Really struggling to decide, please help me - schools

[weepootle]

DD is starting reception next year and we're moving in the summer. We went to have a look at schools last week and I'm so confused about what to do. Here's the dilemma:

1. Village school in catchment for camp which most camp children go to. Satisfactory ofsted but has improved since then. About 0.5m away so could walk.

1. Large primary with very good ofsted, also walkable but further than village school. Large class sizes but I was very impressed - great facilities etc.

1. C of E village school about 2.5m away. Outstanding ofsted- straight 1's. Really lovely village and amazing school.

I'd love her to go to no.3 but don't know if I'd be isolating both her and myself from other kids/mums on camp. Will it affect her relationship with the other kids on the patch if she doesn't go to school with them?

I only have a couple of days to decide as the closing date is looming, please tell me what you would do / any similar experiences. Thanks

When we lived on a patch when I was a kid, some of us went to the local primary, and some to the local RC school. The patch was split geopgraphically as well, with us being down at the Coombe (a small estate of about 12 houses) and the majority being up at Rock Park. It didn't hugely impact on friendships, as we made friends with the civvy kids as well.

Difficult one - you have to do what's right for your dd educationally. How long are you likely to stay there?

i,d go for the best c of e i have a schoool just at the end of my road (1-2 mins walk !!but chose to drive about 2-3 miles to take my son to a c of e school as its got a top ofsted report !
you won,t be isolating yourself from camp i lived on married patches for years and i had lots of freinds i,d send them to the one you want also you might find your not the only one on the estate to do this

Go visit the schools, and go by which environment is best for your child.

Talk to the Heads, are they approachable?
Is there alot of space, and good facilities?
What kind of after school activities do they do?

There is nothing wrong with a "satisfactory" Ofsted, and they can change very quickly.

i bet there are loads of patch kids at 3. did you ask the head?

Message withdrawn

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply- I had to go out straight after I posted.

Well I'm really pleased because you've all said what I wanted to hear .

We'll be posted there for at least 2 years but could be a lot longer.

Romy7, almost all of the kids go to no.1, there are a few go to no.2 and none at no.3 atm.

I suppose I was worried that by choosing a different school, others would think that I was saying their school wasn't good enough for us. Thanks for all your replies, it really has helped me.

on our patch you have a choice of 3 schools.

most go to no 1 (my dc included)

quite a lot to no 2 (every other child in our part of the street)

not many to no 3.

my dd's play really well with the other children in our street even though they go to a diffrent school, i like the fact they are not seeing the same children all the time.

weepootle by any chance r u at halton, if so i sent my ds to 3rd school ( c of e ), he loves it, he has quite a few friends from our street and has made great friends at school, it has not affected him at all xxx

my three children go to a school outside of married quarters and its the best thing they ever did because they have the same friendship groups as none of there civie friends move around. also there friends tend to give them lots of support when there dads away and i enjoy escaping from army talk!!!

sugababe, it's not Halton but not that far... north of Luton.

I put my application in and my first choice was No.3 (C of E), second choice No.1 (village school).

Thanks for all the help everyone .