Choosing a Primary School - local or distant?
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:05 pm
I have just a few days left to complete the Reception admission application form for my 3 year old to start school next September 2013.
I'm having a great deal of difficulty making a decision and wondered what others' opinions would be.
Our local area is not extremely deprived, but it is more deprived than the national average in terms of home ownership, income, etc.
Our local school previously wasn't that good academically and had a 'satisfactory' Ofsted rating.
My older children therefore attended Primary school in another local authority, so I have now been doing over 9 years of heavy commuting to and from Primary school. In fact, many professional families who live in our area were doing the same, until rising birth rates started to make it too hard to get into out-of-area schools for those without siblings there.
I had planned to simply apply for my youngest to join the same Primary School that my older children have attended, and where I still have 2 children.
I reckon he has about 90% chance of gaining a place there due to sibling priority. (Although children from the village get higher priority than siblings outside, there don't seem to be loads of children in the village).
Funnily enough, he is not at nursery there as his brother was, because although the LA gave him an official place, the school then decided that, despite having had 4 siblings at school (2 still there), he couldn't have a place that would allow me to pay for wrap around care too, as they have put all the village children in the morning slot (where they can access the afternoon wrap around, making up a full day) and the out-of-village children in the afternoon slot (where they can only have 2.5 hours per day, impossible for me as a working mum). I appealed but was told that the school have to prioritise children in the village, even if their mums are not working and they don't even choose the wrap around. So he is currently at a private nursery still.
I really have no major complaint against this school, and some of the teachers in particular are very good, although my minor niggles are that my children have never been able to really feel part of this small, village community, living so far away, tend not to be as wealthy as their peers, are starting to realise that their faith/festivals and background are not recognised, and I'm not convinced of either the school's ambition and organisation in terms of academic achievement, nor, funnily enough, the ambition of many middle class pupils and parents there. I mean that 'culture of supporting education' thing.
The school is now Ofsted judged Good, which I initially felt was due to the new framework's relative harshness, but now I am beginning to see that it was a fair judgement - it just isn't Outstanding any more.
In the meantime, my local school - two streets away - has had new leadership and a sea change. It is now ranked 4th in terms of level 5s at KS2, in my whole local authority, which has over 400 Primary schools.
It has an Outstanding Ofsted that is so poetic in its praise, it is embarrassing. In fact my local school now has around double the % of level 5s compared to the one I commute long hours to, as well as higher level 4 figures.
The curriculum and teaching and learning appear to be very rigorous. The fact that the school achieve results to rival and beat those in far 'better' areas shows the staff must be working extremely hard.
However - these are the catches. Firstly, there are 35% of children on free school meals in my local school, indicating quite an element of deprivation (the village school is 3% FSM). Secondly, Ofsted acknowledges that children arrive at Foundation stage on average below national expectations (in all fairness my youngest is very able - far more so than any of the older four at that age) and thirdly, although they've done their best to make the environment/playground nice, it is an old Victorian building with no green space/playing fields in the grounds.
There's also the issue that if I sent the youngest here, I would probably want to move the others over too, and they would have to move school, which isn't ideal.
Should I just carry on commuting for the next 8 years...and stick with what I know, given that it is still a good school in a nice area, or choose the local school?
I'm having a great deal of difficulty making a decision and wondered what others' opinions would be.
Our local area is not extremely deprived, but it is more deprived than the national average in terms of home ownership, income, etc.
Our local school previously wasn't that good academically and had a 'satisfactory' Ofsted rating.
My older children therefore attended Primary school in another local authority, so I have now been doing over 9 years of heavy commuting to and from Primary school. In fact, many professional families who live in our area were doing the same, until rising birth rates started to make it too hard to get into out-of-area schools for those without siblings there.
I had planned to simply apply for my youngest to join the same Primary School that my older children have attended, and where I still have 2 children.
I reckon he has about 90% chance of gaining a place there due to sibling priority. (Although children from the village get higher priority than siblings outside, there don't seem to be loads of children in the village).
Funnily enough, he is not at nursery there as his brother was, because although the LA gave him an official place, the school then decided that, despite having had 4 siblings at school (2 still there), he couldn't have a place that would allow me to pay for wrap around care too, as they have put all the village children in the morning slot (where they can access the afternoon wrap around, making up a full day) and the out-of-village children in the afternoon slot (where they can only have 2.5 hours per day, impossible for me as a working mum). I appealed but was told that the school have to prioritise children in the village, even if their mums are not working and they don't even choose the wrap around. So he is currently at a private nursery still.
I really have no major complaint against this school, and some of the teachers in particular are very good, although my minor niggles are that my children have never been able to really feel part of this small, village community, living so far away, tend not to be as wealthy as their peers, are starting to realise that their faith/festivals and background are not recognised, and I'm not convinced of either the school's ambition and organisation in terms of academic achievement, nor, funnily enough, the ambition of many middle class pupils and parents there. I mean that 'culture of supporting education' thing.
The school is now Ofsted judged Good, which I initially felt was due to the new framework's relative harshness, but now I am beginning to see that it was a fair judgement - it just isn't Outstanding any more.
In the meantime, my local school - two streets away - has had new leadership and a sea change. It is now ranked 4th in terms of level 5s at KS2, in my whole local authority, which has over 400 Primary schools.
It has an Outstanding Ofsted that is so poetic in its praise, it is embarrassing. In fact my local school now has around double the % of level 5s compared to the one I commute long hours to, as well as higher level 4 figures.
The curriculum and teaching and learning appear to be very rigorous. The fact that the school achieve results to rival and beat those in far 'better' areas shows the staff must be working extremely hard.
However - these are the catches. Firstly, there are 35% of children on free school meals in my local school, indicating quite an element of deprivation (the village school is 3% FSM). Secondly, Ofsted acknowledges that children arrive at Foundation stage on average below national expectations (in all fairness my youngest is very able - far more so than any of the older four at that age) and thirdly, although they've done their best to make the environment/playground nice, it is an old Victorian building with no green space/playing fields in the grounds.
There's also the issue that if I sent the youngest here, I would probably want to move the others over too, and they would have to move school, which isn't ideal.
Should I just carry on commuting for the next 8 years...and stick with what I know, given that it is still a good school in a nice area, or choose the local school?