School in Exeter

[MrHulot]

hello ladies,
(this is a message i already sent by reanimating a dead thread but i thought maybe i shouldn't have done that...)
i'm not an active mnetter, it's even been months (years? i have had another baby...) since i last came on here, but i need a little help.
things are going ahead with us moving to Exeter this summer. my daughter is 4 and my son is 2, i'm trying to find them a school and all of us a nice house.
could anyone please tell me about Exwick Heights Primary School and the area around it (St David, Exwick, etc.)?
i've done a bit of research and what i like about the school is that it's combined, good Ofsted report,...
also my brother and family live in st thomas and their 2 daughters ( same age as mine) are going to Bowhill. they are happy with it. but should i put the munchkins in same school as their cousins or am i asking for trouble? and that would probably mean living next door to my brother (litterally)...
Hope you can tell me about experience and opinions

[UniS]

Are you able to, before your move, spend a little time in Exeter and visit BOTH school ( Bowhill and Exwick) and see what you think of them.

Personally I'd be happy to not have cousins at the same school and not live QUITE so close to my brother, but you might love Bowhill and decide that outweighs the above.

Also worth taking a look at the senior school catchments. Some areas to the west of the river are deemed to be catchment for secondary school East of the river.
this map will help.

[UniS]

IIRC Exwick and Bowhill are feeders to different secondaries. Exwick to ST James and Bowhill to West ExeCC.

[MrHulot]

thank you for your answer UniS.
of course i'll make appointments to visit schools in a few weeks but in my experience when parents visit a school it's always shown in the best light, and all schools (especially primary) tend to look the same.
what i need is somebody's experience of having their kids in the school now.
your point about the secondary school is a good one though. i don't want to end up having to cross town everyday. i'll have have to look into that.
you also gave me food for thought about cousins in same school and neighbours with brother...

[UniS]

Before DS started school I had a bit of a look at the families at each of the possible schools, gained by hanging out at the nearest playground to each school ( with small boy) at school out time. We did have friends with kids at all three. We were looking at other side of Exeter to you tho, so no direct experience with either of your options.

If your after a village school look at the catchment for Ide school, I think it includes part of Exeter( there is foot bridge over the A30).

[Dromedary]

So there is no-one on Mumsnet with any personal knowledge of Exwick Heights or Bowhill?

[joey179]

My son attends exwick heights. It is an amazing school. Can't fault it.