Which school would you choose?

[iamloading]

I literally cannot decide between two opposite primary schools for my little boy. Which would you pick and why please?
Context he's an October birthday so one of the oldest in the year, only child. No SEN that we are aware of. He would likely get into both as we are in catchment for one and the other is undersubscribed. Help please!!!

School One: Ofsted Good. Literally next door - can walk there in less than 2 minutes on a totally pedestrianised route. Seems a lovely school. 30 per class, one class per year. Lovely big grounds. Though worried he might get lost a bit?

School Two: Ofsted Outstanding. 12 min drive. Very small, 3-8 children per year. Teaches in mixed year groups. And it's just beautiful- this tiny village school in the heart of rolling English hillside. Imagine picture postcard quaint 300 year old English school and this is it. Amazing reputation. But is it too small?

Definitely the first. The class sizes are too small in the second. What happens if a few people leave? The school may even close. What if he doesn't get on with a few in your class. Walking to school is a huge plus and I assume most of his class will live nearby?

School 1 for me. I always think the closest school is best unless its terrible. You spend a lot of time going back and forth and your childs friends will likely be closer too. I also think 30 per class is better than 3-8 as there is more choice of friends and teachers can set up little groups to work together. I also think its more financially viable for the school and there will be more teachers so more expertise on site.

Someone else will say the opposite

The first definitely. A short walk makes it so easy, 30 kids per year is perfect because it’s not so many to overwhelm them but it gives lots of opportunities to make friends. Nice grounds so outside playing will be great. Rated Good. It honestly sounds fantastic.

The second I wouldn’t even be considering- the drive is a pain, 3-8 kids a year is so small I’d worry first about friendships and secondly about whether the school will be around in a couple of years. Presumably they don’t even play proper sports and stuff like that because they will struggle to make a football time out of the entire school.

Number 1 on all counts (but that’s a small school where I live).

I hardly had to finish reading about school one fo vote for that one. And once I had read about school two an even higher vote. You had me at ‘seems a lovely school’. At primary that is all that matters. And good teachers can teach a large class as well as they teach a smaller one and the friend potential in school one as a larger more local one will be much better which is the most important part of primary.

School 1. Reasons: walkable is a lot easier (especially if it's a quick walk). A class of 30 is pretty standard and sets them up well for secondary. More scope for making lots of friends too - my 4yo has just started reception and the first week they split the class into small groups, each going in for a different slot in the day. 4yo didn't really seem to click with any in his group and was really worried about making friends. As soon as the whole class went in together he came home talking about all the friends he'd made and who he'd played with! If the small group had been his entire class I think he'd be quite worried.

What year are they mixed till in the second school OP?

@Evesgarden in the second school they are mixed throughout into the three key stages (so three classes across the whole school)

Seems pretty unanimous school one though!

School 1. I worked at a similar size school as school 2 and although it had some positives it also had lots of negatives. It was always a struggle to join in with sports competitions as we never had enough of the right age group to take part and when we did, the children were always really overwhelmed with the amount of other children, especially at larger tournaments. The friendship pool is so small, which can make it really difficult if you don't get along with someone. Also there is always the danger that the school might close, 2 small schools in my area have had to close recently due to low numbers.

School 1 on all counts.

You’ll come to regret having to drive the school run, friends are further and more spread out, mixed year groups is harder for friendship pool if they get fed up of each other, and I’d worry that the school is so small it would be at risk of closure.

A single form entry primary school is not huge - it’s just right!

School 1 for sure.

The nearest one, without a doubt.

Ignore ofsted and go with School 1

I tend to prefer smaller schools but school 2 would be too small for me.

Also, I drive the school run myself and it's a bit of a pain! We didn't have any other options but I wouldn't do it if I could help it.

Your school 1 is a small school by most people's standards!
School 2 is very small. I suspect it might be fantastic when your DC is young (or it might not if they happen not to find a particular friend) but they will outgrow it very quickly.

But frankly, nearest school should always be the choice unless there are very strong reasons why not. And in your case the only points for school 1 are positives!

2 is way too small to find friends etc reliably, and I would be concerned about the finances - they will be running on a shoestring.

Yeah, id definitely go with school 1. I went to a school that sounds very like school 2, and whilst it was nice to know everyone in the whole school, have lessons across several year groups etc, it was VERY cliquey - if you fell out with the handful of children in your year, you basically had no friends until everyone made up again... And as we sat on a table with our year group, it would be deeply unpleasant until that happened. And the transition to secondary was a HUGE culture shock.

