Massive school 25 min walk away vs tiny lovely school 1hr walk away??

[Mummywantsaweewee]

Thinking about where to enroll my 2 y/o when the time comes. The school closest to me is a massive primary which combines 4 villages children in one. 25 minute walk to get there (uphill all the way so chances are it will take a bit longer than 25mins)
A bit further away is a lovely small school very similar to the one I attended as a child max 30 kids from reception to yr6. Am keen for my children to have the same experience as me, tiny school so like a second family but it is a bit further away, about an hours walk or 7 mins by car.
Am I mad to consider the one that’s an hours walk away? I’m sure kids walked that far or further in years gone by and I’m sure it will be a better school experience.

There are many advantages to a larger primary school. There are often a much wider selection of after school activities, as outside providers are more likely to be able to get a decent group. It also means that you aren't stuck with the small number of children the same age as you, which can be awful if there is a clash.

I went to a small primary school. It did not work for me. I was always bored, particularly when I was in a class with children up to 2 years younger than me. My children benefitted from a larger school. It didn't stop them having personal attention from staff, as there are still enough teachers and TAs. They did a great job of getting to know the children.

@ginghamstarfish because if my car broke down etc I need to consider how else to get there? 🙈

There is a lot to be said for a school that is a short commute in primary. A LOT. The other advantages have to be pretty huge to outweigh it.

An hour walking is frankly not doable every day. It comes down to whether you have other modes of transport e.g. bike with trailer/cargo bike/car. Also whether you'd even get into the smaller school if out of catchment.

So you have a car. So it won’t be an hour and he is likely to get a place? Bit of a disingenuous OP, OP .

There are downsides to tiny schools. If he doesn’t fit in, he might find it cliquey and difficult. Plus, the transition to big, busy secondary school can be tricky if they’re used to a very small group of peers. Of course, when it works, it works but it isn’t always the utopian village dream.

How massive is the massive school exactly? How many children per year?

Personally I'd be happy with a large primary school (eg 90 per year) but I would do my best to avoid a school so small it combined year groups for example as I feel there are more drawbacks than benefits.

Horses for courses

I picked a smaller school - max 14 kids per year group. There was only 6 in my middle child's year group. Its not even walkable due to the type of roads to get there but I'd assume an hour plus if I felt like playing chicken to get there. I drive, takes 10mins. All fine!

[quote Mummywantsaweewee]@ginghamstarfish because if my car broke down etc I need to consider how else to get there? 🙈[/quote]
I think that is sensible! Is there also public transport? We had a bus that went from the bottom of our road to the bottom of the road the kids' school was on, so that was an option in emergencies, and the ultimate emergency option is a taxi of course.

The school I went to as a child was probably abut 45 minutes walk from our house, if you went across the fields, although we never did walk, we always went in the car. Our cars were always absolute bangers and many is the morning they had to be jump started, so we did get a taxi once or twice when even the jump starting didn't work .

Remember that once they are too big for the trailer they will still have to walk (or cycle) and a child who is only just cycling independently can't really cycle that far every day, twice a day, in howling winds/driving rain.

We have a Follow Me tandem and I used to ride DS to school (25 mins walk) but it's up a VERY steep hill both ways (I know that sounds impossible but it is) so he won't cycle himself now he's too big for the attachment (he has dyspraxia which doesn't help). He wasn't at that school when he was smaller and I do see families with trailers going there and also families with tag-alongs or Follow Mes but I see almost none cycling with older children who are cycling independently - the traffic is bad too which doesn't help, though for a tiny village school it's more of a problem with weather over a longer distance I'd think.

[quote Mummywantsaweewee]@ginghamstarfish because if my car broke down etc I need to consider how else to get there? 🙈[/quote]
If your car breaks down, you either call in and get them there later, taxi or ask someone to give you a lift. Maybe there's a bus?

What about if you want (or need) to work? A second child? Were poorly and could not collect your LO
Things outside of school are also beneficial to children. I would not make a decision about schools based solely on my own experience

No.

I know there will be lots of people saying how their 3/4yo happily walks for hours up mountains and down Vale with barely a snack or a stop but no. I think a 60 minute walk (for you or according to google, so more like 80 minutes to cover contingencies on the way in) so leaving at what, 7.30 am, doing a full day at school and then a 60 (80) minute walk home so getting home at 4.30ish.

Not to mention you'll be leaving at 7.30,getting in at 10, leaving at 2 and getting in at 4.30.

Will she be in half time at 3? So you'll leave 7.30, in at 10, out at 11 and in a 1.30??

