Primary schools in/around Maidstone

[moni10]

Hi everyone,

We have recently moved to Maidstone after living abroad for many years, have a DS who's turned up to 2 and thinking about what primary schools would be good.

We are renting at the moment so we are quite flexible. We would like to stay in or around Maidstone as my husband works in Aylesford.

Any guidance would be much appreciated as we do not many parents here who could advice us on it.

Thank you.

[Eddas]

Hiya, I live in Maidstone and have 2 dc, dd aged 5 and ds aged very nearly 3. DD's school is pretty good and I know a little bit about some others in Maidstone. I'm quite happy to chat about them with you Would you prefer to do it via email than on here?

[moni10]

Hi,

I am quite happy to do it here if you don't mind.
Thank you.

[Eddas]

ok well, it depends where you are as to how much I know about the school in the area. I certainly know some to avoid!!

Do you have any idea of the area you want to end up in, or will you by swayed by a good school? We moved to where we are now partly because of the school. I didn't want to tempt not getting into it so when we moved when dd was 2 we thought about schools aswell as the house.

The ofsted reports are a good starting point for seeing if a school is good or not

[moni10]

The closest schools to where we are at the moment are Brunswick Primary and St Francis' Catholic School. We quite like it around here so we would be tempted to settle down here if schools were good.

Another area we are considering is Bearsted.

I've checked Ofsted report of almost all primary schools in Maidstone but first hand experience is priceless.

School will be definitely one of the main factors while looking for house but we want right balance between good house, good school, easy commute etc.

WE haven't had much time to explore surrounding villages so I don't know anything about schools outside Maidstone town.

[Eddas]

ooo I have friends who's dc go to those schools, I think they're pretty good. I'm seeing a friend tonight who's ds goes to Brunswick so i'll get some gossip from her. St Francis, I think that's a Catholic school, if I've got the right school that's good too.

I don't really want to say exactly where I am on here, but it's on the outskirts of the town and I really like dd's school. Also close by is another school, Loose which is good. They take 90 children per year.

Schools which aren't good are Oaktrees(Mangravet) and Bell Wood (Parkwood), I wouldn't recommend the areas to live in either. Also wouldn't recommend Archbishop Courtney, they have 2 sites(infant and Junior) the Junior bit is right in the middle of town, the Infant bit is in Tovil. Tovil as an area to live is ok in parts but most of the children going to that school come from the worst bits(i'm just being honest) I used to live in Tovil and moved from there, mainly due to the house being too small, but also because I didn't want dc to end up going to that school as it was the closest.

[moni10]

It would be great if you could get more info from your friend about Brunswick School. The Ofsted is not fantastic but it's only one part of a picture.

St Francis Ofsted is better but I am not sure how much stress is put on religious education there. I think i would prefer non religious school.

Thank you