Transition from primary to secondary school

But what you say makes perfect sense, since parents make judgments about what school is right for their kid.  The school in our catchment might be just fine for certain types of kids, but our kid isn't that type of kid.  There's a mismatch between the government policy that says schools should try to excel in certain specializations and the other government policy that says kids have priority for the school in their catchment area.  Beyond that, the school in our area comes with an Ofsted report that refers to "serious behaviour problems".

Yes, I agree that parents should be able to decide what's best for their children. And, in fact, that's what we did. But, I do think that in many cases it's snobbery that drives people to spurn their local school and opt for what they think is a "superior" school. Not saying this is what you're doing (you have a legitimate case based on that report)  -- but it does happen. One school suddenly gets a "reputation" as good so the "Pine and Muesli" set starts sending their kids there and then the local school is left serving those who can't be bothered to opt out or don't know about other schools. We had neighbours who deliberately chose the local school with it's slightly tarnished reputation because they wanted to make a political statement and improve the school.

This is just my personal experience, but in high school I went from one of the top public schools in the country (high socio-economic area, ridiculous amounts of money spent on everything from AP Mandarin to hot tubs) to a very rural, very middle of the road high school. The second one was the best move my parents ever made.

The 2nd school, although it did have a gang and drug problem (very, very minor, but certainly there--and there were...racial tensions (and a near riot at one point..)) and although it didn't have the perks of the other school, was full of dedicated teachers and students who acted like...well, students..not robots on the path to Harvard and Stanford (not that they didn't go there, but it was a more even distribution and a significant percentage joined a branch of the military also).  My parents visited the school before we moved, got a feel for who the good teachers were (they actually had a decent honors type program) and got me in those classes, but, at the same time, I was surrounded by "regular" MUCH less neurotic kids and had a chance to relax and be myself.

I would definitely suggest you make a visit to the school to get the vibe if you can. Reports can't tell you everything, and it might surprise you.  And if it doesn't no harm done, you can still try and get into the other school.

Yes, I agree that parents should be able to decide what's best for their children. And, in fact, that's what we did. But, I do think that in many cases it's snobbery that drives people to spurn their local school and opt for what they think is a "superior" school. Not saying this is what you're doing (you have a legitimate case based on that report)  -- but it does happen. One school suddenly gets a "reputation" as good so the "Pine and Muesli" set starts sending their kids there and then the local school is left serving those who can't be bothered to opt out or don't know about other schools. We had neighbours who deliberately chose the local school with it's slightly tarnished reputation because they wanted to make a political statement and improve the school.

This is what really annoys me about the whole system, I WANT more than anything to have my son at our neighbourhood school, again, only 18 doors away...but they barely made it past siblings, one woman who has 3 kids in the school has to come on a bus from about 4 miles away. How does this make the system fair?