Please help me choose which school!

[Doublegloucester]

Hello, would be grateful for thoughts on which order you'd put these schools in in my situation please (dd reasonably bright, due to start at 4.5). All four are Ofsted good, currently. Don't have previous admissions stats but people from my area seem to get into all four:

School A: 12ish min walk away - closest. Over 400 children there. Stats not great in terms of pupil progress. Ofsted report before last was in need of improvement and mentioned that the high achievers weren't being pushed as much as they should have been. Near industrial estate and motorway noise pollution. New interim head starting to turn things around, I think.

School B: 15 mins total journey, walk and bus....except buses are rubbish, so bus gets to the village at the same time as school starts. There is earlier bus which would be ok for breakfast club (for 4yo?). 30 min wait after school for bus home. I don't drive due to disability. Dh drives but works irregular hours - he could prob do 3 drop offs a week but no pick ups. Taxi would be only other option. However only 100 children there, 15 admissions per year. Classes with 2 years mixed together. Fields next door to school. Results skewed by the fact that there are so few children there so it doesn't come out at the top but consistently good Ofsted. Small community feel tempting.

School C: 25 mins walk and bus but on a better served bus route. Less need for taxi/lift/hanging around than with school B. Around 400 pupils. Better progress stats than school A. Village, so nicer area than school A. Still big.

School D: 25-30 mins walk away. 350 or so pupils. Good Ofsted and progress stats but near industrial estate/motorway noise pollution. Trek!

Thanks for any help!

Go for A until there seems to be a reason for elsewhere, then probably D.

Find out how many of the kids were the same from R to KS1 to KS2 for stats. My dcs school used to have not great scores, but turned out of 60 Y6 pupils, only 1 had been there since KS1, and many of the new intake were behind.

For a bright kid, having a mass of other kids around helps find peers. Mine are at a 3 form entry school and it is surprising how well staff know each child and even the 5yo s rise to it.

Consider how you would feel if it was a teenage child you were thinking about... by year 5/6 they want more opportunities and be able to hang out with mates, be more independent .. pre teens like to walk to each other's houses etc etc Hard to imagine at 4 but obvious by age 7/8 and year 3/4. Thats why small schools can be stiffling for yr 4/5/6

In cites, 3/4/5 form entry schools are the norm also. Kids dont get lost in them as they operate differently. We are 3 form and the HT knows the name of all 750 ish kids

I'd suggest to visit A too. Ratings can change dramatically within a year. By the time your DD is due to go to secondary, current schools might have turned around, close or even have new secondary schools.

In the worst of winter, when it's dark and pours heavy rain... Would you want to chance bus delays or long walks?

Your DD will attend school with children who possibly live around your street. When she makes friends and asks to go to her friend's house, I think closest is best.

Days when someone forgets something back home, it's easier to pop in an back.

Forget previous Ofsted reports unless the head is the same and have always been under "good". All those schools are "good". Schools that previously had requires improvement might actually have put in place strategies to keep their ratings up and might have inspections more often.

If you like your area and the children who go to A are generally well behaved, I'd send her to A. You can always support her academically and get her into other after school activities to encourage other learning. For me, the main thing was the friendships she was going to make and the school facilities and resources (library, after school clubs, holiday club, sports facilities, languages, events, trips out, community involvement, etc). Visit and ask those questions? :)

Plus if you can have an extra half an hour in the morning to get ready, have breakfast or do her hair, you'll be grateful later on!

A sounds best then D with C as a close third. I wouldn't send my child to B if I could possibly avoid it for all the reasons described earlier.

Thanks all