maidensarah Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 for our son in the area. We have to apply by Jan as he starts next Sept. We have lots of choice as there's lots of primary schools around, and all are 'Good' on Ofsted. So happy enough with that. Results are similar between schools we've been looking at. One of our top choices is literally just a few doors away up the road from where we live and we have looked round, liked it and it's is recently rebuilt so has new facilities though they are looking for a few new teachers. Has about 400 children. However DS goes to pre-school in the next village as this pre-school was better than the one nearest to us at the time and my DD is due to start at the same preschool next year. The primary school in that village has a good rep and we have looked round it too. We also liked it, but found it a little messy compared to the other one and facilities are older, there's only one class per year but we found the classrooms a little cramped as there's still 30 a class and the school was obviously built when there wasn't 30 a class. The newer school felt more spacious. However this village school has half the pupils of the other one which maybe my shy and sensitive DS would prefer. And we can't deny their results are good, and the teachers are paid more so maybe more likely to stay on? Children in both schools looked well behaved and were learning well. Some of DS's friends from preschool will be going there, but I'm not sure how many will be going to the other one. Thing is with this other village school, he's not guaranteed to get in as we're not in the catchment area, but we may get in if there's places left after the village kids and siblings and children from our area do get in if there's places. It goes on distance. People have said to me go on gut feeling but I really can't decide. We are looking at one or two more soon too. But really the top choices will probably be between these two. Any words of wisdom? Newer school, smaller school, nearest school?? I find it so hard to decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernbird Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Whereabouts in Australia is the school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Whereabouts in Australia is the school? Im pretty sure it's in UK so the post may have been better answered in the MBTTUK forum. I'd tend to go with proximity all things being equal otherwise. The proximity of friends is always a plus - having to organize play dates and all that gets a bit old after a while, better if the kids live within cooee - much more spontaneous friend activities. Also the sense of the local community and belonging within it rather than being a bit toffee nosed (if you see what I mean). Failing that, what does the back fence gossip tell you? It's usually a good barometer of how a school is faring and how happy the kids are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I'd say try to have both in the same school, but given that your daughter will only be in the nursery for a comparatively short time and could move later, it's perhaps not such an issue. As everything seems pretty equal in other ways, have you considered the extra curricular clubs etc that each school offers (although these seem to change year on year, so not always reliable)? Are you working? If so, which school is easier for you? Do they both offer 'wraparound care'? What do the children do at before/after school care? Who runs it? As your children get older they will be able to walk home from your local school - are you happy to drive them to school for the next x number of years? Where do the local children go? Some people think it's very important for their children to have very local friends. Is that important to you? Do the schools retain their staff for several years? That's often an indicator of good management and happy staff. Have you met with heads and reception teachers at both schools? Does one stand out above the other? It's a tough decision, but not one you can't change if your little boy is unhappy for any reason in the future. Good luck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Whereabouts in Australia is the school? It's in the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Im pretty sure it's in UK so the post may have been better answered in the MBTTUK forum. I'd tend to go with proximity all things being equal otherwise. The proximity of friends is always a plus - having to organize play dates and all that gets a bit old after a while, better if the kids live within cooee - much more spontaneous friend activities. Also the sense of the local community and belonging within it rather than being a bit toffee nosed (if you see what I mean). Failing that, what does the back fence gossip tell you? It's usually a good barometer of how a school is faring and how happy the kids are. Not sure why it would be better posted in mbttuk as I'm not I'm already in the UK and I believe this section is for all 'off topic' conversations Thanks for the advice, lots to think about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I can see the dilemma, if I was you I would chose the school in the next village as your DS will already have friends from pre-school and it is smaller. 400 is a huge primary school, my son's school in Australia have around 100 kids and the one he is at now has about 350 but that is a 3-18 school! The newness and spaciousness of the building really makes no difference at all. I think the points people have made about neighbourhood schools are valid but it can also be nice to have 'home' friends and 'school' friends which is what my son has. There can be difficult periods for primary school kids as they negotiate friendships and more than one source of friends can be really important. It does mean you have to be prepared to taxi them around though! Presumably at some point before he leaves primary you will be leaving for Australia so I assume you are not thinking ahead to high school? If you are then I would be wary of him starting at an out of catchment area PS unless they both feed into the same High school. It's easier to make new friends at 4 than it is at 11! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Go close. It will save so much time and effort in the future for both of you. As for the quality of education, 1/3 is your responsibility, 1/3 is the students responsibility and 1/3 is the schools responsibility. Maybe a little less on the kid and a both more on you and the school as they are so young. But even so, I feel that more than 50% of that is in your hands. Kids can do well anywhere with good home support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmo Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Go close. It will save so much time and effort in the future for both of you. As for the quality of education, 1/3 is your responsibility, 1/3 is the students responsibility and 1/3 is the schools responsibility. Maybe a little less on the kid and a both more on you and the school as they are so young. But even so, I feel that more than 50% of that is in your hands. Kids can do well anywhere with good home support. what about the .33333r ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 what about the .33333r ? There is no remainder when you use fractions. 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 3/3 = 1 If I had gone with 33% and 33% and 33% there would have been 1% remaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmo Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 There is no remainder when you use fractions. 