Another last minute which secondary school thread. I have been backwards and forwards over this decision all year and I still don't know what to do. A key factor is that logistically DH and I couldn't take her/pick her up from either school due to the starting and finishing times of our own jobs
School A: Our local catchment school. We would definitely get in. We live in a small town and it is the only school in the town and therefore has a "centre of the community" feel to it. Most children from DC's class will go there. It is walkable at a stretch or there is a relatively straightforward bus journey or several other local parents who drop children there and pick up who would almost certainly give our DC a lift. I went to the open evening last year. They have a newish building, a new head who I really liked and I spoke to some really nice pupils. The main downside - academically their results aren't great. The most recently published results were below average both for the area and nationally. There isn't data available for previous years (it changed to academy status) but I don't think it's ever had the best reputation for academic results. DD is pretty bright and well-supported at home but I wonder if she needs a more academic environment. The school doesn't have a recent Ofsted as it became an academy since the last inspection but over the previous ten years or so it has been RI, then good, then back to RI just before the academisation.
School B: Faith school 4 miles away. We would qualify on the faith basis and are within the furthest distance that was offered last year so would likely get in. It has a good reputation, very good results and an outstanding Ofsted (although it hasn't been inspected for over 10 years). We know someone who worked there for a while and she said the behaviour wasn't as good as she had expected but academically they were very on the ball. It's obviously the better school, but she wouldn't know anyone going there, the intake is from a wide geographic area so less likely to have local friends and most crucially, it is very difficult to get to logistically. It involves me driving her to the station, a train, then bus and short walk, about 45 minutes in total. On the return journey it would be the same except she would also have to get bus or taxi back from the station. It wouldn't bother me so much if she was a bit older or knew other children doing the journey but there are very few local children who go there because of the faith criteria. She is not used to public transport at all, although obviously we'd try to get her used it it. The bus only runs on schooldays so it's not possible to try out the run in the holidays or weekends.
The other option is taxis both ways, which my parents have offered to help with the cost of but it would work out around £4000 a year. Probably within a year or two we'd feel more confident about her getting public transport but it still seems like a crazy amount to spend. I feel like it might be better to go to the local school and then spend money on tutors.
It seems like I'm making the decision based on logistics, rather than just sending her to the best school, which makes me feel guilty.