What to do?

[marmaladeone]

Not in UK but hoping for a general idea of peoples experience.
I have 5 options for my 11yo who is moving to secondary school next year ( assuming he passes all the necessary exams - which obviously may not happen )
Ranked in academic order according to past years the options are :

1. Government school that is wholly selective ( but a bit over an hour away by bus)
2. Independent school that has a bus that picks up on our street and is only 10 minutes away . Even if he gets a part scholarship will still cost thousands a year
3. Catholic school that is only 5 minutes away but is hugely over-subscribed so unlikely to get in. Also we aren't Catholic
4. Government school that has a selective stream. He would most likely get into this quite easily. Free but no public transport as we are way out of area, so would have to drive him and pick him up every day for the next 6 years.
5. Home school - has worked well for him so far, he skipped a grade after being at home with me ( due to Covid) as was so far ahead, and then went straight into a gifted and talented class. Not ideal for me or for his socialisation though. ( I acknowledge that one on one with an intelligent child is a lot easier than teaching 30 kids so not claiming to be a great teacher - just that it worked for us.)

What would you pick ? Thanks for any replies.

Option 1 or option 4, then I would try to move house closer to school.

An hour’s commute isn’t too bad if it is a proper coach - he can do homework, talk to friends, play on his phone.

Yes , that is his plan. He's asked for unlimited data so he can play on his phone on the bus. It's just such a lot of time ( 2 hours a day) that is what is worrying me.

Can't move closer really as we are semi-rural and the school is in the middle of suburbia. My horse will not be happy. I suppose I could sell him .

My horse not my son 😂

A lot of people will tell you long journeys are cruel etc. DD is in a state grammar, we are rural and she travels by bus to the city. At least an hour each way. She plays on her phone, has made 'bus friends' she chats with, does revision etc. 1st term was tiring but is now used to it and so unbelievably happy at the school. If she wasn't, then it wouldn't be worth it and we wouldn't hesitate to pull her out. She still finds time for extracurricular and downtime etc.