Torn between primary schools! 🤔

[Hilochickalo]

Im really struggling to pick a school for my DD.

I'm torn between two - option 1, the nearest is a 15 min walk and recently got an Outstanding on their Ofsted report, but I don't know how much that really means.

However they aren't good at communicating, and took several weeks to respond to an email I sent about visiting. On our visit they forgot we were coming which seemed odd, and no other parents were on the tour. They do have a forest school area which is lovely, and the Head seemed great when we eventually met her. It's one class per year so a bit smaller than the second.

The second (Ofsted 'Good') felt a lot more familiar to me, has two classes per year but is a longer distance (just over a mile so around half hour walk).

I WFH and would be doing majority of journeys by foot or bike/scooter so everyone has been advising to go for the nearest school for ease.

The deadline is approaching soon but I'm still torn, any thoughts? My DD wouldn't know anyone at the nearest school, but would know some friends at the furthest (option 2). But they make new friends at that age more easily I think? 🤔 They both offer after school clubs and parents of kids at both schools have recommended both to me.

Given that the first school hasn't made a great first impression on you, I'd be tempted to go for school 2 as first choice. That depends whether walking bothers you or not though. It wouldn't bother me at all. We were use to walking everywhere as kids so a half hour walk wouldn't phase me at all and your child will soon get use to it and increase their speed. I understand why it would put some off though who are less use to walking (what a good opportunity to get into good daily habits though).

The Ofsted outstanding vs good thing wouldn't bother me at all. Good is good enough. You have to go on what feels right for you. If the outstanding school is only 1 form entry I would question whether you'd even get in if you're a 15 minute walk away. Outstanding schools can often be oversubscribed, as the outstanding label alone sells it to people. If there are only 30 spaces I'd question your chances.

Obviously it's up to you, but first impressions are important so if I was you I'd be edging towards the one which impressed you the most, despite it being a bit further to walk. If it was a choice between a school 5 minutes away and 40 minutes away I'd lean towards the nearer one, but a 15 minute walk vs 30 minutes isn't so drastically different as a 15 minute walk is still a fair distance anyway in poor weather. Let's face it, if it's gale force winds or chucking it down with rain you're going to be bedraggled by the time you get there whether it's a 15 minute walk or a 30 minute one so I wouldn't let the distance sway you too much.

Is either one on a bus route? That could make life easier on poor weather days.

We are going for our closet which is a GOOD school. I would be picking option 1 because I value an easier life for me and the children (we can walk to ours)

Yes good point - thanks for your response! The furthest is on a bus route (bus stop near us is about 5 mins walk away) and very central to the small town centre I live near, so that could be an option in poor weather. We do live up a hill which impacts the route home more.

Maybe I should practice the routes this week with DD on scooter and compare (I am probably overthinking it all, but 7 years is a long time 😆)

Forgot to mention we are only in catchment for the nearest one, however I believe DD is in a low birth rate year so is likely to get into whichever is first choice.

Nearest. Local friends are invaluable.

Being on a bus route is a real plus as an option in poor weather.

Practising the routes is a great idea. Hope it helps you to decide, based on practicalities. A school with the right feel is all well and good but if it's not practical it's not really an option. If it does feel doable, I would put the feel above the convenience of a slightly nearer (but ultimately still not 'close') school which doesn't feel as right.

The nearest.
You're doing that walk every day for 7 years.

The nearest one sounds like she will eventually be able to walk alone by y5/6.

I would go for the nearest just for ease. 30 min walk is too far with an infants school child.

You could also look at school performance data and also ask on your local Facebook groups for opinions but I wouldn't worry too much. School A is a good school if it's Outstanding (and recently so).

Nearest-

The teacher makes or breaks the year so you could still end up with a poor experience

Commute is a big deal

Local friends are easier

Nearest. The fact that they didn't prioritise your school tour means nothing. Schools are busy.

Having a longish walk will not be easy when it is cold and dark. Having local friends and being able to walk there easily is v important.

I'd go for the nearer one in this case (as in most cases). You've heard good reports from parents, the Ofsted is good, they offer wraparound care, and your child will make local friends.

