Applications for younger siblings

[PuttingDownRoots]

Recently realised that the Open evenings just starting up are actually for my younger DDs age group... Yr5 going into Yr6.

With DD1 we ended up only applying for one school... the Catchment school (as in we live in the priority admissions zone). DD1 is happy there. The very recent Ofsted came back as Good and the Progress 8 scores and raw results are both quite positive as well. We have no reason to doubt this school. We are as certain as we can be that she will get a place (no Sibling priority, all children in catchment treated equally).

Do people tend to go to Open Evenings again for second child if they've already made their mind up? We are taking her to see the Catchment school simply because we never did with DD1 as it was Online. But O did wonder if we should see a few others as well...

I took both my DDs to look at a range of schools, mainly for them to see how different schools can be so they could get a real understanding of how their school fit. Otherwise their school is just how they will always think all schools are, because it will be all they've ever known.

For myself I went to loads of open days, from when my dc were in primary, when I was free on days they were being held (generally open mornings as I work 2 days a week). Pure nosiness in many cases, but again it helped me gain an insight in how different things are done in different schools. Admittedly we are in London schools madness, where quite a few schools are very well-known - my nosiness was just as much about the other parents visiting as the schools themselves! I also like to know more about schools in the wider area, so if I know someone whose child goes there, or read about it in the paper, I have some idea of what it's like. I think I am just curious about education systems generally - there doesn't need to be any more point to it than that. The schools are there to be visited, and if you have the time and it's not difficult to travel to, then why wouldn't you look?

I think it's the difference of London and elsewhere @gaefuf. DC1 was born in 2011 which is a very high birth day locally. There's no chance she's going anywhere other than the catchment primary and secondary. Unless we put her name down for some distant undersubscribed and awful schools. We are also in a comprehensive county so no 11+.

I have always told my kids they are going to the local school. All of DC1 friends from primary went to the other local secondary but she knew always she weren't going with them. So she coped well and has made new friends.

That's why I don't see any point visiting any of the other local schools because there isn't a chance to get there. The secondaries are also very far and there's a school bus only to the catchment school.