Going in circles over secondary choice - local school vs specialist languages

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With just a few days before the application deadline DH and I are going in circles about secondary preferences, would really value thoughts.

We live near to School 1 - an outstanding school which tends to get good grades but also has a good range of support and opportunities for non-academic/extra curriculur. It has a slight reputation for being focused on exams and grades rather than all-round development, but we all liked it on the visit, and it's also where many of DC's friends will go. It is London and a small catchment so we are not 100% guaranteed to get in but I would say 85-90%. It's walking distance away.

DC also has the option of taking a specialist place at a School 2 which is slightly further away (one stop on the train, and he could still easily manage the journey). It is good with outstanding features. The specialist place means DC is guaranteed a place and would have extra language teaching. We like the school's overall ethos and approach. DC ranked it as their favourite school for quite a while but the main downside is the distance. There will be (max) 2 or 3 other kids from DC's primary school at this school, which is making them nervous.

When asked in last few weeks, DC will say something like "School 2 was nice, I feel like I should go, but I want to be with friends at school 1, I don't know"

DH and I had quite different school experiences - both happy, but he went to school at end of his road with many friends from primary school; I travelled a fair way by train to a school where I initially knew no-one. So we sort of differ on how much of a factor distance and friends should be.But we also can't work out how important the extra language and guaranteed place are - we just swither back and forth between which to place as preference 1.

I'm believe DC will do well and be happy at either school, which is of course a nice position to be in,but it makes it hard to decide which one we want to place first.

So I guess my question is how would you decide; what factors would you weight more highly?

School 2 - having a good level of another language is a good advantage. They make new friends and secondary school anyway and the short train journey will promote independence

How far away is school 2? I wonder whether it will make meeting up with friends harder - makes a difference if it’s a five minute drive or 30.

I went to a specialist language school in a city when I was younger. Had to get a bus or train there and back. I absolutely loved it and was doing so well there, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for my career. My father then got promoted and we moved a couple of hundred miles away. No school available with the same facilities and I went to pot.
I really regret having had to change schools and not having the career I wanted.

It's ten minutes drive or cycle, but they would most likely go via train at least to begin with, which is around 20/30 min door to door

School 2 sounds more suitable. I think it’s human nature to second guess yourself . Perhaps write a list of pros and cons and discuss between you.

I'm a bit 🙄at "specialist" schools.

I went to a specialist performing arts school (12 years ago tbf), I did GCSE Music and Drama, I honestly don't think the performing arts was that much better than anywhere else. I had friends at other schools and their productions, orchestras/bands etc were miles ahead of ours.

Yes some of it was quite cool but none of it really mattered once we all left at 16 to go to the local sixth form college.

I think that my school was quite low performing overall so decided to focus on one area to get brownie points.

I meant more for out of school, so that’s not too bad.

School 1. Good, local and will also teach languages. I see no real advantage to school 2 to put it first.

If you put school 1 as first choice would 2 still be an option if you didn’t get in?

What is the difference in language provision? You can help DC with languages thyough online lessons with a native speaker if he's keen.

Yes. There is an equal preference system so schools cannot and do not prioritise people who put them first. The OP should list the schools in their genuine order of preference, and there is no risk involved at all in listing a school they may not get a place at as the first choice. If they put School 1 first and School 2 second and didn't get into School 1, they would be offered a place at School 2 in exactly the same way as if they had put it first. The order you list schools in the form simply tells the LEA what your preference would be if places at all schools you list could be offered.

Dc1 gets a bus to the next town to what we thought was the better school.
ds2 goes to the local school.
bitterly regret not sending dc1 to the local school, he spends all his downtime stuck to his computer and never sees any friends.
ds2 is out all the time playing football and having fun with his mates.
depends on your priorities I suppose! We feel like we got them wrong by priotisong education over friends and social life.

What’s the Progression after each school? If either had a sixth form that would be a priority for me now - having had DC1 & 2 go through schools without sixth form and DC1 attending a local college, DC2 is now commuting to a sixth form attached to a school which is so much better than the college provision.

There's a lot of advantages in just being able to walk to school. No travel costs, reliance on trains running or being on time. What would your transport arrangement be if there was a train strike?

How much extra language teaching does school B actually do? What is it at the expense of? All Secondary schools teach at least one language with often the option of taking a second as an additional choice. Does your child really need more than 1 right now?

Our Secondary is a specialist maths and science school. They teach maths and science pretty well I think, but I can't see any particular extra emphasis on it really. They do all the other subjects too.

Specialties seem a bit of a gimmick to me to be honest.

A good all round education is what's needed. Being local to the school is a bonus. Being with friends helps with the initial settling in.

I'd go for school A.

Bottom line is that your kid will be happy at both and both are a perfectly reasonable commute. So I guess the choice comes down how much better is the language provision and how important is that?

Both sound fine.
I wouldn't set too much store by the extra language. If they insist on two at GCSE, that restricts other options, and the chances are the nearer school will offer two to upper sets anyway. My DD did an extra language out of school.
I also wouldn't worry too much about friendships - they shift anyway as they move up to secondary. They'll probably be nervous anyway, even going with lots of their friends. If the languages school draws from a wider area, there will probably be plenty of others looking for new friends.
Which leaves distance/travel. There is much to be said for a short commute - more time for other activities after school, no problem staying late for clubs, friends nearby. If there isn't a huge difference, I'd go for local.

I'd agree with looking into what the specialist language college actually means. We looked round one. It seemed to mean that every child got 8 weeks of Mandarin lessons in year 9 (which unless they want to continue isn't going to get them very far) and sometimes they taught a lesson of history or geography in a different language (which probably means that the children learn neither the language or any history or geography that lesson).