My DS and DD (twins) will be starting secondary school next year (2016) I have been thinking about secondary schools and we don't really have that much choice in our area.
We have the local school which is an academy opening in September that is a merger of two failed schools in the town but is under a new head and new management. This could either go really well or really badly as the schools were known rivals (fights, bullying etc) and now they want them to get along :S
The catholic school which my DCs have no chance of going to because I refuse to "pretend to be religious" to get them in (I don't think its fare on real religious people if we steal there places by going for a few weeks when they've gone for years)
After that we can go to the next town which has the same choices just about or go further afield where there is a "good" school about 20 minutes away which is ok academically or an "Outstanding" school about 30 minutes away. The outstanding school is the where all the parents want there children and it is the best by far around here both academically and for what they offer extra curricular wise. However, it is really oversubscribed and when you do finally get in there is the problem of arranging the 40 mile round trip transport.
After thinking all of this I just thought, whats wrong with the local school? Is it worth it? Would it not just be as good an education as if they went to a school 20 miles away?
What would you do?
Have faith in the local comprehensive academy or shop around to get what is apparently "the best"?
Thank you
PS. We don't have the option of opting out and going private
a) the budget doesn't stretch
b) there are no private schools in a 40 mils radius so it wouldn't be an option if the budget did manage to stretch