Should I move my DD to a new school closer to home?

[KirstyJ2025]

Hi Everybody,

Pretty please can you help me with a dilemma.
We have just moved house and our DD is in Reception and going in to year 1 in September.
Her current school is a 15 min commute by car, which isn’t that far but can be challenging with traffic.

One concern we have is her current school is way out of our catchment area now. The school have said it’s not an issue and she can stay, but it means she wouldn’t go to secondary school with her current friends.

We have a primary school near our new house which is only a 10 min walk. The new school is always oversubscribed and places are really hard to get. We have been told a place has opened up and there’s 3 of us on the waiting list for the place. The local authority have told us that our DD is currently no 1 on the list due to us being in the catchment area for the school. We are just waiting for a letter of confirmation which we will then have a week to accept or not.

My dilemma is her current school is so lovely, her teachers are great, she has friends and they have a new building they are moving in to in September. She’s also has a great end of year report and is doing well academically.
But the new school has glowing reviews, it’s 10 mins walk and she could make new friends who live in our area and go to secondary school with. The funny thing is, we actually put this school as our first option too for when she started reception but didn’t get in. So she went to the second option school.

She is 5 going on 6 and a sociable child, and people keep saying kids this age are resilient and will be fine.

It’s myself who’s really struggling with this. I feel terrible on her current school even thinking about this. It’s giving me bad anxiety. I’m a very loyal person and don’t do change well, but at the end of the day, it’s not about me.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated 🙏

PS I’ve also had people saying that when kids go to secondary school, they tend to make a new set of friends anyway.

It's incredibly easy to make friends at this age. I'd definitely move her, so much easier and healthier to walk to school.

I'd stop thinking about the secondary school issue as that's way down the line.

I would move her school, it's much nicer to be local and have local friends, particularly as she gets older and can walk to school by herself/meet friends in the local area.

I would do what I could to maintain friendships from the previous school as it's always good to have friends from outside of school.

Dont feel guilty, this is by far the easiest age to move schools, 10 minute walk is great, and presumably she will have class mates who all live much closer to where you live now.

Is she your only child? If you have a younger child is it likely they will get into the current one as a sibling or will now being out of catchment mean they won’t . Moving to local school seems a good move.

I’d move school if you are planning to stay in that house long term. Kids that age adapt quickly.

I may have a similar issue soon, DD (almost 6) currently goes to an amazing school practically next door to our house. I’ll be moving in the next year due to divorce and will have the choice to either drive her to this school or move her nearer the new house. The clincher for me will be secondary catchment, I will definitely move her now if she will be in a different one to her friends. But I haven’t moved yet so it is still up in the air, I am really hoping I can find something so I don’t have to make the decision!

I'd move her now while she is still so young. By yr 6 she will hardly remember the reception friends or being in a different school. She'll soon adapt at this age and then have local friends. Is your current school more than one form entry? If it is she may not keep the same friends anyway as they often juggle the classes each year.

I'd stay put. I moved one daughter in year 3 and she was never part of the group - the other girls had been together since nursery. If the current set up is working I wouldn't risk it.

Her current school is a one form entry and the new school has a two form entry x

The 15 minute drive and fight for parking will eventually drive you nuts. I’d move her.

Yes move her. I can't see any negatives, only positives (walk not drive, friends close to home, no trauma of going to a different secondary school, so young current school will fade from memory).

Also 1 forms are lovely when they are little but they soon grow out of them. I really wish I'd picked a 2 form instead of a 1 form.

Move her. I resisted moving my son in a similar situation, but the morning traffic and parking wars drove me insane and he was on the waiting list for the local school within a term (took another two terms to get a place but that's a different issue). It did take him a while to settle, but a new child started the term after him and they were best of friends until they went to separate high schools - he did struggle with friendships anyway as a boy who didn't like football.

It's a total no brainer, for all the positives you've listed. Of course it's natural to think it's a shame to leave her current lovely school, but the new one sounds just as great and they honestly won't even question why you're moving her as they know you've moved closer to the other school. No need to fear being classed as 'unloyal'. She will make new friends easily at her age, and the move will be far easier now than years down the line.

Snap the place up quickly. Good luck!

FWIW I have three children, none of them stayed friends with their reception friends. Nothing drastic, just drifted into closer friendships with others as they grew up.
current friends is the only reason for staying out, and it is far outweighed by all the other factors, especially being able to walk to and call in on friends when a bit older
take the new place.

Another vote for move. Our school is one form entry and I'd say there are always issues from Year 3 onwards. A two form entry is much better from a social point of view AND from an academic point of view if they need stretching or more help.