Which School?

[tootiredtobeinspired]

Sorry I know there have been loads of threads like these but I am driving myself crazy and would like an outside perspective!
We are choosing between 2 secondary schools for my DD (current year 6). We live in a village between 2 towns so can send DD to a school in either town.
1 school is OFSTED outstanding, with excellent sporting and extra curricular activities but its GCSE results are just in line with the England average (46%), it is a very mixed intake comp, and one of the least popular in the town. The other school is OFSTED good, with limited sports and extra curricular activities (its rural location means staying after school would be difficult also) however its GCSE results are much better (60%), also a fairly mixed intake comp but very popular in its town.
So do we focus on the academic results over the extra curricular stuff? Are the academic results the most important thing?

Academic results are only important in relation to the intake. Look at the number of high/medium/low achievers in both schools. Compare high achiever results at both schools, middle achiever results at both schools etc. Even this won't give you the full picture ("medium" covers a wide range, for example). How does "a child like yours" fit into both schools?

I think extra-curricular is important, but depends on your child (plus if they do extra-curricular outside of school anyway). I would not be keen on a school that was tricky for my DC to get to independently. Where will other DC from both schools live? How easy will it be for your DC to meet up with friends?

Have you been to visit both schools? What did you/your child think about them?

Thanks RedSky, we did visit both schools. My feeling was that the less academic school was better in that it was cleaner, less worn out and had better facilities etc but it was an open day so being presented in its best light of course! I still cant stop worrying about the better results. My DD is a high achiever (at the moment!) and I want to make sure we are giving her the best opportunity to achieve her potential academically.

Look at the Progress 8 scores for high attainers in each school, this might give you a clearer idea of which school stretches high achieving students.

Go on compare schools on gov and put in the school details. Click on the 2017 results and if you scroll down check prior attainment. Some low achieving schools are good for the smart ones, others for the low attainers. Sounds like your DD will do well wherever so its just down to you in what you want to focus on. GCSE's don't matter much in the grand scheme of things and as long as she gets her 5 A'C's that get her onto wherever she wants to go next, I would worry more about her having an enjoyable 5 years. I think people forget that this is the last leg of enjoyable carefree years for kids. Once A Levels come its much more stressful and more important to choose the right sixth form. That's just my 2 cents though. I'm sure your gut is telling you whats right and most of the time thats correct. Theres more to life than school, getting the balance is key.

Agree. Look at Progress 8.