I'd look at any school that was a serious contender. At least if You
check them out you could possily eliminate some from the list?
DS doesn't not go to the closest school and it's 20 min drive but it was the best option for us.
We don't have much choice at all where we live as most we are out of zones for. But our closest seems to have a good rep, its a 5 - 10 min walk down the road, DH will be able to walk kids to schhol then cross rd and another short walk to station to go to work, has before and after school care and good programs in music.
I guess you need to be happy with everything about a school and if it doesn't tick all boxes keep looking. Being close does mean that your kids will know other local kids which in time will give you friends to ask for kids to go home with there kids sometimes if needed.
If I were you, I would stop right there and think about what your priorities are.
Do you want a school that drives the academic success? One that is supportive towards kids who need extra learning support? One that has a community feel and has lots of parental involvement? One with a strong sporting involvement?
And then I would ask myself some questions based around that about the schools you've already visited. What vibe did you get? What values/vision did the headmaster enunciate? Do the buildings/grounds look/feel like somewhere your child would thrive? What are the transport/OSHC care arrangements and do they fit with your lifestyle?
Having done this and identified what you feel is important, you will get a much better feel for which school seems to stand out as the best one for your child.
I have looked at dozens, literally, but I am also on both sides of the country.
She is currently on the waiting list for 6, 4 here and 2 in Melbourne, most are high schools though, the one she will most likely go to here in WA starts at grade 5, so she will go to our local Primary School down the road, then there in grade 5.
I think it depends on the type of school you are looking for, but simply due to demand I have had to put her on several waiting lists just in case!
Have not heard any bad reports about the one near you and the one near me (BH) had a good name and has a new principal who has a good name. If there is nothing between the one near you and another go with the one near you as you won't have to worry about parking which can be a real pain.
Talk to parents at kinder as they will usually give you an honest opinion.
I agree with Rivlas re talking to people. I talked to neighbours, mothers group, kinder and only actually looked at one school in the end. I am talking primary school here - My opinion is that unless you really want a particular sport, language, age, music program, there has to be a good reason to get in the car and drive to another school if you have one in walking distance but that is just me.
My main dilemna was "straight" grades vs multiage. My BF is a teacher and looooves multiage and I really wanted to send DD to a multiage school but the one nearest us had straight grades. Noone could really talk up the multiage schools around us so in the end I went for the straight grades.
The other factor is big schools vs smaller schools. Big is not necessarily bad but can be scary for a little one so the way they divide up the playground to make sure the littlies have their own area could be important.
Reading between the lines, seems you and Rivlas may be in eastern suburbs. I am also eastern so could recommend the school dd goes to. ;-)
We interviewed 4 school principals before choosing a school for DS1, and we even had to move to get him in. Some would say that's excessive (lots of our friends have in fact), but then DS1 has some special needs and it was important to us to make things as easy for him as possible. When the first principal could offer no plans or suggestions that they would use in DS's case, and instead said "kids just need to learn to be resilient" we decided that school was out on the spot.
I think that you need to do whatever you need to do to be comfortable that you have made the right decision. If that means 1 school or 10 schools it doesn't matter. It will be different for everyone. So do whatever's right for you.
GL hun - I hope one jumps out and grabs you I totally understand how you feel.
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I totally understand how you feel.
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