School A did not work out, there were schools B, C or D which could all be possible (he is in a low birth year, so we had genuine school choice) was AMAZING.

I would not move for a single school that happened to have an 'Oustanding' ofsted, given all the above discussion about variation with time and also the very real chance that a school that looks good on paper may be anything but for a particular child.