3 YO school choices, overwhelmed, got a migraine

[UrghPoo]

This is my first time going through this process as LO is my first.

There are 2 schools A and B, 10 min walk away, both 2 form entry.

School A- offers breakfast club from 7.30am @£3

School B- has an outside provider from 8am at £6.50

School C- next in the borough offers breakfast club from 7.30 @ £3 great facilities 2 form entry, also friend works there.

School D- where I work, £1 breakfast club, 4 form entry, not the best in terms of teaching, facilities are good. It would also mean LO comes with me.

We have also decided that we would like to move in the next few years to a bigger house. This is something that I'm having to take into consideration. I hate that LO will have lots of upheaval.

What would you do?

Unless you know which direction you’re likely to move to for a bigger house, it’s hard to take that into account.

Can you easily get DC to A, B or C and still get to work at D on time?

Is D local to you?
If you move house, presumably that will make little difference to the ease of getting them there. On the other hand, you face the problem that if you decide you want to apply for a new job, they will need to move school. If your local schools are full by then, you might end up restricted to applying to schools which have spaces.

Breakfast clubs might change prices, of course...

Which school is the best fit for your DC? Which do you get the best feel for?

Don't pick a school based on the price of breakfast club!

Have you checked the chances of actually getting into each of the schools? Your local authority should have the maximum distance pupils have been admitted historically. It may be that that school near your work isn't realistic anyway.

Whereabouts do you expect to live when you move house? In a completely different area so they would need to change schools, or likely to be near one of these schools?

You have said a lot about the breakfast clubs but not much about the schools themselves!

Things I took into account

• pleasant walking route to school
• whether they could make local friends
• school ethos
• opinions from parents at the school
• outside space
• any special features of the curriculum eg forest school, school specialisms
• ofsted report (read full report not just the grade)
• air pollution levels around the school

I wouldn't fancy driving to drop off DC at one school then driving to another school to work, sounds like could be a stressful morning.

A school within walking distance is good, they can make local friends and have a more relaxed start and end to each day.

What catchment are you actually in? Will you get into the ones further away? I personally would not have my child in the same school as me. As an ex-teacher, no way. And a few friends have all been very against it as well.

Where would you like to move too? Which school is that closest too?

Look around them and see which is best fit for your child, you’ll know by the feel of it.

Sorry, but I'm another one who finds it a bit bizarre that you're choosing a school based on the price of breakfast club! There's a bit more to it than that, surely?!

Even though B seems the better local option realistically with it starting at 8am I would be late getting to work for 8:30.

A so far is the best option, however after visiting I left feeling incredibly disappointed, it was just really grubby and dull. I left feeling unimpressed.

D is not local, in a different borough. It would be easier for everyone however from a professional capacity, it would be quite difficult for me to be open if I was unhappy about anything regarding LO at school. Also if I was off sick, I'd still have to travel 45min to drop him off to school, where everyone would see me or I'd have to keep him at home because there'd be no one to drop him to school.

Theres not a specific place we want to move to, more the budget. D is located fairly centrally so would be a 45min drive form most of the locations we've looked at.

Ugh seriously, I really didn't think this would be that stressful. My head is bloody hurting.

Seems unlikely you would get into D unless children of staff get priority over distance. You are probably not seeing any of the schools at their best atm. If you need before school care and prefer not to use a cm then A is the obvious.

I know a lot of people who have taught in the same school as their children were pupils, always seems to work out fine. Most were dropped off and picked up by local child minders which meant the parent could get on with their working day like any other teacher and the child wasn’t spending extra hours at school. You do need to consider both ends of the day, breakfast clubs are fine, but look at after school provision too. It’s a long hard day for reception.

Just seen D is a 45 minute drive. 90 minutes travelling on top of a teachers working day is too much. You need a local to where you live school and a childminder.

For those of you that have mentioned me choosing based on pricing of breakfast club it's really not that, it's more the actual breakfast club starting times. The pricing isn't a issue tbh, dunno why I mentioned it.

I would probably take a couple of migraleve and go for a lie down

Aside from that, you choose the best school, not the best breakfast club.

@viques

Just seen D is a 45 minute drive. 90 minutes travelling on top of a teachers working day is too much. You need a local to where you live school and a childminder.

OP is driving the 45 minutes to work, so it's on top of her workload regardless.

Are you sure you would get a space at the breakfast clubs? Where I am some are very oversubscribed and you can be on the waiting list for years.

Surely your child won’t get into a school 45 minutes away?! Is it very undersubscribed? If so, why? The decent schools are usually pretty full!

Can you amend your work hours? I’ve had too. I work later the other side and DH does pick up from after school club. It’d be worth it for a school you really like .. and also, gives your kid a shorter day. Breakfast club at 7.30 is a horribly long day when they are in reception, especially if doing after school as well (they may not be)..

D is a bit of a risky option, as if your circumstances change (change jobs, get pregnant etc) you either have to move your DC or have a huge school run. Although if you are thinking of moving house, then potentially this could give more stability, if they could stay at school. It would be trickier for your child's friendships if playdates and parties are 45 mins away.

I assume you have a partner (from your use of 'we'). What does he do for work? Amongst my teacher friends, it is quite common for the non-teacher to do morning drop off to breakfast club and the teacher parent to pick up, because in schools you often need to be in early.

As others have said, what are your chances of getting in to these schools? Does D have priority for staff children? Is C realistic?

I'm know I'm not choosing the best breakfast club, I'm just trying to find ones that start at half 7, where the school is decent.

School D isn't the best in that locality, not so long ago I was speaking to the admissions manager, and I remember her mentioning how numbers were very low for the upcoming cohort, she joked a few times how there was plenty of space if I wanted to send my LO. There is a smaller school on the next road near to school D that is graded outstanding with a long waiting list, ain't got no chance of getting in there.

On the admissions form it does state, priority is given to staff children. Currently there are 10 staff (that I can think of) who send their children here, around 5 dont live in the catchment area.

School C is realistic for now, i haven't been to the school but from what I've seen online and what I've been told it's a very progressive school, but again we move it will be out of our way. C wasn't in the running but its becoming one of the frontrunners.

OH will be doing the pick ups. If we send him to school D I will be doing everything, apart from 1 day where I stay late and OH will have to do pick up.

@fluffypastelslippers well, I was thinking of the effect of a 90 minute daily commute on a reception child, but as you were.....

Forget D. It's too far away, not fit for your kid to not have any friends locally and a pain if you have any issues that need raising.

C sounds like the front runner, but how close is it? Do you stand a chance? Will your child have any friends locally?

If B is the better school than A then that goes second (as long as C's distance doesn't impact on potential friendships - parents aren't for example likely to want to drive half an hour to pick their child up from a play date at yours if they have another half hour drive home). Look at child minders if the breakfast club doesn't open early enough.

Then A as your 'banker'.

[quote viques]@fluffypastelslippers well, I was thinking of the effect of a 90 minute daily commute on a reception child, but as you were.....[/quote]

Given that you said it was too much 'on top of a teachers day' it's no surprise that I missed you meant it was too much for the child. I mean I'm autistic and often don't pick things up correctly but I think it would be a stretch for anyone to take your comment about it being too much on top of a teachers day to be about the child.