Anyone live in or near Reading?

[Greatfun]

We are thinking of moving in or near Reading in the future. DH needs to be able to get the train into Paddington. Where are the best areas to live/ for schools?

Thanks

[littlelyn]

Hi, I live in Calcot which is about 3 miles west of Reading (heading out towards Newbury). Personally I wouldn't recommend moving to the centre of Reading. There are several lovely areas on the outskirts - how far out would you be prepared to live considering the commute into Reading for the train? Also, what school age are we talking about?

[MyChemicalToilet]

Hello, I live in Caversham, which is the North part of Reading - I suppose you could say it is the upmarket part of Reading. Caversham Primary School is excellent - both my dd's went there - and property in the catchment is therefore highly sought after.

It is a 20 minute walk to the main station, plus good bus connections into town.

It has it's own little shopping centre with a Waitrose.

Anything else you want to know? I love it here - it has a sort of villagey feel, but close to all the amenities/transport.

[Greatfun]

DD and DS are pre sachool age at the moment but I am thinking long term so somewhere with good primary and secondary schools. We need 3 beda at least all good size as I dont want to move again unless we really have too. Anyone know what the trains into Paddington are like? I have heard they are very busy. I think we would have to be within 15 mins of a station so DHs journey was well under an hour otherwise not much point moving. We are SW London at the mo. Love the area but the house is a little small, schools are not great and DHs journey is over an hour.

[littlelyn]

Caversham is worth considering and I'd also recommend the Wokingham area(has it's own rail station link to Reading and a lovely town centre). Yes the line to Paddington is busy but trains are frequent and fairly reliable at peak hours. A huge re-development of the station is on the cards too.

[wombleprincess]

can i ask does your husband have to get into paddington or just london?

[Milliways]

We are in Tilehurst (West Reading, Nr Calcot) and there is a very good range of preoperties, and lots of new builds at varying prices.

Be VERY careful re school catchments. The Reading/West Berkshire border is very wriggly, W.Berks senior schools are all sought after, Reading Borough schools are NOT. Living on the wrong side of some roads makes all the difference. We moved so DD could go to the right school, but DS goes to the Grammar.

[Greatfun]

wombleprincess - he works in Paddington.

Milliways - Is Tilehurst affected by air traffic noise?

[LongDroopyBoobyLady]

I live in Earley and DH often commutes to London using the Waterloo line. It's not as fast as the Paddington line but a lot less busy until you hit the outskirts of London. The station car park is £1 for the whole day.

There are many good schools in Earley and a few not so good ones so you need to do your research well re: catchment areas etc... Earley comes under Wokingham Borough Council.

Whilst Reading Borough schools are generally looked down upon (and for good reason too) Reading Boys and Kendrick grammar schools are both within the Borough.

[Milliways]

No air traffic noise here

If you have >£1M to spend, there is a nice development here just built

There is a station in Tilehust, or get the bus to town & go on the direct 30m train to Paddington.

The M4 gets snarled up at Peak time, especially Jcn 11 (Lower Early) where I work, but the roadworks they are doing are supposed to alleviate that

[Milliways]

Our biggest noise polluter is the 2 hour weekly bell ringing practice at the local Anglican church

[Greatfun]

Thanks, I am off to search proerties in Early and Tilehurst now. Definately don't have £1m though. Much is the shame!

[RustyBear]

You will need to be careful when researching catchment areas if you're thinking of the Wokingham/Earley/Reading boundary areas - the closing of Ryeish Green School & possible relocation of one of the Wokingham schools to the south of the borough will probably mean major changes in the near future.

[LongDroopyBoobyLady]

That's a good point, Rusty, I think the catchments are under review sometime in 2010 but it's probably a good idea to give Wokingham Admissions a call or an email if you are interested (0118 974 6111 or [email protected]).

[DocBunches]

I also live in the Reading area (Earley) and really love living here. My sister and my parents live in Caversham and they like it there too.

