Changing to a better primary school

[BizzyMissy]

My Y3 DD was allocated our second choice primary school when she started reception in 2020. Our first choice was a 2-form entry (v the 1-form entry she was allocated) which we preferred for friendship groups, extracurricular activities. As a bigger school it also had better facilities in particular a great library, an art room and specialist teachers for art, music and computing (these are taught by the class teacher in her current school). The first choice school does a lot of activities and school trips. Academics at the time we applied were similar for both schools although I don't believe that's the case now.

We kept DD on the waiting list for the first choice school and were offered a place part way through the autumn term of Year 1 but we declined it as she'd settled well in the second choice school.

At the end of Y3, she is still happy at school but DH and I are becoming more disillusioned with it. Academics have gone downhill a bit; extracurricular is so limited that DD has to do some she doesn't enjoy to extend the school day while we work (the first choice school has three options each evening, ours only has one); there is no PE when it rains as school hall used for music lessons and her class hasn't done a single school trip all year. DD is good at maths but finds it dull as there is no challenge.

I feel like I want to move her to the first choice for Y4-Y6 so she can have the best, broadest, primary education possible. She has turned out to be arty and would love more specialised art and would love the wider range of extracurricular. We hear from friends with kids at this school that they do a lot of maths contests and challenges in the later years of KS2 so the school is getting a local reputation for having a maths specialism which would really suit her.

I've raised with DD. She said she doesn't really want to move but was interested, as I expected, in the art and extracurricular provision. Her best friend from her current school literally lives around the corner so they could still see each other. DD knows a couple of friends at different schools who have moved locally so doesn’t think the concept of moving is odd. We live in London and it seems to happen reasonably often. One of DDs classmates moved to another local school after Easter.

It's very likely the school we like has places as there always seems to be an exodus of kids leaving London during primary school in this area. But I still can't get out of my head that you shouldn't move a happy child although I think she'd be as happy and definitely do better (in terms of activities and academics at this other school.)

What would you do? Thanks!

Anyone?

I would move her if you think she will benefit more from the other school and if you think she can still see her best friends from the original school.

If she is happy I wouldn’t move her.

I would look very closely at the first school again before moving because to me it does make me wonder how they can offer all they do within the restraints of budgets - does that mean other more essential things are lacking.

If she's happy at school I really wouldn't move her at this stage unless it's exceptionally terrible. She says she's happy, and isn't that the number one goal we have for our children?
Obviously we want them to do as well as possible academically, but it sounds like she is doing great anyway, and the upheaval of moving schools now, will likely cause resetment, and be highly disruptive to her, if she isn't in agreement. This could hugely impact how well she's doing, as if she isn't happy, she's not going to be putting her all into her education, as her mind will be elsewhere. Imagine moving her and she absolutely hates it?
Look for local private after school art clubs. Ours have done a few 8 week art courses at different venues locally, and they really enjoy them. They get to do stuff they wouldn't at school, and use a wide variety of different media and equipment they wouldn't be able to access at school.
There's far more to life than academic success, and if your daughter is happy that's worth more than anything. So many children struggle at school, have school refusal, struggle to make friends, and don't get on academically. I'd count your lucky stars that your daughter is happy, as that's worth more than anything.

We just moved our daughter halfway through year 3. We moved to this area at the end of year 2, and didn't get a place at our first choice, and ended up at a very small school. We were quite happy at first, but over the year we developed what I can only describe as school FOMO. When we were told that our first choice had a place, we let our daughter have a tour and let her decide, she took very little persuasion.
When she saw the library, playground, clubs, trips, etc, she was sold.
I would always pick the bigger school now, I'm sure that some small schools are great, but in my experience, they struggle massively through lack of funds and staff to replicate the experiences offered by a bigger school.
She has made friends very quickly, and settled into her work straight away. I'm so grateful that we did it!

Many thanks for your input. We discussed with DD yesterday and she is now keen on the idea given the extras this school can offer which is a game changer. Not assuming that she'll feel so sure about it when it comes to the crunch but I think we can support her through it. I'm trying to find out if we can visit again.

@Hannahthepink agree with everything in your post, particularly re smaller schools not typically able to provide what the bigger schools can. I didn't think this mattered as much for our DD in infants but it matters more to us now she is a bit older and her interests are clearer. Also have FOMO! She's only going to have one primary education so we really want it to be the best, broadest experience for her.

That's great that she's open to the idea of it, hopefully you can get a visit arranged.

I never changed schools as a child, so was worried that it would be really disruptive, but honestly, I think at any point in primary school they just slot right in.

This weekend my husband and I were talking about how many books our daughter had read this half term compared to the rest of the year at her old school. It is just a really good example of small vs larger schools.
Tiny primary had a tiny library, stocked with books bought and donated over time. School had asked the PTA to fund the county library service as there was not enough in the budget to cover this ongoing outlay. The county library service costs £2500 a year. The PTA would never be able to cover this cost every year as it's fundraising from a pool of maybe 50 families. At the larger school, the cost is covered much more easily as a proportion of spend from the school budget. The children there get to have fresh books brought in at regular intervals, colour coded for reading levels, and arranged into three separate libraries, each catering for a different age group. It's easy to see why she's suddenly more interested.

Do you know any parents at the new school? Or better yet exparents?
Beware of the grass is greener syndrome. My experience is that , yes, a big school may offer more opportunities, but there are twice as many children chasing them.

The bigger school may have three extra curriculars each day but would DD get a free choice? How often are that library and art room used?

Children don't always 'just slot in'. Is your DD the type to make friends easily?

What is the curriculum like. It can vary quite a lot. Also what is the communal worship policy? OK that#s one I would be bothered about, not everyone would.

Will she be happy at this school?

What did you end up doing? Im in a similar situation, happy child at less well performing school?

@Sallyanne92 She moved to the new school and she absolutely loves it. Two weeks in, she has made some friends, loves her class teacher, who has made a big effort to help her settle in, and has enjoyed lessons with the specialist teachers (particularly art and music). So glad we made the move. I'm sure the move was made easier because she was onboard and excited.

That's great, I'm really not sure what to do, my DS is only 5 and not sure he would understand moving but if he could maybe view a new school it might help!

We decided that if our daughter was devastated at the thought of a move then we wouldn't do it but in any other scenario we would speak positively about the new school and the move and reassure her about concerns (eg losing friends). Our daughter has just started Y4 so we thought three years of not moving to a better school for her was too much time to miss out on and we couldn't be happier, in our situation and knowing our daughter, that we made the move.