Hello,
We will soon be relocating to the Colchester area. We have a 4.5 year old son who we are hoping to try and get into school as early as April (Reception) or latest Sept 2013 (Year 1).

What I really need to know is which are the nice family areas? Looking for good primary school, 3/4 bed pref detached house (although we will more than likely rent initially), good transport links and a bit of a community.

Have been searching on rightmove.com, like the look of West Bergholt or Wivenhoe. Are they ok? Lexden also looks nice possibly?

Any help would be greatly appreciated x

West Bergholt and Wivenhoe are quite far away from the town centre itself - there are buses although it's probably easier if you drive.

Personally I think any area can be a nice family area - Lexden as far as I know has a bus service to the town centre and a bus to the station as well. I have no clue about West Bergholt/Wivenhoe travel links.

I don't know how much use that is - someone who knows more will hopefully be along to help soon. Do you have any other questions?

Hey OP

I second LikeItOrNot re Wivenhoe and West Bergholt, although I believe Wivenhoe has a half decent rail connection to Colchester Town Station.

Lexden is lovely but very pricey and the local schools from what I've heard are a bit hit and miss.

Stanway and Prettygate have some lovely properties and the schools in the main have good Ofstead reports. The area also has some lovely parks and green areas.

The bus services in and around Colchester are pretty good - I don't drive, so I make good use of them!

Hope you find somewhere suitable soon, if you have any questions please repost or inbox me. Good luck

fluff, I was going to say Stanway/Prettygate but didn't want to be biased.

I did worry that I might sound a bit bias - but I love it here!

We moved here a year ago from a more central area mainly because of the schools (and that I fell in love with our slightly run down little house).

Perhaps a non 'westie' will post to balance it up a bit!

Hi. Thanks for your replies.

I've had a browse and there does seem to be some really nice houses in Stanway - also looked at the Ofstead reports for the local schools and they are all pretty good. So I will definately add that to the list of areas to visit when we come for a look around.

Do any of your kids go to the local schools there? I'm really interested in a school where the kids are happy and engaged.

From what I can tell, Wivenhoe is connected to town by 15 min train journey and West Bergholt is 15 mins on bus. I guess I'm attracted to the villages because we live in a rural place at the moment so it is what we are used to.

Anyway, I will keep researching and thanks again for your help.

The villages around Colchester dont have great bus links ime - my village has about 2 an hour!! That is only at certain times a day!

If you need good bus transport then I would say Stanway, Prettygate & Myland are good.

Wivenhoe bizarrely does have a good bus and train link - it is quite pricey though.

Another vote for Stanway! Good buses into town too.

Prettygate and Stanway are nice areas, but so is Christchurch (and much closer to town). The local school, Hamilton, is a very over subscribed school, for a reason. You can get a 3 bed semi for £250k and 4 bed detached for £400k in the catchment area. It's a 10 minute walk to town and on a few bus routes, but quite a treck from the station.