Moving schools in Yr1. Please help me as ultimately it will be up to me...

[LadyOfTheFlowers]

...DH will go with whatever I say as I have to get kids to school on foot, which currently takes half an hour both ways or £4.30 daily on the bus.

Some of you may remember my thread last year following DS1s parent evening in Reception when his teacher was negative about him, basically insinuated he was useless and it was our fault for having 4 children.

We had parents' evening last night with his new teacher (who he tells me he loves - 'just a little bit' :) ) and she is indeed lovely, but most importantly, she says he is fine, he produces more quality rather than quantity, never moans when asked to do things, (ie; handwriting sheet/reading) and she has never seen a child try so hard ever and she can't fault him for effort. This is all the opposite to what his previous teacher said.

It took him the best part of reception year to settle in and come out of his shell (he is a mid July baby) and at one point we thought he might have selective mutism. He really couldn't speak up in group situations etc, turned out he had glue ear and either genuinely hadn't heard what was going on or wasn't confident enough in that he had heard correctly to contribute iyswim? Teacher kept forgetting this which DH pointed out might be why he wasn't so good with his sounds if he could only hear some of the time.

His writing has increased tenfold in what..? 5 weeks they have been in their new classes, and I think it is mostly because he now likes the teacher he has and is more interested in pleasing her. (He didn't like the previous teacher)

So, if you are still reading, my question is this?
Do I move him to the equally excellent school right on our doorstep? I mean literally, it is 4 doors down from us, or do I keep him where he is now he has finally taken off? Despite the fact it is quite far away and can be a PITA to get to? (25-30 mins walk)
I asked honestly for his teachers' opinion and she said and I quote

'He is quite a quiet boy, quite reserved. He may do very well as the other school is very small and cosy (100 kids - current school 400) or the move may well make him revert to his old ways - you never know how a child will react'

I need to apply for DS2s school place so need to make my mind up - obv. he will be going wherever DS1 is.

DH is erring on the side of keeping him where he is and I think I am too but am torn.
A good school on the doorstep is very appealing.

Thanks for any replies, aplogies for any typos.

Why would you not move to the good school on your doorstep? IE why did you not apply to it originally?

Sorry, forgot that bit.

We have recently moved. My Google mapping skills are obviously crap as by my calculations, it was supposed to take the same amount of time as it did from the old house.

I have indeed applied to the other school and will hear soon, but was warned by the admissions woman the school is 'heavily oversubscribed'. She also didn't believe me when I said we didn't move here for the school.
Have since learned people are almost willing to sell kidneys to get their kids in.

I am afraid he will get another teacher like the previous.
DS thinks he would like the new school because it is close and it is small, but he wants his teacher to be there. :(

What did the nearer school seem like when you visited it? A smaller small may not have small classes as they are likely to have mixed age classes.

Is there currently any space in his year group there? If it is oversubscribed then you won't get a place there for your DS1 anyway.

I haven't been yet.
Admissions advised to wait and see if there was a place before even looking. She said DS would enter 'high up the list' as we are so close.

Well, I guess the first thing is to see whether you would get in: - if he is in Year 1 then the class size is restricted, so you whilst you should be close to the top of the waiting list, there still may not be a place. I would suggest going on the waiting list and see when a place comes up - everything may be more clear then.

I also thing that children tend to settle fairly quickly, so if he has coped with a change of house, a change of school won't be that traumatic for him. But you need to go into the school and be happy with it yourself. Don't simply rely on it being close and small with a good reputation.

I really would go and visit it before deciding if you want him to go there or not. It may be "excellent" but it may not be the right place for your DS.

When we moved here I visited about 13 schools I think - one that was rated excellent I hated and one that was satisfactory I loved.

You will be very high up on a waiting list due to how near you live.

Ooh yes, I would definately go there first if there is room for him.
Indeed, I may not like how they do things or feel it is right for him.

I think I am just trying to get an idea of what others think in general of the situation, assuming the school did suit him.

It is such an important decision and I feel that if it all goes wrong it's my fault, which it would be.

He is quite sensitive and 'delicate' for want of a better word.

If this was DS2, I am pretty sure I could take him to a different school every week and it would have no ill effect on his progress, he is a totally different kettle of fish. If the school here was okay, I would move him no questions asked, but DS1 is not so easy.

Have you actually visited the new school? Spoken to the year 1 (and maybe year 2) teacher? How does it feel to you? I would go and visit first, if you like it put him on the waiting list, and see what happens. You have a little while before needing to apply for the younger sibling (is it January?).

Most teachers are more like the second teacher than the first in my experience.

Goodness, you absolutely have to visit.

I'm not that convinced that smallness is necessarily that great as far as school sizes are concerned tbh.

Recently a couple of friends have removed their DCs from a similar sized place because of friendship issues (a much smaller pool of potential friends and alllies), the school being dominated by a couple of big characters (whose impact would have been lessened in a larger school) and less varied extra-curricular activities.

"Cosy" might be OK at Reception, but by Y4 cosy can easily become claustraphobic, imo.

I think I tend to agree with your DH. I am a teacher (secondary) and do believe strongly that a child needs to feel happy and safe at school and that the learning will follow.
OFSTED is fine but how you and your DS feels counts most.

I would wait and see how it plays out. If he is suceeding, why move him?

I also agree with other views that a small school is not necessarily better at caring. I've known year 6 kids desperate to come to big school becuase they have spent primary with so few kids to choose friends from. Big schools often have more resources to provide lots of support and variety.

I can see it is a difficult choice though so good luck!

Thanks for all who posted.

We are going to leave him where he is as he is doing so well and we were so worried he was falling behind before.

I will have to buy him a wet weather suit and we will have toughen up! :o

It will be summer again before we know it! :)