To move or extend for schools

[lboogy]

I'm really torn between moving or extending.
I wanted to move for better schools - ds is 3 and there is a school not far from us he could go to but it's rated good but not outstanding. I'm debating whether to stay or extend . Is 3 too young to move for schools? Is secondary school a better option ?

OK, I've done something that annoys me on MN and haven't RTFT. Beyond reply 10. Because I can guess what it all says.

Here's my take regarding schools:

It is my belief that the demographic of a school's catchment is what is important.

You read, and maybe know of- a school in a difficult catchment that suddenly improves dramatically, the OFSTED goes from 'Needs Improvement' to 'Outstanding'. Hooray! But-

Why? Because of the arrival of an inspirational, influential (possibly specially funded, cf London '90s) Head. Vision. Discipline (along with expulsions). Uniform (😉) and the peeling away of the disengaged.

But the day they leave, the school crumbles.

Contrast the naice, middle class school in the naicevleafy catchment. An easy catchment. Many schools in these areas will be considered 'good', if not outstanding.

They can trundle along for years being 'good'. If their Head leaves, they're replaced with the same.

Sorry, hadn't climbed off my soapbox, yet!

My point is that if you live in a naice, MC values area (don't bother railing against that, you all know what I mean), there's a fair chance your local school will be okay. The DC have supportive parent/s behind them, who value education. The DC arrive 'school ready'. The school won't necessarily have one single 'personality' Head, 'leading' it; it will have a SLT. A bit interchangeable. They're all on the same page. AS are the parents of their pupils.

I'd move in a heartbeat into the catchment of a good, stable MC valued school, one not dependent on one 'personality' Head.

Which is what we did! 😊

We had a pick of 4 primary schools, 2 good, 2 outstanding, I was so surprised how different they all were when we visited them. We opted for a good school as it was in the slightly 'naice' estate where we often met families from at toddler activities like gymnastics/music/dance etc. and seemed more nurturing. It also has an amazing on site wrap around care facility. The new 3 intake outstanding academy was lovely and shiny with tons of extra curricular activities, but I felt DC would get lost there, and it was so strict and used as a mop up school for the outlying villages and suburbs so we thought was less chance for local friends for DC. The other outstanding school was an old Victorian building with tiny outdoor yard and cramped, damp classrooms (the head made a point of warning us before the tour that it was crumbling and they were short of cash and to look past the physical environment). So just an example of how the Ofsted rating alone isn't the end of the story.

Ofsted dint judge buildings! The outstanding head almost certainly had outstanding teachers. That’s what you look at. Shiny buildings are not what makes a great education. It’s teachers and SLT.

I agree about poorer schools getting a “superhead” character to get them out of difficulty and then crumbling when they leave. One thing they forget to do is train a successor!

We were relocating so had to take a primary school into consideration along with all other house/transport/commuting criteria. Primary school was outstanding and it was an incredible school. Is still rated Outstanding but it hasn't been inspected for years and years and from parents who still have their children there, it would probably rate as good now, not outstanding.

Secondaries make the difference, but also parental input, attitude to learning, an able child and if needed and affordable, a tutor can work miracles.

If you are looking to move in the future you need to be looking to move in year 4 to allow time for the chain to go through, and then work out the logistics of keeping your child at their current primary or whether there would be space to move them to a more local school depending on distance. It is a lot to consider.

A good local primary where they can build friendships, walk home together etc is good enough. If your child is 3 now, surely you are applying this year for a primary.