Moving to Hillingdon/Hayes End area - What are the good primary schools?

[Mama2lag]

Hello,
We are in the process of moving to the Hillingdon/ Hayes End area and will be needing schools for our dc. DD is going to year 5 & DS is going to Year 3. Any ideas of any good options to consider?
Thanks in advance!

[QueenOfNothing]

Do you know these suburbs?Hillingdon is 'nicer' than Hayes end.

Not sure how much choice you'll have as most schools are full.

In hillingdon you have hillingdon, oak farm, St bernadettes and ryefield.

I suspect ryefield is the most likely to have places. It has large playing fields and is a lovely school.

For secondary I think you're much better off in Hillingdon than Hayes end.

[QueenOfNothing]

Ryefield does have spaces.

www.ryefield.hillingdon.sch.uk/hillingdon/primary/ryefield

[Mama2lag]

Thanks for the responses Queen - How is Hillingdon nicer than Hayes End? Is it in terms of general look & feel or anything in particular?
Is it worth looking at the primary schools towards Uxbridge? Just came across St Mary's catholic school and it looks interesting.

[QueenOfNothing]

Uxbridge is nicer to live in but the schools are all dreadfully overcrowded. Your choice would be Whitehall or hermitage. Both of which have expanded so now are very cramped. Whitehall is a better school than hermitage.

St Mary's is Catholic. I'd be surprised if it has placed. But it has no field at all.

The catholic school in Hillingdon is St bernadettes. Again I'd be surprised if there were places.

Uxbridge is much nicer than Hillingdon or Hayes end though.

Hillingdon has only a handful of shops and has a very busy road through the middle of it. It does have some lovely houses though.

Hayes end has an even busier road through it which is lined with very cheap shops which have flats above them. Also lots of high rise flats. I think Hayes end is really grim.

I'm sure rents / house prices tell you the comparative desirability of each place.

PM me for more specific information

[bestguess23]

Hayes is grim and Hillingdon only marginally better. Do you have scope to move a bit further afield? If you could go towards Ickenham/Ruislip it starts to get much better with some good schools.

[Snailinashell123]

Hillingdon is definitely nicer than Hayes end, which is generally a bit grotty and has higher crime rates. If you can afford it Uxbridge would be better, especially as your children get older as you are within walking distance to a cinema, swimming pool, park and shopping centre. Although Ickenham is more rural and more peaceful, it is quite far from anywhere other than basic shops and a few parks.

Schools in Uxbridge include: Hermitage, is okay as long as your kids are motivated enough to do work outside of school in order to achieve the top grades, for average kids it is good. Whitehall is a huge school and St Marys is Catholic

Also, for your daughter whow ill soon be going to secondary school the choices for secondary school would definately better if you could afford Uxbridge, Ickenham or Ruslip. The best Secondary schools in the area are probably Bishop Ramsey (C of E), Vyners, which has become much better since the new head joined or St Helens/ Northwood College, which are private and a bit further afield. You could apply for the grammar schools in Buckinghamshire or Slough, however as you would be outside catchment it would be hit or miss as to whether you would be offered a place.
PM if you would like more details.

[simpson]

St Mary's has a very long waiting list, if you are not Catholic or do not go to church then the chances are very slim.

I know of someone whose DC is going into yr2 and has been on the waiting list since before starting reception.

Whitehall is now 4 classes per year group and is split into an infant and primary school (separate head teachers) & you have to apply to get into the
Junior school (yrs 3-6).

Both my kids go to school in this borough, PM me if you want more details.

[QueenOfNothing]

I wouldn't say hermitage is good for average students. Not at all. And now it has no HT I suspect it'll go even further downhill. It's SATs results look good because the majority of pupils have tutors.

And now that it's expanded it'll be as overcrowded as Whitehall. But at least Whitehall have experienced teachers and all the benefits of being a big school. Going from a 3 form to a 4 form entry is not much of a jump. Going from a 1 form to a 2 form entry is a big jump and I'm not at all sure hermitage is getting the many benefits of being a 2 form entry.

Anyway with no HT it's not at alla good bet at the moment.

[Mama2lag]

Thanks for responses and info.

From what I can see it seems that most schools in this area are oversubscribed regardless of their OFSTED ratings ( Do you think that actually means much in real terms?) ie is it just a case of many school age children in the area, or people are generally struggling to get their children into these particular schools anyway?

@ Simpson have PMed you.

[QueenOfNothing]

This is London! These schools are full to bursting with local children. Most children go to their closest school.

The birth rate has increased massively. Particularly in the year your Y3 child was born. Virtually every single LEA school in the borough has expanded and they've built 3 new 3 form entry schools to cope.

5 years ago central Uxbridge had 4 schools which between them had 6 reception classes. Now there are 5 schools and 11 reception classes.

The Ofsted ratings don't mean anything.

[poisonedbypen]

Hayes End is really grotty. Hillingdon better, Ickenham better still (good transport links for when children older). Good schools in Ickenham, I think.