When it comes to choosing a school for your child why do so many parents......

[graceM]

go for the easiest and most convienient choice for THEM, not their child? The only reason I ask is that most of my friends/aquaintences/neighbours etc have their children at the same primary school and then automatically chosen to send them to the feeder secondary school despite it being rated a grade 3 school (unsatisfactory/requires improvement). For most of them (and theyve admitted this) they chose to send their children to the school down the road as they are too lazy to have to drive a long distance and they "just can't be bothered"

Whereas myself I chose to opt for a catholic primary and secondary school for my children in the neighbouring borough

Our 3 choices include our local school and 2 outside of catchment. Our first choice is about 10 miles away, but we drive past it for work every day. It's our first choice because ds has known his cm since 7 months and knows many of the children in the village. We don't want him to have too much upheaval in his life at the same time as starting school. In reality we know that we are bottom of the list for over subscription criteria, therefore we've ensured we're very happy with all our choices. Our local school is big and multicultural. While we were put off by its size initially, we visited and saw first hand that the warmth it exudes, together with the headteacher's positive approach to fun and learning is exactly right for our ds. I particularly like that he will be mixing with children from different backgrounds and who have different beliefs. It's important to me to raise a well rounded individual with bags of experience who is able to communicate effectively with lots of different people. I don't believe he'd get that from a faith school.

We have put a great deal of thought and effort into our choices OP, as do most parents, even if choosing their local school. When I was young, all parents pretty much chose their nearest school. I went to an inner city comp where 40 per cent were non English speaking. Our teachers were second to none and my education was thoroughly enjoyable and yes, at times it could be challenging too. I've done pretty well not in spite of it, but because of it. There is a whole myriad of reasons that inform personal choice.

Is this a reverse or are you really this obnoxious?

Bit late to the party here but I feel I should say that myself and all three of my siblings went to an inner city London comp that was considered rubbish by ofsted. I went to a good university and got a first, both my sisters have done the same, and my brother just got 10 A*s in his GCSEs. the school itself is much less important than a supportive home environment where academics are encouraged. I had some rubbish teachers but some absolutely fantastic ones who really cared about us.

You come across very pompous and self-congratulatory OP! There are very good reasons for choosing the most local school. Schooling and life in general is not all about academic achievement, it’s about a much wider and more rounded experience, and maybe some parents feel that the local school can offer this at least as well as schools further afield. Even if they don’t, some people see school as simply a rite of passage and as long as you attend one then it’s as good as any other (certainly where I was growing up there was simply no concept of choosing a school, you always went to the one closest) so if you are of this mind set the very concept of results/ofsted/sats etc is completely alien and irrelevant. Don’t assume that because you value something more than someone else that it inherently makes them more lazy than you for not caring!

But well done on being so thrilled with your own choices, you must sleep so much better at night than all your lazy neighbours who are barely dragging up their kids!