help deciding between state/prep & travelling to school

[RLHLW]

Hi,

I need some advice/help/tips.

I've got a space at a prep school 4-ish miles from home for my son, which I can afford. But between my husband and I we will have to juggle pick up, drop off & some after school club just to make it work.

I live close to a good state school (5 mins walk through country path) - but there are no spaces. We could be waiting for an indefinite amount of time (almost 3 months wait so far). My son currently travels to his old school (we moved house, it's 7+ miles away) and it takes 50mins to 1 hour in the morning, 25-30mins on the way back. We currently juggle pick up, drop off & some after school club just to make it work.

It's hard to decide whether to wait or move him to this prep which is closer but juggle. Also at the prep he wouldn't make many local friends (i guess?)

I would pay someone to pick him up from school (so no need for after school club) but it's proving hard to find anyone. Ideally he wouldn't have to go to after school club and could go home to play. I feel sorry if he's stuck in after school club :-(

thanks,
Rlhlw

Most of the kids at dc school come from 4+ miles away . Unless it is in the middle of a town there will be others doing the same trip so perhaps you codul arrange car sharing ? Disadvantage is his best mate might be a simialr distance the opposite way ! tbh you sound half hearted about the prep in hwichc case you won't be as motivated to make it work . Even so it has to better than him spending over an hour and half inthe car each day. How odl is he ?

If he goes to the Prep then the after-school clubs won't exactly be a hardship!

My DS either does Prep (homework) or sports clubs, or technology clubs or chess club, or.... well actually the list is long and changes each term. I never pick him up before 5 because I work, but he really just sees it as an extension of his day, where he gets time to either do his homework or be with his friends.

Life is a bit of a juggle - but it's worthwhile.

You don't say whether you live in the town or country. 7 miles in the country is NOTHING. In London, for example, it's another world!

Do you know where you are on the waiting list for the local state school? Do you have enough money to pay for the prep school 'til the end if necessary?

I think that moving him - potentially - twice in such a short time could be really disruptive.

If you think you have a chance of getting him into the local good state school in the next year (ie you're first on the list) then hold out for that space and struggle on with existing school. You might think about a nanny/au pair who could pick him up from school and take him to local clubs so he could meet local friends in the meantime.

If, however, you have no realistic chance of getting him into the local state school, then the Prep school does sound like a good bet. But once you've made that decision, you kind of need to stick to it. So a good trawl through the finances is definitely in order. (Once you've experienced the heady world of private education, you may not want to shift back into the public sector!)

Thanks for your replies. I live on the border of London/Herts, my child is a summer born 5 year old. So 7 miles commute towards london (via lots of schools) takes ages!

We're currently #1 on the list for 2 nearby state schools but you never know when you will get the place. Being in limbo isn't a comfortable feeling.

I'm quite happy with the prep we have chosen, the class size is small and gets even smaller when they reach Year 2 (as they split into 2 classes). It's not the massive type prep school is rolling playing fields etc. but teaching and attention is good. It seems to suit my child and he really enjoyed his experience session, wanted to start there immediately!

I suppose it's really down to the juggling of school runs (i also work full time) which I don't really fancy, suck it up and get used to it! Pray for a car share and hope for a nearby living new best friend!
Affordability isn't an issue for this child, it's the 2nd child I have to start saving for!