Anyone drive to school along way? why?,how does it work re friends ect?

[stripeycat13]

Hi I have choice between a large school that has been given two notices to improve academically but has alot of other good things to offer,is local for friends ect or a village school 10 miles away that is also v good academically but would limit my options as a single parent and work prospects considerably but be a better school academically supporting my eldest who has SEN.I am so frustrated with trying to make this decision!

my children have a very short walk to school but from the age of 5-18 I went to a school nearly 15 miles from my home. To be honest it was just normal to me and my friends because that was what we did (private school, some people traveled further). Friends wise I don't think there was the playdate culture there is now so we didn't get together at weekends that much but I don't remember it ever being a problem. I had my friends from my road and my friends from school. As I got older I traveled on the train and used to meet up with friends at weekends.

It just wasn't an issue but it was a pain in some ways and must have been irritating for my parents when we needed driving there every day. they car shared with other families quite a lot which will have helped. It was tiring I suppose, we left at 8am (7:30 when I was older and catching the train) and didn't get home until 3:45 (5pm on train) but it was just what we did.

I would talk to local parents (at the school near home) and get all possible information about the school. Sometimes schools are much better than the OFSTED would suggest, and you find this out only when you talk to local parents / when you actually visit a few times to make up your mind. When they were asked to improve, which particular areas were the problems?

I think a local schoolparticularly for primaryis really great if you can manage it. Travelling further for secondary is easier, I think, but for primary it's just so nice to be able to get to school easily. It also means you can have the support of other local parents, if for example you have an emergency & you need them to pick up your child etc. Plus playing with classmates after school is easier.

But of course on the other side of it I can see the appeal of a better (academically) school that is further away. How further away are we talking?

It also depends on how much support / homework help you're able, realistically, to offer at home. There's no set amount of course, but if the school leaves much to be desired, more will depend on your support as parents in terms of academic work.

Good luck with your decision!

I think there's a lot to be said for staying local, I've increasingly found myself giving and needing emergency pick up favours from other parents as my DCs have got older and other things such as work, extra-curricular activities ramp up through the primary years. Also, if you have more than one child, when wants to stsy for an after school club and the other doesn't you're hanging around instead of popping back and forth.

Also, my eldest has SENs and I have extra visits to school for meetings with the various people involved in his care (speech and occupational therapists etc). All of this is easy as the school is 0.5 miles from home. I wouldn't dismiss the nearby one lightly

9 miles away, takes similar time though as in traffic to closer one!,but it does feel like your driving along way esp as be doing it 4times aday(each way) plus extra times like when one ill or extra meetings ect.was thinking in term of working the nearer one has more childminders/clubs ect.cant seem to give up on this smaller one as SEN child seemed happier there which means a lot.Teachers more approachable,esp the head,and feel they will put more into helping him.

9 miles away, takes similar time though as in traffic to closer one!,but it does feel like your driving along way esp as be doing it 4times aday(each way) plus extra times like when one ill or extra meetings ect.was thinking in term of working the nearer one has more childminders/clubs ect.cant seem to give up on this smaller one as SEN child seemed happier there which means a lot.Teachers more approachable,esp the head,and feel they will put more into helping him.

Our school is 5 miles away but I don't drive so the bus journey can be a 2 hour round trip (because of the times of buses). We chose this school because we feel it's more suitasble for our children, it is a small village school, a church school with a very caring ethos. It's rated "good" by ofsted so some of the larger schools nearer to home have a better rating but it is the community feel of the school that made us choose it. All our closer schools are 3 or four form entry, which I realise is fine for many children and has its advantages but wasn't for our children, for many reasons.

In terms of friends etc it hasn;t been a problem - my children are young (yr 2 and yr R) - they have been invited home by friends after school, which just means a slightly later pick up for me. And have had friends back here. They aren't of an age where they could play out anyway. I would like it if ds could go to the same scout group as his school friends but also think it does them good to have friends outside of school too, so that's not a big deal to us really.

Dc (now teenagers) went to local primary and then to school that is 14 miles away for secondary. We chose it because we thought it was the best fit academically and for sport (it has been). They are fortunately still friends with many of their primary school friends otherwise the holidays would be a nightmare - some of their secondary school friends live nearly an hour's drive from our home.

If you choose a school further away, my advice would be to ensure local friendships are maintained through scouts etc.