Would I be mad to move my son to a different school?

[Watermelonsuns]

my DS is in year 1 of his school. We live jn a highly populated area with three local schools. Due to covid we couldn't view the schools properly and only one were able to give us a private viewing. The one we viewed we ended up choosing as we got a nice vibe from it and to be honest we didnt know what we were looking for. Since my son started there have been several things I'm not happy with and bow im massively regretting my choice
His current school have no after school activities and in general it feels a bit old, the resources are quite old for example the reading books and IT equipment. Another local school is more newly built and seems to have more funding and activities happening. From speaking to parents at the newer school I just have a feeling I've made the wrong decision.
Another factor is that the newer school does better in the testing and has a better inspection report.
My DS has been in school 1 and a half years and he seems happy and has friends but I worry long term leaving him there will affect his education.
Im really kicking myself for choosing the only school we viewed and not doing the proper research.
Should I move him when he seems settled while it's still early days in his education?

He’s happy, he has friends. The right things are in place to learn where he is, I wouldn’t move him.

Yeah thats my reservation about moving but to be honest hes very sociable and will make friends quite easily when we are out at groups and the park etc
He's quite academic, hes in the top reading group of his class but they are reading books that a reception aged child would be reading so its got me worried

The grass is not always greener. There doesn't appear to be any real reason to move him. He's happy and settled and has friends. There's unlikely to be a 'top' reading groups in Yr1 as they're all learning at their own pace and some will be faster than others but that doesn't make them top. As long as he's happy and making progress I would consider it a bit risky to move him for very little reason or any real benefit to him.

Does he read lots at home? If so, it doesn’t really matter what he reads at school.
Most schools have old resources.
Id leave him where he is.

Can you move him (i.e. is there a space at the other school)?

I'm not sure anything you mention would be enough to move a settled child, so I'm not sure whether it's more gut feeling that you can't articulate or a "grass is always greener" scenario.

It's not really an issue to use old resources - schools are not well funded and it suggests they are spending money elsewhere. I've always felt after school activities are better done out of school to allow for a wider range of experience - particularly if you say your chlid is sociable anyway. It's really not that odd for children a term into Year 1 to be reading Reception books - and you can always supplement at home. If you're concerned they are too "easy" for him, ask the teacher what he needs to work on to improve his reading - it's not just about knowing what the words say, what is his comprehension like?

Reading between the lines I'm guessing the other school may have a more affluent middle class intake - so some of the fancy facilities might be PTA funded, for example. This will also affect their results.

Can he join clubs outside school? It can be nice to mix more widely rather than have all hobbies in house. This (with slightly scruffy books) would not be enough for me to move a happy, settled child. It will also affect any friendships you have made with local/school mums.

You are not going back in time and choosing 2y ago, your choice now has to factor in moving him, which isn't always a positive. If you are prone to overthinking and never letting small things go, do reflect before making it your sons problem.

Our school has loads of clubs, but they are run by the parent council (proper qualified tutors are hired), it's something you could do and it isn't necessarily a sign of more funding. If anything our school gets less of the council clubs because we have better ones in house.

Try and visit the potential new school with your DS and see how you all feel about it. If he seems happy about moving then do it. Lots of children move schools in primary, it's usually not a big deal and children adapt very quickly.

Personally I'd be very careful (and I say this as someone who is planning on moving our own Yr2 DD this year). Slightly old-fashioned and shabby doesn't necessarily equate to a worse education or experience, and we are actually trying to go the other way - from a slick, very results and data driven school to somewhere a bit more nurturing and homespun.

DD is very academic, but we've realised that her current school's cookie cutter approach (focused almost solely on results in core subjects in the Year 6 SATs) leaves little time for anything creative or sporty, and it's already giving her some anxiety issues (she has perfectionist tendencies anyway). We are planning on moving out of London, where most of the local schools take a similar approach, to somewhere where the primaries don't achieve quite so highly on paper, but are more nurturing and holistic in their approach - forest school, lots of art, music and drama etc. We've looked at results further down the line at secondary level, and it seems that the slightly gentler approach at primary level has no detrimental effect on achievement in GCSEs etc - outcomes are just as good. Often the 'slick' schools are just teaching narrowly to the test, not offering a genuinely well-rounded education.

I get your concern about after school clubs, but again for us it's very much about quality not quantity. DD's school has a fair number of after school activities, but they're all bought-in franchises that are very variable in quality - nothing organised by the teachers themselves (not blaming them - I used to teach myself and know teachers have no time). It all seems very 'superficial' - looks all nice and shiny on paper, but when you dig a bit deeper many of the activities are low quality, taught by very inexperienced staff and basically just additional childcare. The kids often aren't gaining very much from them. Again, the schools we're looking at offer fewer club options, but those they have are run by teaching staff who know the kids and have some expertise or a genuine interest in that area. More homespun, basically.

I'd say friendships are key here - the difference with us is that DD has never really settled socially at her current school. She's not actively unhappy, but only has one friend who she genuinely seems to care about, and could take or leave the rest of her current class. If your DS is settled with a firm friendship group it is a very different calculation I think.

Would there be an opportunity to visit the alternative school again (maybe moonlighting as a prospective Reception parent on a group tour?) to give it another careful appraisal?