Choosing primary school -

[SamMil]

Ok so choosing a primary school is much more difficult than I imagined.

We have narrowed it down to 4 choices, but don't know how to choose now..! Any help appreciated.

1 - Village school, 10 mins drive. Average results, friendly atmosphere in the school and lots of extras (outdoor classrooms, libraries, music etc) School itself looks a little run down. Ofsted's "parent view" is very positive.

2 - Brand new school, in a less reputable town. Great facilities. 10 mins drive. No results yet as there is only 1 class attending. The head has moved from an outstanding school and seems very progressive.

3 - Brand new school building and good facilities. 20 mins drive (if no traffic). Usually good results (but one recent year with low results), lots of extra curricular opportunities. Lovely staff and Ofsted's "parent view" is the highest of all the choices. Lots of child turnover as near an army base.

4 - Traditional school in a town. 20 mins drive.
Bigger than the other choices (2 form entry). Average results and good "parent view" results (though lower than school 3). Loads of extra curricular activities. More diversity than other schools and possibly easier for play dates/park after school as it is in a town with more amenities.

We have looked around them all. None are oversubscribed. We both work full time so would need to accommodate the extra journey but would be happy to for the school that is the best fit. Our child is confident and bright, so I'm sure would fit in most places but we want the best for her obviously and not sure which that is!

How would you choose?

Where do local children go

Go to the nearest school so your child's friends will live nearby. The Head who has come from an Outstanding school is probably on a career path which will involve making his mark (managing out older, expensive teachers is common in this scenario) and then moving on somewhere bigger.

What’s your catchment school?

Which did you get the best feel for when you visited?

Sorry, should have mentioned - we are very rural (the 10 min drive schools are in surrounding village/towns). We have no neighbours so we would always need to drive to get to school friends.

The catchment school is in the same school as school #2, but is rated "Inadequate". We did look round but felt it deserved the rating so won't be sending her there!

We got a good feel from them all but all of them have at least 1 downside, so we're struggling!

The catchment school is in the same school town as school #2

All sound much of a muchness, and probably all fine. Don't read too much into results, which often largely reflect the intake. Normally I'd say "stay local", but it's a bit different if you're very rural.

Other things to think about:

• Would it be easier for your child to have friends in the village or the town as they get older? Is there a bus route to either?
• Wrap-around care - you might want it later, even if you have a solution for now. That might not just be whether the school provides anything, but whether there are childminders in the area.

I'd go for a closer school. Unless one of the further schools is comfortably on your (or your husband's) work commute. And even then I'd probably still opt for a closer school as you never know what the future holds with regards to work. My DC school is about 7-8 minute drive from home and this is more than enough IME.

The problem with ignoring results is that you could find DC with few DC to work with if they are well above average themselves. It really does matter. You might not find progress is outstanding but you might find more engaged aspirational parents and a broader curriculum. Average schools can also vary year on year. They can go “above average” with a brighter cohort.

I cannot see why you would drive 20 minutes. I think Choice 1 is perfectly ok. Choice 2 presumably has few older children so is inevitably limiting your DC. This wouldn’t be my idea of a great school right now. But it might be in 5 years! If it’s 4-11 how long will it be until it’s full and operating with all clubs, sport, music and drama for example? Will your DC have older cohorts to look up to? What about friends and parents? Where are they coming from? You probably know where the village parents are from! So unless you don’t want a village school (but you live in the countryside) I cannot see why you would go into a town for an unknown school. I wouldn’t drive 20 mins unless I had no option.

The issue is whatever you put there is only a choice if your choices are under subscribed, otherwise you will get the closest school. You may have more chance if it's church school and you are a member of the local church, but you need to read their policies.

Personally choose which you want but make sure your third choice is a near school that is ok, otherwise you could end up miles away if all your three out of catchment schools are full .

@mehface
None are oversubscribed.

If you go for your catchment school would your child be entitled to a place on a school bus. Takes the commute pressure off you. You might not want to use it for the first couple of years but might be handy when your child is older.

We are like you. Semi rural. We have no choice but to drive to a school. Which blows peoples minds on here 😂 we do have some neighbours, the kids all go to different schools. Our catchment is inadequate as well & I really didn’t like it looking round.

From your description, I’d probably go with no.1. I think a lesser drive is better, having done nearly a term of school runs. We have a 5/6 minute drive that gets significantly more annoying when it’s raining! The cars on the road & around the school double on a wet morning! 🥴

We chose the village school. Pretty reasonable results but to be honest, that wasn’t my top criteria at all. Ofsted Good. Locally, it has a brilliant reputation for its pastoral care & its focus on childhood, play & links to the community. We both walked out of our visit & said, yep, that’s our school. Our DD could not love school more. It was 100% the right choice for her.

As an ex-teacher, personally, a school looking a bit run down is a sign of good use. Our school isn’t all singing or dancing. It’s a very old, traditional stone building with a hodge podge of extensions. But it’s clean & warm & quite cosy with all the kids in! A fancy new school might look shiny but it doesn’t mean it’s better necessarily. All the classrooms in our school have smart boards, they have a array of school laptops etc.

I’d personally be cautious of there only being one year group as the school will feel very empty for a while. 🤷🏼‍♀️ High turnover would be a no from me as well. For both a friendship perspective & also, teachers spending a lot of time settling new kids in & possible disruption.

School 4 - if you want a bigger school, could be an option. I was torn, I preferred bigger schools as a teacher. But one form entry is the norm round here & actually, it’s fine. It could go either way, DD’s class is very girl heavy! We moved here for that village life & with that comes the small schools. So 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’m rural and as we are on a non walkable route deemed unsafe for children, a taxi was provided. Mini bus for older DC. There was a charge but there wasn’t a need to use a car.,

However it was only to the catchment schools. Not a free choice.

I'd go for 1 on the basis that it's closest and sounds nice.

Find out about the schools in question. Make notes on the school as well. This is a list of things to discuss

Parent opinions and feedback
Quality of homework and lessons
Extra curricular activities and clubs
Exam results
School trips
Facilities
Class numbers etc

On the face of it, I have a preference for the village school, it has everything I would be looking for. I would not consider 3. for the same reasons given by Bobhall. As your child is confident and bright, I would check the school's policy, if there is one, on how they help children who are perhaps struggling and equally those who may benefit from being challenged with extra learning. Another thing that I always note is how the staff at reception behave, how they greet everyone who comes in and how they interact and help them. Good luck!

It is hugely difficult for parents to judge the quality of lessons. Even Ofsted no longer go into classrooms! You can look at progress data. If it’s above average, or even average, you know the teaching will be good. Look at how many DC have free school meals and what progress all DC make. It’s much tougher to get good progress from the lower achievers by the way. If your DC is bright, look at how well the higher achievers do. What % fall into this category?

Are the village parents likely to be like you? Will you and DC feel at home in that school? Be able to join in and enjoy the atmosphere? You can work at home with DC if school gives good guidance on this. Most schools reflect their intake regarding results so teaching is very hard for a parent to judge.

Thanks so much everyone! Loads to think about here, which has really helped I think we have crossed a couple off the list anyway!