Which school would you choose?

[autumndayswherethegrassisjewelled]

School A - in the village where we live. Good ofsted rating. Didn't get a great feel when we visited, but not awful either. Seems to have a good reputation. Seems a little run down with not as many resources as school B. Not a huge emphasis on play. Not a huge emphasis on being outside. Lots of clubs. Not religious. About 50% of children come from the village and 50% travel in from elsewhere. No preschool attached, although about 50% of reception attend a private nursery locally.

School B - in a neighbouring village a 10 minute drive away. Outstanding ofsted rating. Got a lovely feel when we looked round - seemed very nurturing and caring. Lovely building with more resources. Lots of emphasis on play and being outside throughout the school (not just in reception) and have adapted curriculum so that play based learning is the focus until end of y2. Not as many clubs. Fairly religious. 2/3 are from village and 1/3 aren't. Preschool attached.

Both one form entry.

Play based learning and spending time outside are important to us and our child currently attends a forest preschool (not linked with either school). However, we are not religious and are concerned about our child being in a religious environment 7 hours a day. Also concerned about impact of him not being at our village school.

That should say 50% of reception attendED a private nursery locally (can't seem to Edit on the app)

This is probably a daft question but have you checked catchment areas / admissions data? School B sounds like the obvious choice, but it's pointless saying choose B if you're unlikely to actually get a place there.

We are likely but not guaranteed to get into school B - drop in birth rate/ lower birth rate years means they've not quite been full for the last 2 years - and they are actively welcoming enquiries from a wide area including where we live.

School B sounds like it meets your values better.

I wouldn't get hung up on the religious aspect. Any form of religion thrse days should be taught as Christians (or whichever religion is being studied) believe, rather than 'we', as cohorts will contain a mixture of beliefs and values. CofE does not = indoctrination.

Church schools tend to instil great values such as respect, a sense of belonging etc. I would focus on that, rather than worry that my child may sing a round of Lord of the Dance in assembly and end with a prayer. If you are not religious, chances are you child will also grow up a non-believer as you have the biggest influence on them.

Funnily enough, when we were at school it was far more common for most schools to sing songs of praise, have bible stories and prayers read in assembly, be taught 'we' believe rather than Christians believe, visit church regularly etc, regardless of whether they were a church school or not. Yet many of us grew up atheists anyway. So I don't understand why so many seem so anti church schools these days. Our children are more than capable of making up their own mind as to what they believe, just like we did. Why are we so afraid of them being exposed to religion? At the end of the day, if they did choose to grow up believing that would be their choice and one they are entitled to make for themselves but it seems rare for children to grow up with a different belief set to their parents as ultimately you are their biggest influence.

I would definitely put the focus on play and outdoor learning way ahead of concerns about religion. That said, it certainly doesn't sound as if option A is awful so I would consider yourself fortunate to have 2 decent schools to choose from. Even if you opted for option B and they didn't get in for some reason, your back up sounds like something you could happily live with. Not everyone is fortunate to have such good options so I'd say you're probably in a win win situation.

Thanks for your reply.

I'd always imagined walking to the local school, being part of the local community etc to be the most important thing in primary... but I agree that school B seems much more in line with our values, and they spend a lot of time at school...

I'd choose A. Child will then Probably make friends in the village and more locally.

You have no commuting. A 10 min drive to school B is a 30 min round trip (to get parked and into school) so that's about an hour of your day as opposed to maybe 15 mins. That's a lot over the years. Also by year 5/6 child may like the independence of walking to school with friends.

It's cheaper for you in terms of travel and better for the environment.

Perhaps A didn't sell their play based / outdoor learning but that's pretty much the curriculum in early years so should be in place in both schools.

Unfortunately the decision is usually out of your hands.

Are there younger siblings and would they get any priority in terms of admission at school B? Would you consider a relocation? Do both schools tend to feed into the same secondary school?

Do you need wrap-around care and is it available at either school?
I would err towards School A purely for the transport aspect. You want outdoor play but don't want your child to walk to school?

It's not really a "choice" though is it? You put your preferred school (which I'm reading as B) first, then put school A next. And the LEA will allocate you B if they can and A if they can't. In a rare situation B or A won't be offered and you will get C (wherever had a space).

So put your preferred school first and hope you get it.

I'd choose school A as I think being part of the local community is important (unless the school is really bad). But that's me - it sounds like you prefer B?

Thanks everyone.

Younger siblings would get priority at school b over other non- catchment children, but not over catchment children.

No need for wrap around currently although both schools have that if things change.

They feed into different secondary schools and we wouldn't get into the secondary school most children from school b would go to - for that reason we probably would consider relocation nearer the time (which would solve the walking to school with friends issue in y5/6) but we currently couldn't afford a house in school b catchment.

Totally agree with @wereonthemarket I think the ability to walk to school and not have the stress of a morning drive (plus, if you do not have an EV, subjecting your child to the pollution burst caused by short journeys) is hugely important.

Did you directly question school A about outside play? I think most schools these days have it embedded in their
Curriculum. They may just not be "selling" it as much?

Are there other children from your village that go to school b who you could share lifts or playdates with?

Thanks - think we need to question school a more about outdoor play - although think school b is unusually 'outdoorsy'.

We do have an ev, but agree less stress with parking etc would be far preferable - wondering though if that means school a, or just trying to relocate sooner (within a few years) to catchment b...

Good question about other children out of catchment, don't know where they come from, only that a third are out of catchment, but potentially could share lifts etc.

Could join pta/ go to school b playground etc after school to be more integrated within school b village life despite not living there... more worried about not being integrated in village a if we went to school b. In theory like the idea of dc having village friends in addition to school friends (from village a playground, could attend beavers in village a etc) but in reality dc is currently v shy so may find that tricky.

I'd also choose the nearest one. You can't put a value on the convenience of a very short journey. The walk to and from school will partly make up for the reduced outdoor time. They'll be more time for play and hobbies because you're not doing the car journey.

That's a good point about making up for outside time by walking to school etc.

I suppose it's just appears to be a different ethos in school B - they really value play and have changed their curriculum/ resources etc because of this.

How much is a school ethos important?

@autumndayswherethegrassisjewelled it is important but is subject to change of personnel.

My DSs went to a fab, tiny primary. The head who was there when DS1 started was amazing and had the kids out in all weathers (there was one memorable sports day when we all nearly drowned in the rain !)

But her successor was much less outdoorsy so outside time became much more controlled and rationed. Then a new Year 1 teacher arrived with lots of ideas and took the children to the woods for lessons and asked our PTA fundraised for an amazing outdoor classroom.

So it can change either way.

That's helpful thanks