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?

Hmm good point, can SEN be so high in a given catchment area? Is there a way to check this ratio at a school?

In this situation I would think it's worth considering what the secondary school choice is, my reason being if they're heading towards a big secondary school then a bigger first school might make that less of a shock. I would find this a hard decision but being able to walk to school would probably tip it, for me. We find that worth it's weight in gold ... Good luck op!

Try the drive at 8.30 in the morning, when its snowing or fog or heavy rain.
Dont underestimate the ease of walking to school.

We used to have a 12 minute drive. Some road workd turned it into a 90 minute round trip twice a day for several months...

DD goes to a school 1 type place.

The headteacher knows the name of every child in the school and always makes sure to ask them things about themselves. So when my DDs going to her dads on a Friday "Is it dads weekend?" when DD says Yes on Monday as she's going in the headteacher will say "Did you have a good weekend with your dad?" I love it. Small enough for everyone to know everyone but big enough for a decent friendship group. In years where a year group hasn't gelled the HT will split them, so currently there's 2 Year 4 and 5 classes as the Year 5s just don't all get on together.

It's great. I still know the majority of the parents, we all DDs friends are within walking distance of our house.

School 1
100%

School.2 sounds ideal for a reception then awful unless your child has SEN

School two sounds adorable...but they seldom are!

A school you can walk to is a huge bonus, doing the school run in the car is stressful!!
Single form intake isn't huge, but gives them a 'pool' to make friends from.

I won't go on as everyone has said it already!!

School one without a doubt.

A small year group does not work well after age 6 ish unless the children all get on brilliantly by some miracle (unlikely once they start to develop their own interests and personalities).

Also, don't underestimate how much of a benefit a short distance for the school run will be.

First thing we learned during my PGCE was the school experience is 80% social.

Given that I’d go for school 1.

Definitely school 1!

School 1 would be the smallest of the 3 schools in our town. I would definitely go for the walkable option. It’s small enough that all the kids will know each other (my DC are at a school the same size and they know every one) but big enough to provide better variety in terms of friends.

Have you visited the schools? I assume not, as most open days will be around November time. If I were you I'd wait and see what they're like when you visit (or watch video tours, do zoom meetings etc).

Be wary of going by Ofsted reports; they're only snapshots and they're pretty infrequent - if a school is rated outstanding, it won't be inspected again for many years and standards can slip. A lot can change, especially if the headteacher changes. How recent are the Ofsted reports for each school?

Have you spoken to parents with children at the schools? Try and talk to people however you can (last autumn I asked anyone and everyone local with primary school age children in person and on social media).

PS Having said all that, I'd go for school 1.

School 1 for sure

School 2 is too small imo. My kids have been in classes of 30 where the ratio of boys to girls is super skewed 22:8- what would you do if he was the only boy or the other 2 boys in the class were very different to your son and wanted to play football while yours wanted to play It? What would you do if your son fell out with the only other boy and had nobody to play with ? What if there's 3 boys and the other 2 pair up?

I wouldn't worry about him getting lost in school 1- adults would be looking after him. Plus when he's older he'll be able to walk to school alone or knock for other kids who will hopefully live closer. Also he's more likely to go up to secondary with someone from his class.

I'd 100% choose school 1

Even school 1 will feel too small by year 5 or 6, so I would definitely avoid something smaller.

I'd also be wondering why the "Ofsted outstanding" school is undersubscribed.

@KaptanKatanga

Hmm good point, can SEN be so high in a given catchment area? Is there a way to check this ratio at a school?

An undersubscribed school has to accept anyone who applies - so if a small school is seen (possibly wrongly) as 'nurturing because of its small size' by some parents, then a disproportionate number of children with particular needs may end up applying and being accepted. It is only occasionally, when the number of children with full EHCPs becomes far too great, that a school can say that the admission of a further pupil with this level of high needs would be an issue. This doesn't apply for children on MyPlan or MyPlan+ levels of the SEN pathway.

Data about all schools, including %SEN can be found on the gov.uk website. However, it is not fully up to date (currently 2018/19) and may disguise 'lumpiness' within the school, especially for small numbers - for example, having just looked up one of the schools I worked in, its overall %SEN is now just over 30% BUT these could all be in a couple of year groups.

Interestingly, I have just ranked primaries in my county by %SEN using the tools within that site. Despite the number of tiny primaries being relatively low, 6 out of the top 10 in terms of %SEN (30%+) are tiny schools, most below 60 pupils in total. The others are in exceptionally deprived areas.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment. Lots to think about and also look into so I'm very grateful!

@RedskyThisNight I think because it's literally in the arse end of nowhere!

School 1, I think school 2 just sounds too small and when they go to secondary it might be a bit much for them being used to such tiny classes.

School 1. The other school is far too small, even school 1 is a little small in my opinion. 60 intake is better. Friendship issues are harder to resolve in smaller schools.

We are at school 1. It’s fab, we love it. It’s small in comparison to most schools. There’s schools round here with 4 form entry, that’s 120 kids a year! But most commonly 3 form. One form entry of 30 kids is smaller than the national average for sure.

It’s small enough for kids to form friends across year groups & to feel like they know all the staff & lunch staff etc. But big enough there is a larger friendship pool, good facilities & that it is like a school I suppose. I looked round a tiny school & it felt nothing like a school really. Two classrooms, no hall.. very odd. I couldn’t imagine going from that to the huge high school it feeds into!

School 1 - absolutely a no brainer for me. He won’t get lost, that’s still a fairly small school (I live in an area where there is a popular five form entry primary school). My children go to a “school 1” and it’s perfect for us, all the children are known by all the staff and it’s lovely and friendly and nurturing. I considered a tiny school in a village, because my child has SN, but they just don’t have the resources of a bigger school - the senco teaches a class, the headteacher teaches a class, their budget is a black hole, the social groups are tiny, the classes mix three year groups together, I’d have had to drive, the quaint building leaked and was draughty and there was no money to fix it… it’s really cute but honestly I’ve never regretted not sending mine there.

1. I'd run a mile from 2 as way too small. 1 is small and very small by Yr5/6

Agree with the others and go for school 1.
School 2 is too small. I would be concerned whether they would be able to keep the school open in the long term with such small numbers.