How important do you think it is for your dc to go to school in catchment?

[OFSTEDoutstanding]

Hi my ds is 2 1/2 and we are now starting to think about which school we would like him to go to. We are very fortunate that there are 6 primary/infant schools in a 5 mile radius and all have a low intake of children each year so we can pretty much choose which oneto send him to. I have looked at the OFSTED reports and it is really the choice between one in our village or one about 3 mile up the road. He hasn't stated nursery yet but whichever school we decide on he will go to the nursery that is next door so that he will know some people when he starst school.
Some people are appalled that I would consider sending him out of catchment saying that he will have no friend to play with in his village and when he gets older he wont be able to play outside with anyone!
I am a childminder so quite happy for him to have friends over from school so he can have people to 'play with' as am at home all day. But was just wondering what are your opinions on sending a child to school out of catchmant will he miss out on other experiences as he gets older because of it?

I think it is important for your child to be at a school you can walk to, where there are children who will live in your near neighbourhood

DS now in year 2, has 3 friends in his class who live in our road .. it is such a community sense and gives me great pleasure that he isn't being bused / driven miles away

it feels more traditional

also easier to get to know other parents .. coffee mornings / lunches / after-school playdates .. I certainly am not too fond of driving to pick up my child from a playdate

I don't think you can think in the future .. just focus on infants

for me - very important, unless there were serious issues with the local school I wouldn'y even consider not sending the dc's to it.

I can see it would be handy having friends close by, but also, if local school is good and you have the choice, why would you want to send him 3 miles away where you would be driving back and forth?

It's not an issue I have to think about yet, but there is a school down the road from us and it wouldn't even occur to me not to send DS there unless I found out there was a major problem with it or something.

I owuld hate to have to drive my children to school everyday

But this is only 3 miles (5mins max) no traffic and so not seeing that as a problem

I was vociferous that children should go to the local school and am waiting for the call that she has got in elsewhere - a drive away - i would move her tomorrow if necessary. it is failing her terribly. she has become more and more anxious, and sad, and isolated. So I would say, look at the schools individually and go with your gut instinct.

still a hassle to drive I htink, regardlesss of traffic

have you done it at school run time, what is the parking like, have you considered that your dc will ALWAYS have to go in the car, won't get to walk and have some excercise on the way, won't be able to just pop up the street to see a friend, etc
Anyway - if you can't choose between the two then the first step if to visit them and talk to other parents.

I don't think it's just about whether the traffic is a problem for you. For me anyway it's about what's better for DS and if the local school to us is good, and it means he can walk to school, fresh air, exercise, etc, I'd rather go with that.

I'm not suggesting you won't do what's best for your DS btw, I'm just saying that walking to school would be one of my priorities if possible.

Another point to consider: would sending your son to a school three miles away have implications for your childminding job?

Agree with Twiglett

DS goes to our local school which is literally a minutes walk - no one mixes out of school, there is no sense of community at all, DS isn't happy so we are looking to move him

Thought about this a lot when we were deciding for my dd.

Obviously a very good school 3 miles away would trump a very local but very poor school, but being able to walk to and from school independently - being able to just decide to go and play with friends after school and being able to just pop round to their houses, and the whole community thing is worth a lot. When it works, it gives children a great sense of belonging and of security. Don't underestimate it.

Sorry I should have put it more clearly currently I childmind for 3 after school children none of who go to the local school all need driving to collect one is at the school I am considering (good sized car park, no traffic hardly on school run) and one is a further 4 miles up the road from the first. If things stay like this even if my ds goes to the local school walking will not be an option as will have to drive to collect other children from other schools anyway. He gets lots of exercise so walking the short walk to school would not make a huge impact anyway, and like I have already said I can't seem to get any children from the village to childmoind as there is a daycare centre that is so cheap evryone is sending the local children there so for the forseeable future I will be driving to the surrounding villages to do school runs anyway.

this post interests me very much.

i'll admit that i've strayed here as i'm a pretty sure convert to home ed... the whole selecting schools thing bewilders me, and even contributes to my choice to HE for the early years at least. DS would be due to start sept.

we live on the edge of a fairly small town, but not in a village. our lane is a mile long, and mostly ok but seedy at times. we might walk sometimes but not always, certainly not in or on the very edge of dark.

there's a school near the end of our lane... not fab, then there's about 10 more within 3 miles. there's no 'community feel' near this school, it's in a semi 'dodgy' area really... lots of nice folks too but quite a lot of kids pulled out for this and that.

there's a couple of catholic, and 3 CofE schools but we're not church goers and don't intend to start. there's a very good village school where my parents live BUT this is what baffles me... parents from out of that area go as far as to lie to get their children in, and parents in the village are applying to the next villlage that's a tad better in the league tables.

it just all seems balmy... but i'm sure everyone just wants the best for there babes.

oops... sorry about my shoddy post, i was rushing!

Message withdrawn

I have posted this before but...would always go to the local school unless some massive prob with it (not even sure what that would be.

Reasons - what Twig says really.

Lol at 6 primaries in 5-mile radius being lucky in terms of choice (if that's what you meant). If we considered 5 miles to be local in that sense then we would be looking at more than 20!

Walking to school is such a joy and good for the kids too. Why wouldn't you want to?

Oh sorry seen yr later post now. Don't understand actually how you can pick up DS from one school then others from 2 other schools???

Benimble, FWIW we never walk to or from school in the dark, not even in December.

I do don't think the reasons about playing out are valid tbh. Most children who play out, spend time with the other children/families in their street: these are usually from wide age-ranges, and they probably don't know each other very well from school anyway if not in the same year.

My boys do go to their catchment area school, but we are on the edge of catchment. There are lots of children (almost all boys) in the street who attend 4 different primary schools, ages range from 4-10. (There are a couple of babies too).

But they all play out together happily, and there isn't any particular exclusion for those who are the only one from their school.

my dd has 6 schools within a mile here. Two superb ofsted rated, two very good and two above nat average. She could have gone to any. However she has visual SN so we selected a small village school 7 miles away. Irony is that it takes longer to drive to the local schools as traffic is chaos. The school she is at is an average attaining school. But the pastoral care of the kids is incredible and that's why she is there. We want to move to the village eventually.

DS is starting in Sept, not at our village school. Instead I will make sure we stay in touch with friends from nursery who can come for tea and, when he's old enough, I hope he will join badgers/cubs in the village.