Secondary school options

[Happygolucky009]

Dc is currently in y5 with sibling in y3. we school out of catchment currently as we wanted them to go to a primary rather than infant's/junior school. The school was ofsted outstanding initially with a great reputation. Leadership changed ofsted rating is now requiring improvement and until recently we have had a very poor experience with the school. We have however continued with the school as the kids historically have then gone to a really good secondary (A school). 6 months ago loads of kids started to swap to a new school, which is linked to an outstanding academy on ofsted (B school) The really good secondary (A) which we had our hearts set on, had for the first time this year had an overwhelming number of applications, high birth rate! I am fully expecting that we will not secure a place next year, unless we move house! We can, however secure a place in school B by changing primary now. School B is a 30 min drive, with no poor transport links from house. Our catchment school, is walking distance but has poor GCSE results, we had a look around and the school is under new leadership and so results may improve.

I don't feel inclined to move house for school A, it wasn't that impressive! And we love our house

Do we change primary and go to an outstanding secondary academy (B) knowing our children would be fully reliant on transport to and from school and not near friends?

Do we go for local secondary (C) which historically has not had a great reputation, poor GCSE results but is a new academy and going up both in terms of reputation and results, but dc will have friends locally and independence going to and from school.

We really don't want to move, we love our house, our community and if to move would be further away from family.

School B or School C?????

school c.

School C sounds good.

Going up in reputation and results. There is still 18 months before you child will attend. Local school and independent travel. Friends nearby.

Plus, you sound like the kind of parents who are on the ball, so I am sure you will keep an eye on progress at home, help with revision etc.

Thank you for the responses, it feels like a gamble on school c but we took the safe bet before relying on Ofsted and it didn't work out well 😪

Do not go for a school dc cannot get to and from independently, otherwise it will be an issue for 9+ years.

School c is the kind of gamble we took and have no regrets. Dcs both left with top grades and a great experience all round, the third one is still there.

If moving is not an option then I'd pick school C.

Rush hour traffic means a 30 min.trip could take twice that. It can take me half an hour just to go 4 miles to dds school every morning.

If they cant get there and back themselves then thats a pain in the arse. If they arent going to be able to go where you want the at least have them somewhere they can stay after school for clubs or go to a friends house.

Have you actually been to look at the schools?

You cannot rely on Ofsted alone.

You need to look round the school, listen to the HT talk, see how teachers interact with your child, chat to the existing pupils, as well as look at results. That will give you a much better idea.

e.g. You are concerned with maths results.
Go into maths department. tackle a teacher. Say you like the school but you are concerned about the maths results. Listen to their response. I would hope for 'Yes they were disappointing last year but we have been doing X and Y and Z to improve.'
e.g. Pupil showing you round

• Would you be happy for your younger sibling to attend
• What's the best thing about school
• If you could change one thing what would it be
• How much homework do you really get
• If you were being bullied who would you turn to
• What are the toilets like

We have 2 good schools in our town. On paper there isn't much to choose between them. But you go to visit and the ethos and 'feel' are very different.

We looked at school c and I liked it, so did eldest dc. The teaching staff said all the right things and the pupils were very open and honest, admitting things have been poor but they like school now. It was impressive (with the exception of the results which will are getting better!) .

We looked at our current primary and loved it, but really wish we had gone local infant / junior option now as the leadership changed and within a year of us starting and on the surface it still feels like a nice school but my dc describes a day with " no violence" as a good day 😱

If you've been to see C and liked it,then definitely C! A school that is 30 minutes drive away (is that at rush hour?) with no public transport is to be avoided if at all possible!

Also, double check the admissions criteria. Is school B really definite if you move to the feeder school? We have what I think must be a similar system here, but, whilst going to a feeder school puts you way up the admissions criteria, there are a few from DC every year that miss out due to living too far away. Also beck if there is a date by which you must be in the feeder school for it to "count" (lots of parents play the same swapping feeder school game round here).

@redsky Its awful all the swapping schools in yr 4 /5, our class has lost a 3rd of its pupils as a result of this. I have spoken to school B and they confirmed we would definitely be given a place but we would (like others) need to change school now 😱 its very unsettling for those left in the class 😪

It's unsettling from the other end too! My DC went to a junior school that was considered undesirable. That is until Year 5/start of Year 6 when suddenly it wasn't anymore and there was a fairly continuous new intake into the school. Totally unrelated to the feeder secondary being better than the one they were in catchment for, I'm sure

@really I can imagine, I feel very sorry for the new school who have seen a large influx of new pupils !

I'm a big advocate of going to your closest secondary school if you can.

I don't understand how school B can promise you a place. Does it guarantee a place for every child who goes to certain primaries, regardless of where they live? I've not come across this, tho maybe it exists. Sounds odd tho.

Anyway, as others say, why not go to the local school that seems good? Walking to secondary school is a great bonus. Imagine having yo drive them to and from school fir the next many years!

What sort of area are you in OP? Is it very rural? I ask because we live on the edge of a small city, and if I were willing to drive 30 mins to school (yes, is that at 8am?) they could go to school in the next county, except that they wouldn't get in. And anyway it would be total madness. But as I say, we are quite urban; a 30 min drive would offer me about 20 schools, many of them very good. Not that I would be willing to do it. And I wouldn't if I were you either, even if you are v rural.

To answer your question @clary we don't live rural, we had plenty of infant choices locally but fell in love with a primary in a nearby county so already drive 20 mins to school and had always assumed some level of assistance with traveling as School a is a good 20 min drive, but lots of school buses so there would have been a mix of mums taxi plus local buses! School b is a secondary academy linked with a primary, hence guaranteed admission. Biggest concern with school b is friendships and lack of independence as no school buses or public transport from our house (although I drive past it for work several times a week just at different times!).

OK well if your area is like mine (and I guess it us unless rural) then there are lots of schools. I cannot imagine committing to driving for an hour a day at school times for the next 9 years. Primary is different because most kids get taken, even if it's on foot. But most kids get themselves to secondary. Does your work pattern make it practicable? If I told people we were driving to xxx school (30 mins away) they'd look at me gone out tbh. I would deffo go local.

Local wins, thank you for the many responses !