If you were me, which of these schools would you put as your first choice?

[GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal]

DD is in Y6, so we're about to start applying for her secondary school place. We have a reasonably good chance of getting either of the following schools:

School A: mixed comprehensive. Rated Good by Ofsted in 2018. Considered, both locally and by the CEO of an organisation called "inclusion expert" to give the most outstanding pastoral care and support to its students. The entire school ethos seems to be focused on getting the best from each individual child, in a supportive and creative way.

However, Whilst situated in what would be considered an affluent area it is on the edge of a super output area with high levels of deprivation and poverty, including one ward which is in the top 25% for low income and crime, so the starting point for a lot of these kids makes this a challenging aim. Also, their exam results really aren't great - below average not just for the area, but for England. The impression I got when I attended the open evening last year was that this is at least in part because the school's focus is on well-being over academic achievement. I really loved it at the time, it just had a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and the Head seemed like an incredible women. Inspired and driven.

School B: Outstanding single sex girls comprehensive. 56% of pupils achieved grades 9-7 in last year's GCSEs. Pastorally, it's considered good. Very popular with local parents, and I've heard nothing bad about it. I couldn't attend their open evening last year as it got cancelled by Health England so haven't had the chance to form my own opinion yet.

We're going to attend open evenings and working day visits at both, which will hopefully help us decide, because at the moment I keep going back and forth between "my main priority for DD is her health and well-being, and school A will prioritise that", and "but the whole reason for going to school is to get decent exam results, and school B will give her the best chance of that."

Other schools in the area we either have no chance of getting or have similar exam results to school A but without the outstanding pastoral care.

As for DD herself, she's autistic and extremely bright and academic. No learning difficulties but does very much struggle socially and with anxiety, hence pastoral care and a supportive environment being such a priority. She's a loner, but does tend to prefer boys to girls, and isn't keen on a single sex school. A lot of other girls from her primary school will go to school B; hardly any, if any at all will go to school A (there's a lot of snobbery about it, some parents recoiled in horror when I mentioned I was considering it!) DD regards not knowing anyone as a positive - I get the impression she's rather hoping to reinvent herself at secondary.

Finally, I have mixed feelings about single sex education. I know a lot of research says it's better for girls, but I went to an all girls school and had a truly awful time, my life was made miserable by other girls. DD is not me, though, so I'm trying not to let that cloud my viewpoint! She has a younger brother, so it would certainly be easier to have them both at the same school.

Well done if you got through that essay! I'd really love to hear from other parents who've made a similar choice, or from teachers with some expertise to share. Thanks!

How long ago was the Outstanding Ofsted awarded? Don't necessarily be swung by that as many "Outstanding" schools haven't been inspected for as many as 15 years.
Inspections are now happening again, and under the new inspection framework, it's much harder to secure a top grading. Supposedly outstanding schools near me are being downgraded left, right and centre.

Ofsted was in 2013, so nearly a decade ago.

Assuming school A isn't likely to be heavily oversubscribed, I would definitely consider this. I found that decisions regarding school choices seemed set in stone and the pressure to make the "right" choice was immense. In reality, I was amazed at how many of my DCs cohort changed schools in Yr7.

It will get re-inspected soon, and statistically, is more likely than not to lose that outstanding grading.

Speaking as someone with a ds with ASD I would visit and meet the SENCO for each school. Ask to meet a pupil or pupils with ASD in the school. Most will facilitate this and you ask what support they get. Even if they say no that might give you useful information.
I found this highly beneficial in investigating schools as they all say basically the same things on the surface.
my ds definitely does better in a supportive more flexible less competitive environment even if the overall results of the school are not stellar
good luck!

Went to the open evening for school A tonight. I was still very impressed and DD loved it. She especially came to life when talking to the IT teacher - it was the first time I realised just how passionate she is about the subject, and they do two IT GCSEs there - Computer Science and iMedia, which really captured her imagination.

I was also impressed by the art teacher, who when asked by DD if they did any digital art, told her not in Y7 but if it was something she wanted to do they could set up a club for it.

During the talk we heard from a graduating pupil who got 4 A* at A Level and is off to Oxford to read Physics, so obviously some pupils do well academically - and the young student showing us round, when asked what her favourite thing about the school was, said she liked that all the teachers are really passionate and enthusiastic about their subjects (that came across in the ones we talked to, as well).

One thing our guide mentioned which I wondered about and didn't get a chance to ask a member of staff about was that they start their GCSE courses in Y9, so do them over three years not two. My instinct is that sounded like a good, less pressurised approach, but I'm not sure why they've chosen to do it?

Anyway, DD loved it and says the girls' school is going to have a hard act to follow!

Interesting read as we have very similar options although DD2 is neurotypical. School A in my area has stopped setting altogether which in a way is positive - more inclusive, supportive - but reports of behaviour in class that I hear from friends in Y8 is not encouraging. It does have good Senco and pastoral care but my impression is that it isn't stretching at the higher end.

But DD2 is definitely keener on mixed than the more academic girls school.

It's so hard with the covid years skewing results, and probably behaviour.

Starting GCSE courses in y9 is generally considered to be a “bad” thing, it limits and reduces choices very early on, it will mean by Jan of y8 your dd needs to decide what subjects to drop. Single sex girls schools can be very intense but they also tend to have much higher %s of kids doing physics at A level which obviously opens all sorts of career opportunities. iMedia would generally be considered a GCSE for less able kids.