Choosing between two good primary schools as a first time mum

[MCMP13]

Unsure which primary school to chose - first child and not had anything to do with primary schools really until now so not sure what to be looking for and would just like some advice really. We have visited both schools and liked both. I know we put ‘preferences’ down and don’t get to actually ‘chose’. Both schools feed into same secondary school. How important is the primary school choice. I may be mentioning things below that are not even relevant to picking a school , this is just from data. I am a pretty clueless first time mum trying to make the best decision for my child.

Primary school 1: 8 minute walk. Good ofsted rating recently. Great facilities including Forest school and enrichment activities. Academic achievement is not the best. High % of students on pupil premium. Higher % of students with SEN. Oversubscribed number of students. Free breakfast club.

Primary school 2: 15 minute walk. Good ofsted rating recently. Facilities not as good as 1 but do have good enrichment activities also. Academic achievement a lot higher than primary school 1. Very low % of students on pupil premium. Low % of students with SEN. Undersubscribed number of students. Wraparound childcare at a cost

We went with:
Distance
Academic Rating
Class Sizes
Extra Curricular Activities
Wrap Around Care Hours

The rest didn't play a part in our decision and we actually chose a lower rating Ofsted school over an outstanding one.

We went for the closest school

That sounds a no brainer for me. School 1: closer, better facilities, free breakfastclub.

Whichever is the easiest for you to get too.

What does “academic achievement not the best” mean? Really bad? Or good but not amazing?

How undersubscribed is the second school? Slightly but still reasonably sized classes (25-30)? Or so small they’ll be struggling with their budget, and maybe looking to merge years etc?

Apologies, that wasn’t very clear, school and achievement rates etc is all very new to me and trying to do as much research as I can.

Primary 1 : 57% meet expected standard. This school according to gov has 40 more than capacity? It has also been taken over by an academy 4 year ago

Primary 2: 75% meet expected standard. They are 30 students under the capacity according to gov website. Also this school is council led - not sure how much of a difference that makes again?

Thank you for other replies.

Does the % of students on FSM affect anyones decision?

Go hang round them both at school closing time. See which group of parents you’ll feel comfortable spending the next 7 years with.

I don't know why children on FSM should make a difference because you don't know the reasons why they receive them.

I already know the answer to this one and it’s primary school 2, it is genuinely in a nicer area even though they are only 1.5 miles apart. Primary school 1 is in a more low income and deprived area. However is this important when choosing the school?

I'd be wondering why School 2 is "undersubscribed", given it is also Ofsted Good and has better academic achievements. And, do you mean undersubscribed as in the Reception class(es) this year took in fewer students than its PAN, or do you mean the total school numbers are less than its maximum capacity?

The school my children attend is always oversubscribed for Reception, but it has a few less students than its total maximum capacity.

On the gov website, the total number of students is 30 students under the capacity

So that doesn’t tell you anything about whether the Reception intake is undersubscribed. The LA should have details on their website about how many pupils the school take in reception each year (PAN) and then how many applied, and how many were accepted for the previous year’s intake.

Easy decision, school 1. It’s closest - far easier for play dates as they grow up. Easier for them to walk to school themselves when the time comes too.

I also think higher percentage of SEN can be a benefit. My kids went to a school with a high SEN percentage and it meant that there was always at least 1, but more often 2, TA’s in the classroom alongside the class teacher. Yes, the TA is supposed to be a specific child’s 1-2-1 but in reality, they help all the children on the table. Therefore much better staff to child ratio.

Well you’re going to be mixing with the parents, and your kid is going to be mixing with theirs. If the parents at one of the schools seem more likely to have the same values as you, that’s pretty important. Bloody difficult as a kid to adhere to the values you’re being raised with when your peers have completely separate values and views.

You can look at your local council admissions data to see the previous years’ reception allocation. Then you’ll be able to see if they reliably have a few under their PAN (the max number they can have per year) or if it’s dropped off a cliff in the last year or so. If it’s just that all their classes for all years have about 27/28 kids, that’s fine. All the schools near me are undersubscribed, some are even reducing the number of classes, as the birth rate is falling and the council is predicting really low pupil numbers over the next few years. If it’s that for the last two years, they’ve only had 15 children apply, then that’s a bit weird.

Is it one or two classes per year?

@WhatAMarvelousTune @SilenceInside Thank you for this, I didn’t know you could actually do that.

Primary school 1 had 50 chose it as their first choice out of 55 spaces

Primary school 2 had 57 chose it as their first choice out of 60

Both schools are very similar in size with 2 classes each year group.

Normally I’d say opt for the nearest. But this one is oversubscribed, isn’t in a great area and is below average for meeting expected standards.

If the further one has space in reception, not just below capacity overall, I’d go with that one.

Being 30 under capacity in total for a 2 form entry school is nothing then - it’s a couple of kids under in each class.

School 1 having a PAN if 55 is weird to me. Maybe it’s normal in some places, but I’ve only ever seen multiples of 30, with the occasional multiple of 15.

I’d go with school 2 - it’s still close, you liked it, the academics are better.

I’d go with No 2. A 15 min walk to school is nothing, that’s what we did for years. If the academic achievement is better and you feel you would fit better with the families in No 2, that seems the obvious choice. When choosing a primary school my my eldest, we visited the nearest one and I was really put off by the headteacher saying that because a lot of the children there came from socially deprived backgrounds, they prioritised nurturing over academic achievement, particularly in the early years. I am really glad that exists for those who need it, but it was not what I was looking for from a school.

Normally I’d say opt for the nearest. But this one is oversubscribed, isn’t in a great area and is below average for meeting expected standards.

Social context for schools 1 and 2 are used by OFSTED, so they are compared nationally with schools that have a similar profile (Free school meals / Pupil Premium) are the main way of assessing this. So for both schools to be rated Good, the level of achievement must actually be similar compared to other schools nationally (not with each other).

Also depends on whether your child has additional needs (likely to be better supported at school 1), would like the Forest School type activities and whether you need a breakfast club.

Thank you for your replies. I’m going to have another look round tomorrow to see if that helps

I agree with all of this. I would also be swayed by the better results of school two, unless you suspect you child has additional needs and would be better supported at school 1. Normally going for the closest school is great advice in terms of building friendships and also day to day routines being easier, but 7 minutes extra is nothing so I wouldn't give that much extra weight.

You don't actually mention visiting the schools in person.
It's not all about the data.

Book a visit when they open their doors for prospective new parents.

She says she’s visited both in the OP, and liked them