How would you prioritize the schools

[MomofSS]

Hi mums

I need your thoughts and opinions regarding prioritizing secondary schools for my 10 year old daughter.

She has shown interest towards food/baking and is considering a career in that however I do think its early and she will be having exposure to more subjects so she might change her mind. However a couple of the school options do not have the subject of food and nutrition in the school for gcse but are excellent in academics and progress score. My husband thinks we should prioritize schools based on how well the perform on the core subjects of maths and science because that serves as a base for any career she will choose and we can engage her in vocational courses outside of school always with her gcses if she is still interested in that. But I feel that having the option at gcse level would allow her to explore it.

So currently I am not sure how to prioritize the schools and was hoping you all could suggest

school 1 - excellent new infrastructure (very new) my daughter loves the vibe, academically average (progress score is less), has food and nutrition throughout KS3 and also in gcse but low chances of getting in because we are on catchment border

school 2 - alright infrastructure, academically top of the list (people move to be close to this school), doesnt have food and nutrition in gcse level. high chance of admission as we live close

school 3 - alright infrastructure (bit old but big school), enthusiastic principal, excellent academic results (again top of the list), has food and nutrition in gcse, 50-50 chance of admission as we are far but still in catchment.

My husband says we should put school 2 or 3 as they have comparably better progress scores but my daughter and I loved the school 1 vibe and it made her excited even though our chances are less

Any inputs would be helpful to me

Thanks!

If you put school 1 first it does not harm your chances of getting school 2 or 3 - you may realise this but it sounds as tho you don't, so apologies if you do.

The only way putting school 1 first will stop you getting school 2 is if you get a place at school 1 - which if you want it, is all good! So put them in a true order of desire.

Does school 2 not offer food at all even in KS3? That would be a negative for me as all my DC really liked it. Remember tho that the offer can change - if a school has food at KS3 it may recruit a KS4 teacher and start to offer it for example. I guess that is less likely than te other way round, sadly (thanks Ebacc).

What would her journey be like to all of them? is that a factor? I would personally avoid a long commute (45-min plus by us for example) if other acceptable options were available.

I have to say from your description school 3 sounds the best but it's your DD who has to go there and gut feel is really important too

Thanks for the feedback

All 3 offer food as a part of the subject design and technology but only 2 offer it as a gcse. The top academically performing option and the one closest to us (option 2) offers hospitality for gcse which my daughter doesn't want.

Also she is weak in maths so my husband says that if we go for a good progress school she would be able to have better support in maths.

I feel my husband is right for choosing option 2 or 3 as first but the same time my daughter loves the vibe at option 1 even If the chances are slim.. we want to make the decision taking into account the slightest chance she gets her first choice (being extremely optimistic here)

If you prefer 2 or 3, put that first.

If you prefer 1, put that first. Make sure you also include 2 or 3 or both on your form so you are pretty much guaranteed a local school.

If you are asking which school you should prefer, it's hard for us to say. If food GCSE is really important to your DD then 1 or 3 I guess. But they all sound good tbh.

Can you go and have a look around the schools during the day/lesson times? We did this and really helped us to get a true feel for the school instead of it being on show for open evening.

Our main concern was behaviour and how it was handled. My DD has quite a disruptive class in her primary school so wanted you to be sure that going into high school her learning wouldn't be disrupted further. We definitely got a feel for that seeing the lessons in full swing

Personally I'd go for the closest one with good ofted rating.

What do you mean by "comparably better progress scores?". If school 1's is awful, then it would be good to understand why - was it a blip last year, or is this a pattern over time? If they are all quite similar, then I would discount it as a discriminator.

Based on your description and your daughter loving School 1, I'd be tempted to put it first, accepting that she is unlikely to get it, so you and DH can then pick whichever you prefer of 2 or 3.

I’d put either 1,3,2 or 3,1,2.

I don’t think it’s a given that better progress 8 will mean better maths support.

I’m an ex teacher. I’m with your husband. What are relative value added of school 2 and 3? How easy are they to travel to? Where are her friends going?

Food isn't academic, so if she wants to pursue that, she can easily do so outside of school. She can cook at home, watch youtube videos and get a Saturday job in hospitality in a few years. Pick the school that will provide the best environment for her to thrive and get qualifications.

Food is a perfectly good GCSE and there's a good deal more to it than just cooking.

She would be much better taking a GCSE she enjoys and will do well at than an 'academic' one where she does less well.

That said, hospitality GCSE or Btec sounds good to me too for working prep in the industry.

Thanks for the suggestion

We did go and visit the schools but to be honest they all felt the same.. I can however shortlist it down though based on this..

This makes sense!

No its not awful at all but not the top either.. It is improving each year though so there is a possibility it might come up top in the upcoming years

We are fairly new to the UK, just been here for 3 months so she doesnt have much close friends yet.. but the few she does are either going to grammer or priate school. School 2 is definitely closer to us but apart from that and the fact that school 2 doesnt have food and nutrition in gcse (they have hospitality and catering instead), school 2 and 3 are the same. I personally prefer school 2 but I don't know if not having food and nutiriton in gcse would make a huge impact on my daughters future.

Op have you looked at the spec for hospitality and catering? (I suspect it's not a GCSE as I can't find it on a quick search but that's fine).

Ds1 took catering GCSE and it was just as good as food GCSE - I mean it was. Look at the spec (call the school and ask what board they do) and you might find it's better than you fear.

I would hesitate to discount a favourite preference over that tbh. I thought you meant there was no food tech offer at all for KS3 or KS4, but that's not the case it seems?

This is the WJEC spec for a L1/2 qualification for example (school may offer a different one)
https://www.wjec.co.uk/qualifications/level-12-vocational-award-in-hospitality-and-catering/#tab_keydocuments

From your description, I'd put 3, 2, 1 in that order.

I personally wouldn't prioritise food tech GCSE - her interests may change a lot in the next 3 years and for me the general academic results would be more important. They'll all have food tech for the next 3 years anyway so she'll have a chance to do a bit.

This. It would be ridiculous to prioritise a school based on a 10 year olds current interests in an activity she could do at home and won't make one bit of difference to whether she can take up a career in it.