Is this a stupid idea?

[RudsyFarmer]

Hiya,
Im due to start applying for a year 7 secondary place in the next couple of weeks. We don’t have great catchment secondaries so I was hoping we might get in to a selective secondary half an hour away, but I think that’s highly unlikely now.

I was doing my research online and I can see other excellent secondaries outside our catchment have places in year 8, year 10 etc. Would it be ridiculous to apply and accept a place at our catchment school with the idea of trying to apply inyear for a place at the excellent secondaries as my child gets older?

Im assuming it’s a bad idea due to friendship groups and feeling connected to whatever school they start in year 7 but I thought I’d check as people must do this out of necessity.

I wouldn’t want to move for the start of yr10, to much to manage with the start of GCSE courses and some schools start them earlier.

Makes sense. So if I was thinking of it, it would have to be an i year in year 7 or 8?

You could do that but kids being settled with good friendships is not always a given so if happy I wouldn’t move

I’ve seen unhappy terms at school and that has more impact on learning than the school itself

Teens - not terms

Thank you 💐

Kids move schools all the time. As ling as it's pre-year 10 and the child is happy to move then go for it. If your child is perfectly happy in a not do good school, close to home, I'd be very tempted to leave them.

Can you include one of those in your CAF, assuming a daily journey is feasible etc. If undersubscribed you may get a place,

I was doing my research online and I can see other excellent secondaries outside our catchment have places in year 8, year 10 etc. Would it be ridiculous to apply and accept a place at our catchment school with the idea of trying to apply inyear for a place at the excellent secondaries as my child gets older?

These are different year groups - 'past performance is no indication... and all that. Do you know whether they have always been 'light', or did they start off fully subscribed and those moving away subsequently have not been replaced by new applicants?

Have you any idea of the numbers of incoming year 6 across the area generally? Why not just put the school or schools that you want above your fallback local school on your CAF and see whether you get lucky with your DS's ranking, if you would contemplate moving him to the sxhool further on?