Reception choices - School A or School B

[JC21]

Hi everyone,

We are looking to send our son into reception next year and are stuck between two choices and wanted to get your opinions. I have detailed our journey so far below.

We have two schools in mind. School A is on the same street as us, new opened in 2018, and just got their first sats results after covid. The parents who send their kids there only say good things and kids are happy. For the longest time this was the only school we had in mind for him to go to primary and he already attends preschool there. He loves the preschool.

We recently decided to also look at other schools. School B is a church of england school in s small village 2 mins drive away. Class size is about 30 per year group.

We visited both
Impressions -School A

Everything looks really nice, kids happy and running around but can't see much learning, the kids look abit distracted, maybe because it was end of the year and bit more relaxed.. we visit sometimes to pick our son up from preschool. Teachers faces sometimes seem abit stressed. We find dealing with office staff difficult sometimes our son came with us to the visit he was very happy. Head teacher told us alot about the awards they have got and extra curricular activities on offer. School is part of a trust and leads up to what used to be one of the best public secondary schools in the area, although from what I heard and researched its went downhill a while ago and requires improvement. We know some parents and kids at school A they are positive about it.

School B
We were very Impressed with the relationship between students and teachers. Students are very well behaved, amazing manners and appear to be having alot of fun learning and happy. The staff we very warm to us and can feel their kindness and compassion. They teach at quite a high standard and was surprised level of some things they are teaching. Big field outside for kids to play on. From what I heard as small school lots of interaction between year groups and students help each other out.

As you can see already very different types of school. The students backgrounds are also quite different. We are bordering the edge of town so between a very quite poor area and quite a rich suburban area. School A is more diverse there is no catchment criteria for this school so alot of kids from the poorer area go here, and more kids from varied backgrounds, with English as a 2nd language. White british are a minority, wheras school B is mostly White British, but with a few other mixes as well. School A accommodates to everyone of mixed backgrounds whereas school B probably doesnt need to do this much. The character of both schools is nice, both good on oftsed, and we would be happy at either one. We were in favour of School A however we saw the sats results

Sats results
School A - "well below average" in writing.
Reason may be because what I mentioned above and or relativly new less experienced staff
School B - constantly very good results. High in reading which they seem to put lots of effort in.

This was a big shock to us as we really had school A as our first choice. We thought back about what we saw and experienced and we started to consider school B for our first choice instead.

However school A results may get better. How much should we judge just from Sats?

On the other hand, our son is quite bold not shy, sometimes bossy, but really cares listens and does well in preschool. I start to wonder if school B, small school education might be restricting or there is silent pressure to do well as a whole group or keep people happy. They have class leaders, somethjng about a rainbow flag if you are a good student etc. On the other hand It is easy to see how school A is, bigger, more relaxed inclusive, educationwise dont know what they are doing but still a good school (so people say), but don't know much about what is happening at School B and little info in terms of reviews on the Internet. I talked with 1 lady with 3 kids there and she says it's a brilliant school, but in certain ways feels abit more like a risk than school A. But if School A sats results were better maybe we wouldn't have been shaked or changed our minds.

On top of all this in addition -

I then saw this bad review for school B saying that they are teaching 5/6 year old about same se marriage. I have nothing against that but was thinking it is quite young to teach those topics. I researched the schools se.Ed curriculum and they teach body parts and appropriate names for them in year 1 or 2. And they start learning alot of more detailed things properly from year 4 ( i guess ks2). Which in my experience seems way early but maybe this is how schools are now. I have no idea... but was a recent concerning point. They use somethjng called jigsaw framework? If this is the case I'm starting to feel School B maybe too serious about educating from a young age.

I was wondering what you guys think about this situation. What would you think is the best option? Any thoughts you have no matter big or small would be greatly appreciated. Apologies for such a long post. As you can guess I've had alot on my mind.

Walks are predictable and the exercise is good for you.

Drive durations can vary massively depending on traffic, roadworks etc and it’s stressful if you are late and it’s out of your control and you can’t predict exactly where you’ll be able to park each day so you always have that uncertainty in the back of your mind. You’re shafted if your car is unavailable for some reason. Then there’s the environmental impact.

We drive to school but I wish we didn’t have to.

You're getting lots of good advice about schools.

Unless you're homophobic I do not see why you have an issue with your child knowing that some couples are a man and a woman, some are two men and some are two women. The Usborne book of Families is great and you and your DD could look at this together as it teaches that families come in all sorts of different set ups

In terms of walking always being preferable, is this from a time point of view? How about if the walk to nearer school is 15 mins each way but a drive to further 'better' school would be 10 mins each way? Curious as I am also choosing schools atm and this is potentially the situation we are in.

