Is it wrong to move my dd's school again?

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She's 8, end of year 3.
To keep it very brief, we moved her schools in January (was in private school, so the change was for financial reasons) to a non-local school as that was the first we were offered. We had been waiting 2 years for the local school

My dd2 has a place to start at the local school in September, so I will have two children in two places.
Seeing as dd1 has only been at her new school 2 terms I can't decide whether to put in an application to move her to dd2's school (local) or to leave her to finish her primary years in the other more distant school. I have heard there may be a space available in September. It seems like a lot of change for her and she needs to get some proper friendships established. But she may still be young enough.

I know it is something for us to decide with her, but when I ask her she says yes fine, without a pause, and I am not sure whether she really understands or whether she is just saying she is happy to move because she thinks it is what I want to hear. I am not sure if she is really old enough to make that decision. It's tricky to get her reasoning out of her.

Is it cruel to move her again - it would be so much more practical for us, but I'd take the pain for the next three years if needs be.

How happy & settled is she at her new school? And how good is it, compared to the local one?

She has playground friends at her school, although they are not her classmates, she gets very annoyed with her class mates. Next year I would hope that she would be in a class with the playground friends. She doesn't have any special 'deep' friendships, she floats among a group to avoid the fallings out that go on. They all seem like a nice bunch though.

She says the work is boring, the maths is too easy and the project topics haven't turned her on. She loves learning about facts, she likes reading non-fiction books - biology, history, religions, have previously really kept her interest, but not here. She says she likes the playtimes but not the work.
She does moan about the school actually, but her teacher has said that she has settled in very well. I think she did on the outside, but inside she may have felt a lot more shaky than she let on.

On paper her current school is much better than the local school, Ofsted outstanding and in the top five in the borough in terms of level 4s at SATS. BUT, it is arrogant, doesn't communicate with the parents at all (holds them very much at arms length) does practically no sport as the headmistress doesn't like competitive sports, no foreign language. No summer fairs, no sports day, no homework at all, I much prefer the local school in terms of feeling involved, knowing what's going on and a sense of community.

God, I do go on don't I? I try to be concise, really I do.

Why don't you take her to have a look at the other school (presume your term hasn't ended yet?) and a chat with the Head so she can see for herself whether she thinks she might like to go there.

Is her current school a feeder school for the secondary school she will ultimately attend?

I think I would be tempted to move her. It is always nice to be part of the local community and its likely that she will make more local friends.

Perhaps you could take her to see the school and then make your decision?

The fact that I didn't get any horrified replies has made me feel that it is not so awful if I am not forcing her against her will.
Very good point about taking a look around to see what she thinks and maybe stimulate a conversation and her to think in more depth about it.

Thank you.

No, it wouldn't be awful to get her to change school again. She still has 3 years left, which is a decent amount of time. Sounds like she is less than enamoured with her current school, too. Good luck, whatever you decide.

You don't like the school, your DD doesn't seem to have developed an attachment to the students and seems not to be challenged there. I would sway it's a no-brainer.

*say...