Would you swap schools

[Feelingsensitive]

DD has been offered a place at reception at the school she is currently at nursery. It has a good ofsted, good SATs (85-88%), lovely grounds and she is settled and happy. I can walk there although it takes 25 minutes. The only problem for me is that a friend who has a son in year 4 is unhappy and not satisfied with the academic side of the school and the area in which the school is in is rough. I may well get flamed for being a snob but its just a fact. Alot of the parents and their DCs are quite rough but DD doesnt seem to care and has made some lovely friends. We have been on a waiting list for another highly regarded school and now got a place but I don't know what to do. It has a good ofsted, better SATs (>95%), OK grounds (small playground and have to use nearby park for sports day). Its one of those schools that people move to be near by and pay through the nose for. The area is very nice. It would also be more convenient for my planned return to work next year but not hugely so. I woudl have to drive as its too far to walk.

DD wants to stay at her current school so she can be with her friend. We wont know anyone at school 2. My head says school 2 but my heart says stay at her current school. I have until Monday to let the council know what I want to do.

You are always going to find someone who is unhappy with a school, however good it is. I took my dd out of a posher school and put her in a rougher one when she was in nursery as the first one relied on the middle-classness of the parents to carry them through. The teaching was quite poor where as in the second school it was dazzling. They had to try harder.

I wouldn't take her friends into consideration as she will make new ones.

All those practical issues do matter. Being easier to get there is going to affect your everday life and therefore the happiness of your child. So is the playground.

Have just worked out if I were to return to working in London as I was pre DCs it would take me an hour to get to work from school 2 and 1.5 hours for school 1. I have fancy ideas of changing careers and getting a local job but seeing as I need to return to work next year I think I will most likely return to my previous employer (if they will have me). School 2 makes sense from that point of view. I have a freind who uses school 2 who is very happy and very picky so I think I would know if the school were slack in any way. TBH its comes down to me being a snob. I don't feel as though I fit in that well into school 1. Not sure if I am posh enough for school 2 though . Joking aside, the roughness factor does bother me but not sure if it should. These are my predjudices but the question for me is will it impact on my DCs particularly later on.

If school 2 is better, and more convienient for you then it seems like the obviousl choice.

If your DD wasnt at school yet would you still be trying to decide between school 1 and 2 or would you opt for school 2 without a second thought?

I think that's OK! We all want to be with people who are similar to us really.

Good point - I would go for school 2 just becuase I am a great big snob

I would ask more than one parent though. I have found some parents have their own agenda, or build their whole judgment on one incident that may not actually affect your child.

In the end, going to the most convenient school is the best decision.

Be a bit careful about one opinion - in every school there will be people who are unhappy.

As for roughness; our dds are in a 'rough' school but - once inside - it's utterly civilised. However, I got so bored of yummy-yummy parents by the time my oldest was 4, that I wanted a bit of a mix for myself!

Thanks all. Both have after school clubs. I am going to write down what I want from a school and which has the most ticks. I am also going to stand outside school 2 st closing time to see what the parents are like. How shallow of me.

I 'spied' on a potential school and was totally confused because the children all looked quite strange. Eventually realised they were dressed for 'Victorian day', though mixed with their modern winter coats and shoes it wasn't immediately obvious.

It would serve me right if something like that happened. Think I will go with school 2 under the pretence it will make returning to work easier but really its because I am a snob. At least I admit it I suppose.