IMO walking distance school is preferable from the perspective of time (not just normal school runs but picking up from after school clubs etc and going to friends' houses), being part of the community (activities focussed around local things, going to school with others) and having local friends. Plus less school run stress :)

If you need to go straight onto work, then you will need to factor in a slightly different priority as well.

If the walk to the nearest school is 15 minutes, then you will be able to get there on time even if you walk out the house 15 minutes before school starts (not recommending this for every day, but good if you are running late and can hurry a bit).

A 10 minutes drive is going to practically need you to leave at least 20 minutes before school start time, and quite possibly an awful lot earlier. I would suggest you actually try the drive in school run traffic and see how long the door to door time really is. And what the parking round school is like.

Tbh it's much more likely you'll get school A.
You have a right to choose preferences, that's all.

Definitely don’t make a decision based on SATS results.

if it was me, I’d go with School A for sure - being in walking distance & having your school community & all the social life that goes with it is a massive advantage

They are good points on the walking v driving! Parking, traffic, car breaking down etc. A walk is always going to be preferable. In our case the one a 10 min drive away has a lot going for it over the walkable one (smaller class sizes, facilities etc) so think it may be worth the downsides. Definitely worth trying out the journey in school rush hour. Also we have the option of jumping on the bus most of the way there so that's a good plan B.

In terms of walking always being preferable, is this from a time point of view? How about if the walk to nearer school is 15 mins each way but a drive to further 'better' school would be 10 mins each way? Curious as I am also choosing schools atm and this is potentially the situation we are in

Just bear in mind there is a school rush hour. I moved schools because the 10 min school run could take 30 mins. I used to leave about 25 mins but frequently panicked we would be late yet at other times we'd be hanging around in the car. Parking was also hideous. The new school was 10 min walk and so nice.

Currently my work is 12 mins drive in school hols and coming back home. It takes 25-35 mins on a school day morning 😩.

Yes, I was assuming the OP had factored in rush hour tbh. Would be quite shortsighted not to realise journeys take longer at certain times of day! The journey we are looking at takes 7 mins usually but at rush hour would be 25/30 unless you park up a bit further away and walk the rest. Google maps is quite handy for this as it has real time traffic info so you can check at different times of day the journey time.

Parking issues is another factor and one that might not become apparent until you actually do it, but a few test runs could help to determine how awful this might be?

Re the walking vs driving debate, I know many parents drive because they're dropping off on the way to work but I would always advise walkable distance where possible for all the reasons already stated (being able to get there if your car is out of action, child being able to walk alone when old enough etc).

From a teacher's perspective, my pupils who walk to school often seem more alert first thing than those who have been driven. No surprise. I remember it myself as a kid too. We had a 20 minute walk to secondary school. During heavy rain a neighbour would sometimes offer a lift. I was always grateful that I wasn't soaked but boy I felt out of sorts all day not getting my usual start of fresh air and exercise. Even a 5 minute walk around the corner is so beneficial for helping children start the day off in the right way.

Also, nine times out of ten a parent who is late is one who has driven, often struggling to park. When you walk you know exactly how long the journey will take, it's predictable. Driving carries so many unknown factors which add unnecessary stress to the day.

So while driving is unavoidable for most, I would always advise a walkable distance where possible.

Middle class school has better results than non middle class school is hardly a cause for concern.
We chose the equivalent of School A. Best choice ever. Kids have diverse friendship groups, they walk to school from year 4 which has built confidence, most of their mates are local so I am not driving them around at weekends etc. I really feel part of the community and have met loads of parents.

It doesn't have to be one or the other either, in terms of walking/driving. Parking a little way from the school means easier to park plus you can have a walk too. There may also be public transport to schools a bit further away.

Where I am the local school is 10/15 min walk, but I wouldn't (and I don't think most other parents round here) would let primary age kids walk it alone as it's crossing main roads etc. I think I would only let them walk alone if it was literally 2 or 3 streets away or on the same street.

I know it's lovely to be part of the super local community (it sounds like school B isn't exactly miles away anyway) but once they get to secondary and start thinking about GCSEs etc, and even 11+ it might have been beneficial to go to the better school. There's also no reason you can't make friends outside of school either at clubs etc or just around, although appreciate maybe a little bit harder.