If you want that school so badly, move house.

Cycling would be a good option. When she is bigger, she could do the cycling.

30 kids in each year group or 30 in the whole school? If it's the latter, that alone would put me off. A bigger school will give more social opportunities and is likely to offer more external clubs and classes. I'd go for the bigger one regardless of distance. But I also agree with everyone else, an hour is way too far!

[quote Mummywantsaweewee]@ginghamstarfish because if my car broke down etc I need to consider how else to get there? 🙈[/quote]
How often do you expect your car to break down for this to be an issue?

If it did break down you'd: get a replacement car, take a taxi, get a lift from someone, walk the 1hr at very worst.

It's a once in every few years occurrence at most, not a factor that I'd base by decision on.

If you are considering another child, school runs with multiple children aren't fun either. Hard enough driving let alone walking an hour. Last week one of mine had an awful sickness bug, I had to call in favours just to get my other children to school as he couldn't of even managed a 10min drive!

[quote Mummywantsaweewee]@ginghamstarfish because if my car broke down etc I need to consider how else to get there? 🙈[/quote]
On the very rare occasion a car broke down (happened maybe 2-3 times to us in 15 years of school) I'd get a taxi.

I would definitely choose the larger school. As well as it being closer, I think small schools can be tricky with friendship issues as there isn't a big pool of kids to choose from. What if all the kids in your age group happen to be people you don't have much in common with? It may have worked well for you OP, but I know several people who've had a bad experience in a smaller school. Although I do agree they are lovely for little children (up to age 6 ish).

My DS attended a small primary school with 30 children, only 1 other child in his year. It closed after 18 months when numbers dropped to 11.

My advice is to visit both schools first and get a feel for them. I went to a small village schools with mixed year groups in 1 classroom etc.

My dds both went to large schools and I honestly think they had a better primary school experience. More children to play with (we only had 3 girls, and 8 boys in our class and lots of friendship issues throughout primary school years). The larger school had lots of extra curriculum activities to choose from, larger pastoral care team etc.

A small school is not always a better choice.

It’s a 7 minute drive. You’ll drive. You won’t ever walk apart from maybe on a particularly lovely summers day, home from school.

The walk is irrelevant really, because you just won’t do it.

Do you mean 30 kids in the whole school?

I really think kids need a wider social pool than that to find friends they connect with. My DC we’re at a small school (one form entry and only 18 per class). I moved them to a much bigger school (four classes in their year) and it was so much better. They each found people they really got along with.

What is the chance the tiny village school will still exist by the time you're cold would be going? That sounds so unviable that it would be likely to be shut and pupils assimilated into bigger school.

The DCs primary was one form entry, he was one of 11 boys in his year. He is a quirky kid (not into fighting, sport etc like they were) and didn't really have any friends. He is now 16 and perfectly happy but he looks back in his probation days with such sadness. If there had been other firms his potential pool of friends would have been wider and this he wouldn't have had to spend so much time on his own.

I wouldnt wish that on anyone and was delighted that they expanded to two form intake by the time the other DCs joined. When big issues arise they could mix up the classes which made life much better for all.

My ds attended a very small village primary - roll varied between around 25 and 40 when they were there. Split between 2 classes. The atmosphere was lovely, support was good and they diagnosed my dd's dyslexia very early. But now they are older (dc now both at uni) they both comment that friendships were difficult. From the outside it looked great - all the kids playing together at intervals across the years - but in reality it was too small a pool to make friends. dd has talked about how she would need to try and not fall out with someone as she knew she'd need to speak to her tomorrow etc. They all lived close so was I suppose quite claustrophobic. Also teaching was not actually that great - 3 teachers (head taught part time so she had someone covering her the rest of the time) meant curriculum was relatively restrictive. 'Music' was actually practising hymns for assembly! In retrospect a bigger school would have been better for both my ds.

An hour each way is far, far too long

I’m sure kids walked that far or further in years gone by and I’m sure it will be a better school experience.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I went to a really small school (60 pupils) and I always thought it was a great experience and would want that for my daughter. However, her primary school had 600 pupils and she absolutely thrived there. She had opportunities I never did, responsibilities we were never given. No point in having houses and house captains and prefects in such a small school.

Quite a few children joined her class from the smaller schools in the area and their parents all said it had been brilliant for them. One of her SFLAs had agreed that the smaller schools just don’t offer the same as the bigger ones.

I had ten kids in my class. I was one of 6 girls, there were 4 boys. Those boys really were forced to be friends. The girls pretty much split 3 and 3 and if you fell out with someone, you were screwed.