I would say most of the schools within Wokingham Borough are very good - my DCs go to a large but very over-subscribed comprehensive. They're both really happy there and doing well. There are plenty of other good secondary schools of which I hear very good things from friends. As LDBL said, be careful when you look at primary schools, they are far more variable. The most poplular in Earley is Aldryngton (with good reason), suffice to say my DCs didn't go there!

Rusty, didn't know about possible relocation of a secondary - thought that idea had been shelved?

[RustyBear]

It's reared its head again - the Wokingham Times this week says that Emmbrook has been 'earmarked' to move to Arborfield as part of as bid for £80 million funding to rebuild Wokingham schools.

The head is all for it as he's sick of the current school flooding - they quote him as saying 'Whichever twit built this school on a flood plain made a mistake which countless hundreds of children have had to live with.

[Milliways]

Those were the days! Cross-country through the brook....

DH & I met there

[DocBunches]

That's interesting re Emmbrook. I know several children from Lower Earley who go there - don't think their parents will be too chuffed if it moves to Aborfield!

Ah how sweet, Milliways!

Re the original post - another area to seriously consider, imo, is Twyford as it's on the main line to Paddington. I spent a very happy early childhood there and would have bought a house there myself but it was a tad too expensive for me and DP when we started a family. Not too sure if it still is pricey, but it has a nice village-y feel to it (which is something that Earley lacks, but hey you can't have everything I suppose).

[RustyBear]

These days you don't have to go on a cross country run - you just wait for the brook to come to you....

[Milliways]

We used to jog to my friends house, have a cuppa & jog back (When in 6th form & still made to do PE!)

[Lilymaid]

I used to live in Tilehurst and commute to the City every day, but that was before DCs. Also lived in Goring and commuted to West End. You could get a direct train from both. Goring much nicer imo and the primary school was good, but that too was years ago.

[ForeverOptimistic]

I have family in Purley on Thames, it is lovely the children go to Birch Copse school in Tilehurst which I understand is very good. Theale is lovely too.

[Andthentherewerethree]

Earley is a nice area and good schools, my children went to the church of england school there, whihc althoguh it has a very good reputation we found din;t live up to expectations. so i would try to move to the radstock catchment if considerign earley. earley is convenient for the train then too, you can either catch it waterloo bound or cath it into reading and change platforms for the fast train to paddington. it will be packed though and highly unlikely to get a seat on the paddignton train (I CAUGHT IT EERYDAY FOR 3 YEARS and think i got a seat twice even when heavily pregnant!)

We have moved over to woodley now and whilst som areas of woodley are a tad dodgy i think where we live is lovely, its newer builds and a bit of an estate but not too big that it take ages to get anwywehre we ahvea woods directly behind our house and the childrens schools are 5 and 109 minutes away. we are really happy here and would hate to move out fo the area. Woodley also has its own shopping precint wiht a waitrose, iceland, banks, clarks, newsganets, bakers and even a small new look! whereas earley the centre of shopping is asda, or m&s food! lol

[GypsyMoth]

look up the "coombes" school. its in Arborfield. for pre-schoolers this is an excellent choice. mine went there when we were posted to arborfield garrison.....pricey tho. some of the ex army quarters nearby are easily rented/bought. seriously,can't recommend that school highly enough......a very different approach to teaching,with its own farm etc!!

[RustyBear]

The garrison is closing (I think by 2011) & there are plans to build 3,500 houses there - which is another reasson why they are going to need a secondary school nearby.

[mummyineedyounow]

We used to live in Reading, near Caversham and moved to Wokingham because of schools. DP works in London and used to get the Reading to Paddington train in which takes about 20 mins and is very frequent.

Good schools in Reading are very oversubscibed eg. Caversham Primary - you would be very lucky to get a place, even if you live in catchment unless you are literally on the doorstep (siblings get priority).

Wokingham on the other hand has many good schools and if you live in catchment you will almost certainly get a place (it also has great pre-schools). The journey into Paddington would be longer though. You need to get a train to Reading to get the Paddington line (not sure how long that takes sorry!). DP gets the Waterloo train in which is much quieter but takes over an hour.