I find some schools are more concerned with "marketing" themselves than others, but this doesn't necessarily reflect the experience of attending or being a parent there at all. Basically I wouldn't go past this school to get to another which is probably just as good but not better.

I would probably also go for the nearest unless there is a real reason not to. We live in the countryside and there's no school within a walkable distance but I opted for one of the closer ones which I'd pass on my way to and from work.
The school run is something you do for a long time - if you've got more than one child this could be your daily routine for well over a decade so it has to work for you as well as your child/ren.
Obviously if your closest or most convenient school is terrible it's different, but if the difference is marginal, which it sounds like, I would factor in ease of travel. A half hour walk is 2 hours of your time every day, and whilst that might be enjoyable on a nice sunny day in June, it's a less attractive proposition in the rain in January and I think it would soon become a daily grind that you're likely to regret. There's also practicalities to consider like if you're ill/have an unavoidable work commitment one day, it's more likely that there'll be other parents able to lend a hand once in a while if you opt for the most local school.
Of course we all want good schools for our children but the decision has to be practical for the whole family and whilst a lot of inconvenience may be worthwhile if there's a huge difference, the fact that you're so unsure suggests there's not much in it. Consider that walk in the worst case scenario and ask yourself how you'll be feeling about it a few years down the line.

We had a walk to a town centre school that was 1.1 miles each way - sometimes we would drive in bad weather so we had to go really early to find a place to park near school - we would read and practice spelling and tables while we waited.

But mostly we walked (dc on scooter and as she got older, we sometimes cycled). It was a lovely walk without main roads and after 5 mins we always bumped into a friend or two (as most people walked).

She was perfectly able to walk to school alone in summer of y5, as so many people walked the same route. She now walks to and from secondary and doesn’t think about it at all.

id go for school 2 if it is a pleasant walk.

We went with the closest - no regrets. It makes life simpler and a little bit easier.

I disagree with @yoshiblue about the distance. Both my DCs (and me obviously) walked to and from primary school from the age of 4 and it was a mile away.

I would choose a “good” school over “outstanding” myself. I worked in an outstanding school and it meant a lot of our staff kept going off to “assist” other local schools so our children were very disrupted. I’m currently at a “good” school (not a teacher) and it is much calmer with less disruption.

Other points - forgetting your tour isn’t great but it does happen. School offices are crazy busy and we are all human. Being the only people on the tour is good - it’s how we run ours. It means you can ask as many questions as you want and usually means you see the school in “normal” mode rather than “Sunday best” at a preplanned open day when staff will be in real “selling” mode. And it IS selling. Our funding is decided by how many children we have on roll on the October census day. With birth rates a bit low (in our area at least) we are literally fighting for every penny we can get. So small class sizes isn’t necessarily great as it may mean a low funded school which means they are scrabbling for equipment and can’t afford higher paid more experienced teachers. Several schools around here have “class teachers” who are not qualified teachers - just experienced TAs who are paid at “cover” rate so a LOT cheaper than even a newly qualified teacher. I understand the current government is aiming to put a stop to this which is good fir the children but not for school budgets.

It is not an easy decision to make - my DCs went to the same school and it was fantastic for one but hopeless when my next one went. 🤷‍♀️

Nearest - it also means being able to walk to friends houses easily when she's a little bit older.

The office staff will be a very tiny part of a school when you have a teacher, contact with the PTA etc. it's not a good reason to discount a school.

Do you meet the criteria for both, particularly on distance and especially if either or both are over subscribed. I’d put the nearest first, because you’d be higher up the list of criteria, but there’s no reason not to put the further away one down as well.

I wouldn't underestimate how useful a short walk can be. We has a similar situation (though liked our closest school best, as it suited DD much better) and I honestly can't imagine having to do 4x30 min walk every day- it's bad enough doing 12 mins each way!

I wouldn't pay a huge amount of attention to ofsted ratings (unless they are the lowest categories), and pay more attention to your gut feeling about which school would suit DC best. Work checking your council for last year's admissions data- last year was a low birth year (as is this year) and, where o am, intakes widened massively based on the year before (and it is a place where people move to to settle down and have kids)