We can't decide...

[glitterbug87]

We have been looking at local primary schools for the reception 2022 intake. In our town we are fortunate that we have good schools and people usually get their first choice given the number of places available.

We have decided against one school as it was huge and just didn't feel right. Another is simply too far out for us to realistically walk to.

This leaves us with the choice of a faith school and one other.

The faith school was closed down in 2017 due to poor Ofsted. It has since re-opened as an Academy, over £300,000 has been injected into the school. It has a new Head who has turned the school around, a new teaching team (3 of whom have won awards for excellent teaching in our county). The school also now gets the best SAT results out of all of the schools in the town. The LA has been in and done their own version of Ofsted and it is now rated a "good school." It is also a one form entry and class sizes are usually low 20s each year. I should also point out that DD is Baptised so we could get a place based on faith.

We visited and it had a lovely feel to it, but I didn't come away with that gut wrenching "yes, this is the right one."

The other school is consistently "good." Is much bigger - two form. Again, felt nice, but didn't get that "you will just know the right one vibe."

Faith is important to DH, not so much to me.

Anybody else been in similar predicaments. How did you decide?

I should add that DD is a confident little girl and she would be fine at either.

I probably wouldn't put any store on 'award winning teachers'. This isn't something any teacher I know strives for or is even aware of. I suspect some academies put forward their teachers for awards as it is excellent publicity for the school

^ 100%

I would also be very worried about low numbers. Both for the financial viability of the school, and where they are having to cut corners, but also for the options of friendships. It does then also make the transition to secondary a massive step. Plus likely to be fewer clubs / teams / etc for your child to be offered - you won't know yet if they are going to want to play football or sing in a choir or play chess or join an art club or a chess club. The smaller the school the likelihood of there being many options is pretty small. Plus, the school has no option to separate children out when classes don't work so well together.
I agree with most I would always place high value on a Primary school being near, but you say they are fairly similar distance.

The most important thing for learning is quality of teaching. Unless Ofsted visited very recently, that’s very difficult for parents to judge. However a decent Head will be striving for high quality teaching so you need a head who really understands what this is. Some do and some don’t so allow poor practice to creep in without doing anything about it.

Beyond that, friendships nearby and clubs etc are a great addition. However plenty of DC in preps don’t have friends down the road and don’t suffer. Parents can also sign DC up to outside activities if a school doesn’t offer much. Mine did piano, Brownies, swimming and dance. Nothing to do with school at all. A poor school is one where teaching is poor. Most schools are just fine however so choose one where you feel comfortable and where DD will be happy and thrive.

I had to name change, but yes we made a decision.

We decided to go with the two form school over the Catholic one. It is easier to get to and just had more enrichment opportunities in terms of clubs etc. I felt DD would be happier there when we weighed it all up.

Catholic one went down as 2nd choice.

Decision made! Well done.

Well done, we made a similar decision (met you on my thread too!). Going with bigger local school. I'm so glad I asked mumsnet as well, found it so helpful. Still love the small Catholic school but the charm would probably wear off after year 1.

@Smurftastic

Well done, we made a similar decision (met you on my thread too!). Going with bigger local school. I'm so glad I asked mumsnet as well, found it so helpful. Still love the small Catholic school but the charm would probably wear off after year 1.

Me too, @Smurftastic

I also still like our Catholic one, but feel it wouldn't offer what DD needs for the KS2 years. MIL is slightly aghast that we went for the larger school as a devout Catholic (her not me)!

@theapplesinthetrees so many factors to think about when choosing school I had no clue about. Going with your gut is not 100% good idea when you fail to imagine your child past reception age as I did. If DD hates it I can always move her but I think she'll be ok.

MIL doesn't know yet we're sending DD to a 3 form entry school but I imagine she'll be gasping in horror as she sent DH to a smallest school she could find, with 15 kids per class. He thinks it didn't help him become more social and he still struggles with friendships in his 30s... But it might be just him!

@Smurftastic ooh good luck with that conversation!!

That is my thinking too. We realised that the school we have gone for is the most popular one so likely to be fully subscribed so if we hated Catholic school we would be unlikely to get her in there. However, if we do decide we don't like the two form one it will be easier to move her to the Catholic one.

So glad that decision is made and can put it to bed until April!! It is a low birth year, however, so fingers-crossed we both get what we want :)

I think once DD settles in you will have some idea as to the progress she’s making and if teaching is good. In most schools if will be and most people don’t change schools. They simply don’t need to. Often parent chat at the gates alerts you to issues!

I think 2 form entry is the perfect size for a primary school. I've worked in a one form entry junior school, a school with 35 kids total, a 4+ form entry and a 2 form entry.

IMO 2 forms gives the right balance between decent resources/ big enough staff team for there to be a variety of expertise and maintaining a personal feel.