How to choose between two primary schools for DD

[TheRedRobin]

Hello, I’m looking for some advice on choosing a primary school for my daughter who will be starting reception in September 2027. She is currently at a private nursery 2 days a week, but we would like to send her to pre-school attached to a primary school ahead of starting reception so she gets used to the school environment and has some friends to move up with (her nursery friends are likely to go to different schools as they are not local to us).
we have a school in our village which we could walk to/from. It’s a single form entry ( About 25 children per class) and when we looked round seemed nice enough. I assume most of the children from the village go there as well as some children from the nearby town, so my daughter will hopefully make local friends for play dates etc and feel part of the community.
There is another school in the next village which I prefer the feel of, but we would need to drive there (about a 5 min drive) and it’s very small with mixed aged classes (eg yr 1 and 2 together and yr 3/4 together) even then there are about 12-15 children per class. I worry that although I prefer the ethos of this school my daughter might miss out socially out of school hours.
I should say both schools are currently undersubscribed so I think she would get a place in either.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation/ or have any advice/ insight into making a choice?!

I’d choose the local school partly for the reasons you mention proximity, potential friendships etc. 25 in a class is still quite small.
The local school is likely to have more staff and resources.
If for any reason you couldn’t drive you could still get DC to school.
Split year group classes can work but aren’t ideal. There’s quite a difference between Y1 and Y2. That’s one reason not to choose the second school.

I’d go local school. DS has been in a mixed Year 1/2 class this year and it’s really not been ideal.

I’d got for the local one that you can walk to. Local friends as they get to the older end of primary are a huge benefit.

Id also be worried about the longer term funding for the smaller school. I have a few teacher friends and with the drop in birth rates they are all worried about losing teachers due to not having full classes and not enough funding to cover existing numbers.

Your local village school is the best option. I totally understand you preferring the other, but you don't dislike the local one. It's far more practical to get to, has much better scope for friendships with larger classes, and she'll get to make local friends.

If you hated your local school, I'd advise travelling to the other school, but you say it's 'nice enough'. For me, the positives of that school far outweigh the reasons why you prefer the other school.

Obviously it's up to you though.

I’d go for the closer one. Don’t underestimate the convenience of being able to walk to/from school, parking is usually a nightmare around schools and it just adds stress.
Also when your DD is older if you live a short walk away she will likely to want to walk home independently or with friends which is great socially and easier for you

The school in the next village is not viable in the future - I'm surprised it's able to support such small classes as it is.
The peer groups are also very small at that school which means as friendships change over time, there is more chance children can feel like they have no secure friendship groups.
I work for a MAT and we see lots of movement from local rural small village schools to our 1 and 2 form entry schools in Year4 and 5 because friendships change and there aren't other children to make friends with.
I'd choosectge school in your village.

Remember you are chosing a school for your future 11yo, not just your current 3yo. Small sounds lovely when they are tiny... but can become limited as they get older.
On the other hand, the smaller groups force them to have friendships with a wider age range.

Bigger local one

The local one. Simply because when they get to Year 5 or 6 they’ll be asking to walk home with friends. My DD went to an inner city primary school in London. Her friends lived nearby so they all dawdled home talking about their day. Also mixed age groups are not a good idea.

Definitely go for the local one because 12-15 per class is way too small IMO unless the child has specific needs. We are at a half entry school so 25-30 per class and even that is quite small. All of us need a mix of people to make friends so a few more people is better I think. Also I do find there aren’t that many opportunities in a small school like ours for clubs etc because there just aren’t enough kids and teachers to run after school clubs and lunch time clubs. Kids at bigger schools sometimes get more opportunity to try things - that is a major disadvantage of our school as I work so I can’t take my DD to activities outside school many evenings and there’s lots she would enjoy doing!

I'd definitely go for the bigger local one. It's the better choice both because it's bigger and more local!

It's unlikely that the other school will survive until she's 11, unless there is a big rise in the local birthrate. I think you'd end up back at your local primary anyway if you choose the smaller school.

Local one with out a doubt. It’s bigger.

Local and bigger.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply. It seems like the consensus is the local school!

Bigger local school definitely!

Thank you for this I hadn’t thought of it this way!!

What is it about the ethos at the two schools that is different?

So school 2 has an intake of about 6 pupils per year then? I quite like mixed age classes and think it can work well at times but with such low numbers I would worry about them combing further and ending up with 3 or 4 years together which is harder.

The one in the next village seems a little more nurturing and relaxed. The staff seemed a little warmer during the visit compared to the local school. There was more continuous provision. The local school highlighted things like class attendance records during the show round ( I appreciate that attendance is obviously positive but I’m not overly sold on the pressure of 100% attendance to get a class reward). It felt a little more impersonal at the local school.I appreciate both visits were just small snapshots of the school and these are just small things that I picked up on that perhaps don’t really make an impact!
Both schools have ‘good’ OFSTED ( not that that always means much) with the further away school having better academics achievements ( but much smaller numbers so maybe skewed by this). I think if we lived in the next village I would go with that school 100%, but just concerned I might leave my daughter with a harder job of making friends if we go there. Reading people’s posts has made me think about the whole of primary school not just reception which is helpful.

My children are in mixed age group classes and both their dad and I went to schools with mixed age group classes. It’s fine and they have to learn to get a long with everyone.
Their dad went to a 2 class school, an infant class and a juniors class. My school had three classes which is what our DCs school has.
The smaller school is unlikely to close until numbers have got small so the council don’t have to pay out for school transport

I chose the local school. Being honest, this was the only choice for us as it is round the corner from our house and had wraparound care on site. It was the only option that was feasible with our commutes.

However, having now nearly reached the end of her primary journey, there are so many benefits outside that.

She has very many friends locally. This has drawn us into the community rather than remaining people that just commute from the area. It isn’t just that there’s always someone for her to play with or that we’re always bumping into people, but I’ve got involved in local groups because of her.

The parking issues that others mention are important. If I come home from work at school pick-up time, it can be difficult to get into my own road. It is really helpful being able to walk to school.

Emergencies are obviously rare, but we have both had help from and rendered help to other families at short notice very easily.

From a boring practical work perspective, it has been a lifesaver, as we have been able to group together with a couple of other local families to take turns to take the children to holiday camps.

Like others upthread, Year 6 has been the year that we’ve really seen the benefit. It isn’t just being able to walk home from school herself, but she’s had friends to practice walking to the High Street with and other small acts of independence before heading off to secondary school.

And a hard agree with those saying that a larger class size can help with friendships. Year 6 girl cliques can really be something, and it can be suffocating if you don’t have other groups to play with.

I don’t have an issue with split classes. Mine never did it, but my daughter’s very good friend is in a school with split classes and she has thrived. The thing that tips me away from that school is the fact that the other school is local.

Go to the local nearest school it will much better all round

Small classes mean fewer friend possibilities. A mixed class of 12 kids means about 6 in one year and 6 in the other, so probably about 3 of each sex per year group. If two little girls are into princesses and all things pink and one little girl wants to pretend to be a puppy every play time then that will probably end up with two little girls being best friends and one always being on her own (and yes I know girls can be friends with boys but they do quite often like a friend of their own sex). And it can be miserable being at a school for 7 years with no real friends. So for that reason, and the fact that the bigger school is also more local, I would definitely choose the bigger one.

Go for the local school. You won't have 7 years of parking stress. No mixed age classes. The school is bigger so will be more financially secure and less at risk of closure as birth rates further decline.