Separated parents & schools

[Bexofthe70s]

I am seeking advice as I am separating and buying a new home, while trying to keep an eye on the secondary school situation. We can get our child into Charter East in years to come. My ex can stay in our current house which is firmly in the catchment, but I need to buy a new place and I am priced out of the area. I can afford East Dulwich (south of Peckham Park towards Honor Oak Park, or more towards Camberwell). My question is, when child goes to senior will it disadvantage them socially to be a mile away? I know the catchment for Charter East is half that. Or when kids get to that age and cycle alone, does it not matter re: seeing friends outside of school? In interim, I will need to drive / cycle my child a mile to primary. Do any of you have that experience? In other parts of London that distance is not extraordinary, but here it feels so. Looking for views and / or similar experiences if possible. Message me if it's sensitive. Thank you.

[goldilocks]

In terms of the address you need to use for school applications it has to be the one where the child normally lives or lives most of the time. If you really will be sharing custody 50/50 then technically you should be able to use either address, but you may want to check with Southwark about what they need to confirm this. They ask for child benefit letters or eligibility - so which of you would get child benefit if you claimed it?

I don't think that a mile would be an issue from a friendship perspective by the time they get to secondary though - especially not as surely it would only be for half the time anyway?

[tomskip]

My children went to schools with very large "catchments". It can be a bit of pain for them if they live right on the fringes and most of their friends are closer to the school but as they get older and more independent they should be able to navigate buses to get around. We live in SE22, some of my children's friends live in Catford or Penge.

Kids come from miles around to go to Kingsdale - Beckenham, Streatham, central London etc.