Choosing a high school

[Unrulyrabbit]

With 2 weeks left to get a high school application in, which of these would you go for:

School A : nearest high school, only one in catchment, walking distance about 30-40 mins. This is the one the primary feeds into. Majority (95% minimum) classmates and friends going here. Lower reputation, in academic performance and behaviour management. Not dire but some issues.

School B : one of several high schools within a certain distance, car or bus ride daily but not that far. Very few classmates will apply. Higher reputation in academic performance and specifically in discipline. Though done scores have dropped from 5 years ago.

The child in question is top of their class in primary, works at it. Into music, sport. Prefers strict teachers. But also close to current friendship group, and doesn't have much family so friends are important.

There are no more open days, parents missed the boat. Though it might still be possible to visit a school, this is tbc.

If it was 100% up to me B. However if my child was putting much more weight on being with their friends and so really wanted A, it doesn't sound like a bad school and so I'd put A.

Would you get a place in both? Which does the DC prefer - I assume school A?

Bus ride to B - how long? One bus? How reliable? How much of a walk on top? School bus or service bus? If school bus, what happens if they do an after-school club? I wouldn't commit to driving my DC to secondary.

I had a daily 10 min walk/20 min bus ride/15 min walk to my secondary school. I hated it and was never on time bc the bus was often late. Also my friends all lived miles away (rural area + grammar tbf so that made it worse) - like, 10-15 miles in the other direction. It was not a good experience. No doubt this would not be the same but it's worth considering the time and the distance to friends.

Contact the schools for a walk about. Lots of schools do them. You also get to see the real school then too

If he is studious and prefers strict teachers, I think he would be happier at the school with less problematic behaviour. If there is a culture that messing around is cool, then the first school might be rather miserable for his time there.

I am not sure that having lots of friends going to the same school helps beyond the first few weeks to months. He will make friends at the new school.

One other girl from my class went to the same secondary school as me. We didn’t really socialise and I don’t really remember us hanging around together that much even early on. Both of us made good friends. There were a couple of primaries that were very successful at getting their pupils into our school, but within the first term, you wouldn’t have known which school each child had gone to from their friendship group.

What does your son think?

To balance the above out, it doesn’t matter what the overall results of the school is. It matters whether the school can support the individual child. So in this case, given that he’s very bright, can they stretch him to achieve his potential? If they can, then the average results being lower than the other school do not matter.

Thank you, to answers questions:

DC is 50/50
We will ask for the walk around

There is a bus. Private company. DC would have a walk of 15-20 mins to the bus, close to £100 per month. After school clubs - a good point. Due to geography about 10-15mins by car but no bus later in the day.

You need to look at the admission criteria for distance at the schools you’re interested in.

Once you have decided remember to put both schools down in order of preference. If there's more than 2 spaces put other closest schools down aswell so you get a local school not one miles away if you don't get your first 2 options