Ok! Well I think that's pretty clear everyone. Thank you everyone. I think it's just school two is just so GORGEOUS but clearly not practical!

DD goes a school similar to your school 2; she could have gone to an equivalent of school 1 (it's our catchment school) but we decided against it - I'll tell you why just to give you the opposite perspective.
Class sizes - DD has yrs R-2 in one class & yrs 3-6 in another. In total the school currently has 45 pupils, & DDs class has 20 pupils. The pluses are they all know each other; they play in the same playgrounds & make & have friends across the age ranges. The older children act as playground mentors & help the younger kids with PE etc.
The entire school can go on outings together in one coach, again fostering friendships across the ages/classes.
They offer lots of sports, & as there are a lot of small village schools locally they all work together & still compete; & everyone gets a chance to play not just the most sporty ones.
The teachers work together & know all the children, even those not in their class.
They get to do things like swimming every week as there's less of them - rather than once a term per year as in other local schools.
Our PTA is very active & we run lots of fun events & activities for the kids - discos, visit from Santa & presents, ice lollies etc.
Financially our Head is very savvy & the school is doing well as far as we're aware.
Being in a semi-rural village they have access to lots of outdoor spaces, welly walks, forest school.
As a parent you get to know lots of parents of kids of different ages too. The school community is great & supportive.
DD has her teacher & 2 TAs to a class of 20 - the teacher/TA ratio is fantastic & is on a par with many private schools.
Personally, I'd visit both schools & see which feels 'right'. We thought we'd go for the catchment school (school 1) but after visiting it, we weren't impressed at all. Visiting the village school & it felt right.

Mine are at a school 2. Wasn't the scale of it as such - but the Head in the larger school that they were originally at (the infants were superb but the juniors has been so hellish I still wake up crying at what they put my family through) was what made the difference - leaving rampant bullying unchecked - numerous cases over the years where you'd get one appointment, be told she'd had a "conversation" with all the kids and that "matter was closed"... complain any further and you'd be banned from the school grounds.

DD2 was one of the bullying victims.

So moved the kids and they're at a tiny school, less impressive grounds, lovely school building in terms of being historic and listed - but much smaller and more nurturing and it's what they needed in terms of class sizes (it's about 10 in a year group, 20ish in a class - admission number of 15) and emotional support.

Of course if your particular school 1 isn't being run by Mrs Trunchbull's less charming long lost sister and with kids being brought up that it's perfectly OK to be horrid to anyone they don't like and that telling girls that they want to such on their titties is fine... go school 1!

School 1 for all the reasons mentioned!
Primary school provides secondary socialisation for young children and their world will be very small in school 2.

1. Outstanding and small is a great combination if you'd like them to be in a more academic environment.

Think really carefully about what School 2 will be like for an 11 year old - being with the same 2-7 other children (might easily be the only boy in the year group) for 7 years.....and what was so cute and ideal at 4 or 5 just doesn't seem so attractive, when you don't have enough for a year group sports team, when 2/3 of the teacher attention at least is taken up with the younger children in your class, when striving for challenge in the higher levels in your subjects of strength might just be the step too far for a teacher trying to manage the needs of children across 3 year groups..

Also bear in mind that school funding is predicated on 30 children = pay for 1 teacher + allowance for whole school overheads. A school that runs with higher staff:student ratios due to tiny year groups will really struggle for money, and it may well be that over time e.g. the number of classes decreases to get closer to classes of 30, that the school federates with another school or 2 to allow the overhead of a head or SENCo or office person to be shared, that funding for any SEN children [schools have to find several thousand pounds from their own budget before getting any extra] is either lacking or means cuts elsewhere etc etc.

On the SEN note, IME - I have taught in a couple of small schools - many parents seek out small schools for children with SEN, thinking that they will be more nurturing. That pushes SEN ratios up very high - 50% common, and in 1 case every child in a particular year group had different SEN. Combined with a general lack of funding and the need to differentiate across multiple year groups in any case, it can be difficult for the staff to meet everyone's needs well.

@KaptanKatanga

2. Outstanding and small is a great combination if you'd like them to be in a more academic environment.

IME, it can mean the opposite - it can mean very high SEN ratios.

It's also worth checking when the Ofsted was done, as outstanding schools are not reinspected.One locally is still trading off its 2008 Outstanding grade!!

Children don't go to school for the buildings or the view. They go for the education and the peer group.

When parents look around a school it's much harder to see the education and the peer group, so it's easy to focus on shiny buildings or lovely grounds.