Which school?!

[Zyxcba]

Can anyone help. We've been offered a state school place which is one we like but it's a 16 minute drive away if traffic is good and it will then take me another 15 minutes to get to the station (according to Google maps). We don't know anyone in this village. Or we send her privately to a school which is a 5 minute walk from the house. A compromise on logistics, or a compromise on finances. It will stretch us more than I would like but is affordable according to the budget I've done. Have a younger child at nursery where the fees for 3 days are comparable to the private school. How important is it to have a sense of community around a school, and is the commute to the state school a step too far? Looking to hear from anyone who can share their experiences. Ought to say the state school is infant only. Thank you, from a stressed out mum.

Think long term about private school. The first few years are the cheap ones and there are loads of extras.

I would grin and bare the state school for 3 years unless you are able to comfortably afford private rather than just scrape by

Are you on the waiting lists for nearer state schools? I wouldn't go down the private education route if you already feel it will stretch you, but equally that commute will get very tiring very quickly and your DD will miss out on local friends. So perhaps accept the state place and try to move to a closer school as soon as you can.

Thank you for your thoughts. In the description above, I'd actually forgotten to factor in the time needed to get my youngest to and from nursery, which is in a third village! We are on the waiting list for our first choice. If we had got that I'm fairly sure it's the route we would have gone down, but there is only a very slim chance of getting in (it's very popular).