Choice between grammar and good local school

[TooLaidBack27]

Not sure if I in the right topic, but here it goes. DC is in Y5, bright, top of the class child. Going to a private tutor 1h per week. We do not have 'excellent' secondaries around us, just few 'good' ones. Studious children from our area (SE London) go to Bexley or Kent grammar schools, but that entails 40mins- 1.5 hours travel to/from school. I am starting to think that that will be hard on my DC and it is better to go to a 'good' local, where they meet and make local friends, rather than classmates, who live far away?
What are everyones' thoughts on that?

Go for the GrammarS hood, always. Mine did the 1.5 hours journey in the morning and again in the evening. Being in an academic cohort helped them. But your choice, based on your circumstances.

Sorry for typo

Go for the Grammar School, always. Mine did the 1.5 hours journey in the morning and again in the evening. Being in an academic cohort helped them. But your choice, based on your circumstances.

Grammar.
If your son is that bright he will flourish

A bright child with interested parent will do just as well at a comp as anywhere else. Grammar schools generally get better results because they cream off the very best students. Behaviour may possibly be better but teaching may not necessarily be - some really good teachers will prefer a comp because they can make a real difference and some weaker teachers may prefer the easier ride they'll get at a grammar.

The best thing to do is visit the schools and see which ones you prefer.

No way would I choose a school 1.5 hours away.

Mine have flourished( in very academic cohorts) in the top sets of good comps, their local friends feel like second family.

Visit, do the journeys by public transport, let your DC decide.

Is there a younger sibling who might be less academic?

I would avoid a school with a commute in excess of an hour, I don't think it worth it. With regard to grammar schools, being a grammar school does not magically make it a good school, there are some dodgy ones out there. I would recommend comparing the progress 8 score of schools. Progress 8 is a rather flawed metric when used in schools, but I think can provide an interesting comparison tool for parents. Basically, if the P8 score is positive, that school is above average for GCSE results, if it is negative it is below average and a score of 0 is bang on average. Now, Kent never lost its grammar school system unlike the rest of the country. This means that there are a lot of grammar schools, but not all of them are great. By comparison, across the Thames in Essex, most of the grammars got purged, but the result is that the few that do remain are pretty damned good. Time for some direct comparisons.

This Grammar school in Sittingbourne, Kent has a P8 score of -0.42. This means that compared to other schools with similar students, those at this school on average dropped about half a grade across their subjects at GCSE.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137800/borden-grammar-school/secondary

By comparison, this grammar in Essex has a P8 score of +0.85, meaning on average being at this school added almost a whole grade to the students' GCSE results. The school will actually be disappointed with this as last year it was +1.1.

Finally, a decent Kent comprehensive. Note the P8 score of +0.31.
www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136456/rainham-school-for-girls/secondary

I would say overall, good grammar > good comp > bad grammar > bad comp. So what have we discovered? Good schools are good and bad schools are bad. How profound.

Seriously though, I would find a decent school (comp or grammar) within 1 hour of your house that your child thinks they would feel comfortable at (so go to open evenings).

Thank You, Everyone, who answered. It has really helped me!
To those, asking why my DC has private tutor, we panicked when they started Y5, were so sure we would go for grammar, and everybody around us were getting private tutors, so did we :) No I am not too sure about the grammar and, especially, long commute. We are in SE13, too.

Maybe if you’re around for an inset day for your dc’s school that’s different from the grammar you’re interested in, it would be worth doing the trip at goingvto school time.

As your dc is only y5 it will feel a lot to them as that extra couple of years to y7 will make a difference, but you will be able to judge and decide how good the commute is - lots of changes or simple, likelihood of a seat, behaviour of other school kids en route - both for your intended school but others along the route that might bully or intimidate kids from other schools and so on.

An hour on a not-crowded train with a walk or short bus ride at the end is different and less stress than a 40 minute journey that has lots of changes (especially if they are tight on time) or very crowded so risks not being able to get on and would be unpleasant as a journey. So worth checking out on a school day...

As I thought, you're in my area. The grammars out in Bexley and Kent are fine but so too are lots of the local schools. Although lots of people round here put their children through tutoring, even passing the 11+ won't guarantee a place unless your child is in the top 180 scorers as places are allocated by distance. How would your child feel if he passed the test but didn't get a place?

Go and have a look at Thomas Tallis, John Roan, Forest Hill, the Prendergasts, Trinity and the many other good schools we have in our area. I'm certain you'll see some studious children there.

You're near my area too. We had the choice with DD2, who is in Y6, who did v well in grammar school tests (didn't bother with dd1 taking the grammar tests as she wouldn't have liked it). We did it to keep our options open with her as she's v v geeky/passionate about certain subjects - and really likes codes, so NVR and VR were fun for her.

But, having seen how her sister has thrived in the local (Good) comprehensive (now Y8 so we've had plenty of time to see) - we've come to the conclusion local is better. DD1 doesn't have to commute so is involved with all she wishes, and she is academically challenged and has some fab teachers. There are studious children in all the comps round here, and expectations are high for them.

There are many tribes in a comprehensive, including plenty of studious ones - do go and see before you decide. I know children who have done outstandingly well in most of the SE London comps - parental input and support is what really makes the difference.

There are lots of really good points raised by PP which will be really useful to parents in your situation with a Y6 child. My confusion is why you feel you need to make a decision now? You are already tutoring and competition for grammar spaces is fierce. Why not see if your child gets a spot before worrying? You may find you have no decision to make?

(If your child is able to comfortably secure a grammar space you might want to consider academic scholarships to local indies if the commute would be shorter?)

My son is a 'good' local state. He is middle of class bright and enjoys being a bigger fish in a smaller pond, his self esteem is definitely better than if he was dragging along the bottom of somewhere more academically selective. He has a 7 minute walk to school which is definitely less stressful when he has forgotten something! Behaviour is a bit hit and miss in the lower sets but every school will have some element of this.

As someone has said upthread "a bright child with an interested parent will do well wherever". The only thing I would add would be to look at sixth form options. If your ultimate goal is university then, all things being equal, I would choose the school that allows an easy transition to sixth form and beyond.