Secondary that requires improvement in catchment or smaller intake?

[alpacamaraca]

DC currently in year 5 and our catchment secondary requires improvement with an intake of approx 270.

The other (potential) option is another secondary 10 miles away which requires improvement with an intake of approx 130 (PAN 270). Undersubscribed for the last few years due to the other schools close by being good so a fair chance they would get a place.

We'll look around both but is it better to stick with a catchment school due to after school / weekends socialising etc?

Travel is not a problem as I work near the other school plus there are trains/buses.

If they are both RI then go for the catchment school. A school with an intake less than half its PAN is in serious trouble. In the short term there will be budget issues and major turbulence in the school population. Longer term they will be at risk of closure if they don’t reduce their PAN.

Having a smaller intake isn't better by itself. The school will still have similar class sizes, just less of them. I would pick the catchment school unless you have strong reasons to prefer the other one.

@ThanksItHasPockets thank you, I hadn't considered budget issues. As DC is currently at a village school of less than 300 pupils in total I thought a school with a smaller number of pupils would be less of a dramatic change.

@BendingSpoons I suppose I was thinking pastoral support may be better as it's more likely the staff would get to know the pupils better as there are less of them.

DC will obviously have the final say and although not opposed to visiting the alternative school, I have a feeling her friends will be a big pull towards catchment option.

One issue for secondary is that a smaller intake can mean less subjects or combination of subjects, especially at gcse/ks4 and a level/ks5. You often need a certain number of pupils wanting to study a subject to make it financially viable.

I understand your thinking but you need to remember that schools are funded per pupil. A school with an intake 50% below PAN is therefore looking at a 50% deficit. They will have to take every troubled child looking for a fresh start or managed move and there will be new faces in the classroom every week.

I cannot emphasise how parlous this school’s situation is if the intake is as you describe, and I would be genuinely surprised it wasn’t already consulting to reduce its PAN and secure its future. I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole and I certainly wouldn’t put my child through a 20 mile round trip every day for the privilege.

I think you would need to ask questions about the pastoral support. Smaller doesn't necessarily equal better, as presumably there will equally be less staff. Some large schools do pastoral support very well with lots of staff in different roles, and some staff in dedicated roles. I think you need to visit the schools and ask the questions. As an example some schools near me split the year in half, so students mix in classes with only half the year. Heads of year will get to know their year group even if the heads of school etc don't know all the students well.

It's a valid point that the smaller school may feel less of a change, but you have to weigh that up with presumably starting knowing no-one or going to a larger school with friends.

The smaller school could be a valid option for other reasons but I wouldn't pick it purely on it's size. Also you mention your work being nearby, but how will that work after school? Will your DC have to wait for you?

I'm glad I asked the question as I was missing some blatantly obvious points!

Unless the intake this year is significantly closer to PAN it's probably best to give it a miss for the reasons mentioned.

In answer to the transport question I was thinking the majority of travel would be done by train (just over 15 minutes each way).

Thank you for taking the time to reply.