School - outside space or walkable

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Hi Mumsnetters. I’m new to thinking about schools but I’m planning to enrol my son in a pre-school attached to a local primary. I know it won’t influence which school he gets allocated, but we are likely in the catchment for both based on the last few years, and I want to send him to the one that he will stay at if possible.

Both schools seem very similar except that one is Church of England and one isn’t. The other main difference influencing my decision is that one has more outside space with a slide and play area for reception and infants whereas the other is more cramped and has no field and no adventure playground. The school with the outside space is harder to walk to, whereas the cramped one involves a nice walk to and from school and we would likely do that most days. Neither have forest school but the less cramped one seems keen to promote inside/outside learning in the early years.

I can’t work out whether the outside space is more valuable in or out of school? My son is very energetic and likes being outdoors.

Thanks! I find it hard to tell from open days and brief visits.

I know (friends of friends and colleagues, rather than close friends) lots of people who use the tarmac school. They say mainly positive things and seem similar to us in terms of outlook, so that pulls me towards that school.

Heavy C of E influence is a downside for us, but the field school does feel kind of warm and inclusive.

My ad hoc visit to the field school was at the end of a school day and it seemed nice and calm and head was nice - but it’s probably a lot easier for a school to feel calm when it’s empty! I went to see the tarmac school in the middle of the day, three days before school broke up for summer - so was a very different vibe.

You’re going to need to delete that post, then, because that makes quite a difference.

Can you visit both again on an open day or just in the school day?

Is there one route where you can imagine him walking by himself? Does that matter to you? Ds was walking ahead by himself with his pals by about age 8, with the parents and younger kids somewhere behind. Ds loved walking "by himself". He
I guess you'd be less likely to do that on a busy main road.

Which route has a shop on the way home if you need milk? A playpark where families might hang out after school?

Go and visit again this term, aim for about 10am Week 3/4 of term. That’ll give you a good view of a ‘normal’ school day.

Open days are useless as they, for obvious reasons, only showcase their best features.

I would go for the "tarmac school" - nice walk to school, no religious indoctrination, he will feel part of the community, good wrap-around care.

I've got a bit confused with which is which, but for results look beyond the sats, what are progress scores, are they getting kids to greater depth, what do SEN / EAL / FSM numbers look like (these are not negatives it can mean more funding and experience )

www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables

V similar I think!

Tarmac = more EAL, fewer SEN/FSM. But only about 10% difference in each