Primary schools near Ewell village or in Epsom

[Lalaloot]

Does anyone have any experience of or opinions on Ewell Grove primary school?

We're moving to Ewell or Epsom in 2 months, largely because we'll have help from my in laws who are in Ewell. We have a daughter turning 3 in July and a baby 6 months old so we're enrolling our daughter into a school for sept 2014.

I haven't found any comments about Ewell Grove school, can anyone comment on that school at all? The ofsted report is good and it's a pretty looking school but that's all I can tell about it.

We are really interested in a house that is 0.5 miles from Ewell Grove school and 0.8 miles from Nonsuch primary. It's also 0.5 miles from a catholic school but we are not catholic. Even though Nonsuch primary is one of the three closest, I'm guessing we wouldn't stand a chance of getting into that one, am I probably right? I'm trying to find nurseries near primary schools but the majority do not have space for my daughter. If we bought this house we're looking at I would rather put my daughter in Nonsuch primary because there's a nice looking nursery with spaces nearby.

I would really appreciate any advice as I'm getting in a bit of a panic about it all! I just don't see how I can work nursery, primary school and commuting to work in time!

I have noticed that Stamford Green has a breakfast club. Does anyone know if any of the other desirable schools offer that?

[kla73]

I don't have personal experience of Ewell Grove but it seems like a lovely school. You would need to think where she would go after the infants. I imagine that most go to Dantree. You also need to consider the logistics of getting both children to different schools. This would be a negative for me.
Your daughter may get into Nonsuch nursery in September although you will have missed the date for applications so would be considered after all the on time admissions. Most years they have the odd free space though. You are very unlikely to get into the school though from 0.8 miles. Have you considered Meadow primary. It is better than its ofsted suggests. A significant minority of children from Nonsuch nursery go to meadow primary. It has a breakfast and after school club. Most of the other schools (that may be perceived as more desirable) in the area have very tight catchment areas.
Good luck with the move!

[Blanners]

Epsom Primary School has a government grant maintained nursery which will have 52 morning places from september 2013 (altho there is probably a wiating list for this year) It is also going to offer paid for "wrap-around childcare services" for working parents in its nursery block for as current rules allow - children over 3. It is a primary school too so caters for 3 - 11 year olds.

[Kaekae]

My child went to Nonsuch nursery but didn't get a place at the school. Most places went to siblings and then the very few other spaces went to people living virtually on top of the school. Others who didn't get a place went on to Meadow or Ewell Grove. Ewell Grove is nice and well regarded but no feeder school so juniors usually go on to Danetree and as mentioned difficult if you have two children, one at infant school and the other at junior. Very difficult to park near Ewell Grove too. Again, as mentioned Meadow is a lot better than the ofsted suggests, its a three form with a strong Head Teacher who is really thriving to improve the ofsted. The school puts on a lot of fun educational activities for the children - larger school, fab PA, more money etc. The breakfast and after school club is good. My child went there for a year until we moved house.

[surreygirl]

My DS is in Ewell Grove...it's a lovely school, smashing Head and teaching staff. It was my second choice but I am very pleased that he's there. As others have mentioned the downside is that most children leave and move to Danetree for Juniors in Year 3 which isn't easy to do if you have two DCs, one in infants at Ewell Grove and the other at Danetree as you will need to drive between the two schools. And yes parking is a nightmare at EG! This year's info re distance / places allocated for Sept 2013 will be on the Surrey County Council website next Thurs 25th. Hope this helps OP

[lholland900]

Just posted this on a few of other threads - hope it helps...

**
I moved to Ewell Village from Clapham/Balham area and really love it. I was a bit lost as to where to head to after "Nappy Valley" and it took a good 18 months of driving around SW London until we came across Ewell Village. I thought I'd provide some up to date details as I know how tricky it is working out where to move.
We moved here because of the good commute into the city, and excellent primary/secondary schools. Ewell Grove School (which is turning into a Junior school) and Wallace Fields are both Ofsted Outstanding. I can vouch for Ewell Grove being excellent and our next door neighbours' children go to Wallace Fields and are very happy there, their eldest girl goes to Rosebery (secondary - Outstanding) and the village is also in the catchment for Glyn school (another Outstanding secondary) - both are currently in the top 10% - league table wise and both have sixth forms.
The village is a conservation area so nice and leafy. There's a village footpath leading to Nonsuch Park and the London Loop starts at Bourne Hall and runs through the Hogsmill river nature reserve and onto Horton Country Park. The village has a number of little shops for all the essentials and Epsom is a 5 min bus ride or 20 min walk for more shops, or you can take a bus to Kingston.
Ewell Village is 5 mins walk from Ewell West station and 10/12mins walk from Ewell East station (both Zone 6 so you can still use Oyster). From Ewell West there are 4 fast trains (35 mins) and 2 slow (45 mins) every hour at peak times direct to Waterloo (and 4 off peak taking 33 mins). From Ewell East station you can go direct to London Victoria, trains take between 32 and 45mins or direct to London Bridge taking 40 to 45mins (direct trains to London Bridge are only in mornings & evenings though). After a late night out my husband usually gets the Northern Line to Morden, then takes an Uber which takes 10/15mins to the village, also handy if the overland ever goes down! Not sure how old your children are but there are lots of baby groups in Epsom and the village, and a number of fantastic nurseries. I know how hard it is to make the decision to move so good luck!