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 3/3 = 1 If I had gone with 33% and 33% and 33% there would have been 1% remaining. but then what's the "1" (responsibility) divided into 3 (school, student, parent) serious question.. wasn't good at maths/... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 but then what's the "1" (responsibility) divided into 3 (school, student, parent)serious question.. wasn't good at maths/... 33/100 + 33/100 +33/100 =99/100= 99%. when you go to thirds to decimalise it you generally go with 33.33, but the 3 is recurring to infinity. This is why it is sometimes better to keep figures as fractions. as close as possible this gives 33.33/100+33.33/100+33.33/100=99.99/100. Notice the increase accuracy gets us closer to 100/100 So Adding 1/3+1/3+1/3 gives 3/3. To convert this fraction to a percentage, divide numerator by denominator and multiply by 100. This calculation will give 100%, as a general number 3/3 = 1. So, talking probability, a probability of 0.5 is a chance of 50% (multiply probability by 100 to change to %). clear as mud really. Kids find converting decimals to fractions to % one of the hardest things to do, all the way from year 7-10, then algebra kicks in and really gives them a dose of goosebumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I had a similar choice in the UK - chose to drive kid to lovely church school 2 miles away instead of putting her in local primary which was much larger and had a much wider 'mix' of kids. After a couple of years I moved her to the local school - The constant ferrying really got to me - and included outside of school activities. I felt really bad about the move but she thrived - the larger school had a wider academic mix and she went from being top of the class to competing with a number of like minded kids. She got to walk/cycle/scooter to school, not everyday but even the drive was so much easier. I met local mums and we could take each others kids after school - easy when everyone lives in walking distance. The larger school had out of school childcare and far more clubs than the smaller school offered. I wished I had started her off there to make it so much easier for everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 I'd say try to have both in the same school, but given that your daughter will only be in the nursery for a comparatively short time and could move later, it's perhaps not such an issue.As everything seems pretty equal in other ways, have you considered the extra curricular clubs etc that each school offers (although these seem to change year on year, so not always reliable)? Are you working? If so, which school is easier for you? Do they both offer 'wraparound care'? What do the children do at before/after school care? Who runs it? As your children get older they will be able to walk home from your local school - are you happy to drive them to school for the next x number of years? Where do the local children go? Some people think it's very important for their children to have very local friends. Is that important to you? Do the schools retain their staff for several years? That's often an indicator of good management and happy staff. Have you met with heads and reception teachers at both schools? Does one stand out above the other? It's a tough decision, but not one you can't change if your little boy is unhappy for any reason in the future. Good luck? I won't be working again 'til they're both in school so who knows where abouts that could be. There's only a couple of miles in between the schools so not far by car. We've met the head of both. The nearest one has been there 8 years and the smaller village school has been there 12. Can't say which I prefer. We saw the reception teachers while visiting but normally don't meet any further til your child is definitely going to that school. The larger one has an open evening soon so will go to see it again then. It's a very tough decision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 I can see the dilemma, if I was you I would chose the school in the next village as your DS will already have friends from pre-school and it is smaller. 400 is a huge primary school, my son's school in Australia have around 100 kids and the one he is at now has about 350 but that is a 3-18 school! The newness and spaciousness of the building really makes no difference at all. I think the points people have made about neighbourhood schools are valid but it can also be nice to have 'home' friends and 'school' friends which is what my son has. There can be difficult periods for primary school kids as they negotiate friendships and more than one source of friends can be really important. It does mean you have to be prepared to taxi them around though! Presumably at some point before he leaves primary you will be leaving for Australia so I assume you are not thinking ahead to high school? If you are then I would be wary of him starting at an out of catchment area PS unless they both feed into the same High school. It's easier to make new friends at 4 than it is at 11! Most of the primary schools round here have 350-400 pupils so the one with 200 is appealing. The friendship thing is an absolutely an important factor with my son as I would describe him as highly sensitive. So he would prefer fewer pupils, but then maybe a school with more pupils will give him more chance of finding friends more similar to him and his temperament. We actually have no plans to move to Aus at the moment so that's not currently an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Go close. It will save so much time and effort in the future for both of you. As for the quality of education, 1/3 is your responsibility, 1/3 is the students responsibility and 1/3 is the schools responsibility. Maybe a little less on the kid and a both more on you and the school as they are so young. But even so, I feel that more than 50% of that is in your hands. Kids can do well anywhere with good home support. I don't mind the time and effort to put him in a preferred school,if we decide it's preferred. Absolutely he will do well in school as we will give him lots of support and do now. He has just started to read first reader phonics books and he is only 3.5. It's more what's best to do in the way of friends. But I guess that's the hardest thing to tell before they start a school and we may just have to hope for the best and move him if he's not happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maidensarah Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 I had a similar choice in the UK - chose to drive kid to lovely church school 2 miles away instead of putting her in local primary which was much larger and had a much wider 'mix' of kids. After a couple of years I moved her to the local school - The constant ferrying really got to me - and included outside of school activities. I felt really bad about the move but she thrived - the larger school had a wider academic mix and she went from being top of the class to competing with a number of like minded kids. She got to walk/cycle/scooter to school, not everyday but even the drive was so much easier. I met local mums and we could take each others kids after school - easy when everyone lives in walking distance. The larger school had out of school childcare and far more clubs than the smaller school offered. I wished I had started her off there to make it so much easier for everyone Interesting, thank you. I will definitely look more into what extra curricular activities and clubs the schools both offer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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