Which school would you pick, A or B

[Greengagess]

Doing primary applications for first child and looking for some opinions from parents who have more experience…

School A: a five minute walk from us. 2 form intake. A faith school but quite liberal (yes we’ve got the attendance points, we don’t particularly view it being a faith school as a good thing as would prefer the kids to have friends that are a bit more reflective of wider society), excellent results but probably because intake is very upper middle class, good music sport etc. and supposed to be nurturing. Asks parents to pay a “voluntary” donation to the school that is basically about £2000 per kid per year but as a result of this the school has amazing facilities, good staff retention and TAs in every class. BUT, terrible wrap around care - like 30 places total for a two form entry school, some paid for clubs available on site after school but they all finish at different times so would have to get a childminder or book different clubs every day. We both work, so will need it.

School B; A 25 minute walk from us. Not a faith school. 3 form intake but split into two sites for infant and juniors. Very good results but not as amazing as the other. A bit more socially diverse and much more ethnically diverse, probably 60% middle class. School is strapped for cash and facilities have taken a battering and fewer TA’s etc. Amazing wrap around care.

Currently our heads are with school A (better education, teaching and resources for the kids, very well insulated from funding cuts etc. though we’ll have to pay for it with the “donation” and convenient.) But hearts with school B (more diverse, more typical, don’t have to shell out loads of money, good wrap around care, still a good option academically.)

I realise we’re really lucky to have two great options! Just looking for views from parents who’ve experience schools with funding cuts / no wraparound care etc and can give us the benefit of their hindsight

B. Without a doubt. The wraparound childcare is a winner.

Do you meet the admission criteria for both?

B. A state school expecting so much from parents financially is wrong

School A definitely. Start looking now for childminder for wrap around.

B.

Yes we definitely do

I was pretty surprised but apparently a lot of faith schools do this as they get less funding from government, so maybe I’m just naive.

Wrap around care would be the clincher for me

If I had my time again, I would not have chosen the school with no wraparound care even though it was closer. It caused no end of problems as a working mum to have to seek out other care. School B definitely.

How much do you need the wraparound care?

Toss a coin. Make heads school A, tails school B, say you'll go with whatever the coin toss says. If the coin comes down and you feel instant disappointment in the result, pick the other school.

School B

You need wrap around care, meaning school A isn't really a feasible option. You also want more diverse, so it seems like a no-brainer to me.

Being only a 5 minute walk away is great, but if you're always dropping and collecting to and from work I'm guessing you would drive rather than walk anyway? A 25 minute walk means it's doable in an emergency (car trouble etc), but day to day if you'll be driving anyway that kind of negates the positive of school A being a very short walk away.

Going local is important, in terms of friendships and feeling part of the community, but if it doesn't suit the needs of your family you need to look elsewhere. School B is still fairly local and caters for your needs much better.

B - for the wrap around care and if you ever need a tutor you can justify that £2k towards clubs / extra curricular / tutoring.

The main advice I got was where do you think your child will be happy. A happy child at primary school is more likely to learn, the social skills for KS1 are just as important as academic learning IMO.

Agreed!

Do not underestimate the value of well organised wrap around care! If you need wrap around provision which I'm guessing you do or you wouldn't have mentioned it then school A is unviable.

B

I would go with school A if there was a good childminder who did pick ups and drop offs at that school to provide the wraparound cover required, being 5 mins from school is a lovely thing. Also if I could afford the ‘donation’ every year. As a side note, what happens if you don’t pay it?
Could you manage the 25 minute trip every day/night around your working hours and the wraparound available at school B?

B.
I wouldn't pay £2000 a year. No way.

God A definitely, especially if it fits with your faith. Closer and better facilities and results. You'll just need to sort a childminder if you're on the wrap around waiting list.

B

It fits you better all round.

And if you want to help out with things you can donate some of the £2k a year voluntary contribution to them for glue sticks/scissors/whatever your child's class appears short of at that moment if you want to.

I’m somewhat shocked by the £2k contribution, never heard of that round here

although we could probably afford it that would put me off because presumably only well off families can. Also the lack of wraparound is very limiting, I wonder if a lot of families have a non working parent which makes the £2k even harder to understand!

so school B.

How did you feel when you walked around? What are your main concerns with your kids? Are there any additional needs? is one more play based?

Interesting how your heart has the second. I would go with heart for school personally. I’m a bit wary of faith schools as (not always) but sometimes they aren’t as ‘standardised’ or up to scratch in some areas and there will be some differences. What does your gut tell you would make you’re child happy?

can you ask other parents including anonymously online? Also what are the issues? all schools will have something that’s less good and really think about what that is.Gut can be important here.

I agree with this. School A sounds all ‘lovely’ but some these things are a bit off imo. And you can imagine a bit of a cliquey bubble.

This. Except it doesn’t have to be disappointing. Is it worry?

I think our hearts are with school B because it’s more like the schools we went too - nice but a bit more normal. But equally conscious that we didn’t go to school during a funding crunch and teacher retention crisis, so perhaps option A with its guarantees and cushioning from these issues is going to be better for the kids - very hard to predict really.

I think if I could boil it down I’d say option A is probably better for the kids (although probably not by that much) as if they will get amazing teaching, a lovely environment and great opportunities. But it will stretch us a bit financially and from an admin perspective. So A, slightly better for the kids, B slightly better for the family as a whole.

Has anyone else heard of faith schools asking for these kinds of donation from parents out of interest?