At some point in the next 12 months we are going to have to change 8 y-o dd's school, but have been agonising over when to do this...
Presently, she and her elder brother are at the local state primary, which is very good but has the usual problems with large class sizes - it's stuffed to the max - and constant low level disruption in class. It is also about to change head and around half the teaching staff, who have left for various reasons not to do with the school or its performance (following partners moving with work, leaving teaching altogether, retirement etc).
She's on the top table for everything, level 3's at yr2 etc, but struggles with attention to detail - she gets tested each week on tables and doesn't do that well, for instance, despite lots of work at home on this, and her spelling when writing a long piece of work isn't great - though it's fine in tests. I get the feeling that as long as it's not too bad her teacher is just so pleased the top table are doing okay that she lets it slide so she can spend time with classmates needing more help.
Anyway, her younger sister is just about to start at the local private school - class sizes half of state, lovely facilities etc, which really suits her as she isn't as fast a learner as her siblings - and in Sept 2015 (subject to entrance exam, but he is very academic) her brother will also be attending the private school's senior school, which we hope dd (8) will follow him to. She's keen to do this.
All this will mean that unless dd moves, in Sept 2015 we will have 3 school runs (impossible). So, do we move her to private next year or in September 2015? She has had a taster day and really liked the school and other pupils, some of whom she knows from outside activities, but says she will miss her friends so doesn't want to swap. However, she will be leaving her current friends in 3 years for the different high school, so it will have to happen at some point, and she'll also see the majority of her friends at out of school clubs.
Ever since we first visited the private school, my h and I have thought we could really see dd there - she loves art and they have a fab art room, for instance, plus I think it will be good for her to be in a smaller class with more rote learning of essentials. But do we move her now, or leave it another year so she and her brother move on at the same time? What would you do?