Help choosing between two schools

[sian05]

I am currently torn between two schools for my DS who starts next September.

School One is our catchment school, is one form entry and a C of E. Ofsted for this school is requires improvement for everything apart from Early Years provision which is good and it does have very positive parent feedback.The school is less than 10 minutes walk from our house. It is also next to the nursery where my DS currently goes although the nursery is not part of the school but he is likely to have some friends going there.

School Two is an infant school slightly further away - just over a 20 minute walk. It is rated as good by Ofsted and is a two form entry. It also has good parent feedback.

Both have breakfast club and after school provision which I would need 3 days a week.

I'm torn for several reasons. I prefer the idea of two rather than one form entry but I like the shorter walking distance for school one. In some ways School One seems a better fit for DS as it felt slightly more 'free-flowing' than School Two but although this may suit my son better at this age I wonder if the more rigid structure would be better in the long run. I'm also not sure of the religious aspect of a C of E school as we are non-religious.

My other worry is that I also have a two year old DD and as School Two is not our catchment school she may not get in if DS does. On the other hand as our catchment school is only one form entry I'm also worried she may not get in here either if there are not enough spaces!!

Sorry this has been a bit longer than intended. I'm just looking for any advice on which of the above is most important or would flag issues for other people. I really didn't how hard this would be! (And then of course we may not even end up getting our choice anyway!)

Perhaps you could check out school two's sibling policy, and try to find out how many siblings got in on that rule in previous years. Which did you prefer the feel of? That was the thing that decided it for us.

I've checked the admissions policy and siblings outside the catchment area are 5th in line. When it was asked at the school visit the head teacher said it was impossible to tell as they have no idea of the number of admissions they'll get! I agree feel is very important but there were things I liked about both. My main attraction to School Two is that it is bigger so has better resources and means they can mix classes if needed. My DH really liked School One though as he liked the smaller class feel.

First of all, check out how well School A, the Cof E one, is doing regarding coming out of RI. How well is it now functioning? You will soon be out of Early Years, so you will want to see improvements. Is the Head good? Did you feel they are putting right what was wrong? Have you looked at what was wrong and asked the schol how they are addressing the issues? This would be a major question for me because if they are getting worse and ending up as Inadequate, you will not be happy.

The C of E nature of the school rather depends if it is Aided or Controlled. Aided tend to have closer links with the local Church and Diocese thanthe Controlled ones do. Controlled also means that the LA runs the admissions (normally) but if it is is Aided, the school runs the admissions. Often, when a school runs the admissions, they have a smaller catchment and take c of E affiliated children in greater numbers from a much wider area. If it takes from catchment, and you are in it, you will get a place there.

The red flag that is occurring to me is: School B is an infant school. It is not your catchment school, so where will your children go for their junior education? Are they guaranteed a place in the junior school that most of the children go to? Or, do you have to be in catchment for that too? If you cannot get into the junior school,and your local school is full, where will your children go?

I tend to agree that a bigger school opens up greater possibilities for a broader education and possibly better music, drama, sport etc. However, smaller schools can also be good. I think local friends is also a bonus. Walking past the houses of possible friends will seem quite hard eventually.

I think all schools end up with classes that sit at tables and do work. Children will not be wandering around all the time choosing what they do. If your C of E school is a bit too free flowing, this may have contributed to it being RI! There needs to be a satisfactory mixture of both beyond early years.

With school finances as they are, a one form entry class will end up as 30 children. There is unlikely to be much difference in class size between the two of them. If School A has many fewer than 30 starting, be very, very careful. It could end up with financial problems and have to make hard decisions about how it splits the year groups amongst the teaching staff.

Thank you for your advice. School One did mention they had had another visit from Ofsted to check what plans had been put in place but nothing is appearing on their website yet. The head was positive that they would get good feedback (but then I doubt she would say otherwise!) On their website they say they are a Diocesan Academy and therefore the admissions authority.

School Two has a junior school attached and they advised there are enough spaces for all those from infants to progress to juniors with about 4 spaces to spare.

All the schools we visited did advise though that school is not a prison sentence and they are possibilities to move schools if it is a wrong fit but I wonder how easy this is in reality. There is a part of me that is considering going for the smaller school and perhaps applying for the junior school when he is old enough if this seems a better option for him.