Parmiter's and Bricket Wood

[JoArtyJo]

Hi- we are considering a move to Bricket Wood (already live in St Albans but need a bigger house). We have seen a house we like, and it is close to parmiter's I have checked the distance on county website and it is about 1071m away if I remember rightly. Looking at the school website over the last 4 years the furthest place allocated by proximity was between 1200m and 1600m.
The worry is that my kids are only 4 and 1, so lots could change before we need to apply.

Can anyone offer advice on living in bricket wood? And what are the alternative secondary schools like for those that don't go to Parmiter's?

And any other general advice on parmiter's admissions also welcome. Seems crazy we are thinking about this already big don't want to move again in a few years- want to get secondaries right with this move.

Thanks :-)

[Helenac123]

For September 2014 Entry, the furthest distance to be offered was 1025.492 metres so a house 1071m away would not have gained entry this year. With factors like increasing birth rates I would say 1071m is at best borderline and at worst would not be close enough to gain entry in the years to come. As for other secondaries, there is St. Michael's Catholic which is Ofsted Outstanding, obviously no good if you are not Catholic and IMO not in the league of Parmiter's, and Francis Coombe which is Ofsted Requires Improvement and I def. do not rate. There are also the nearby highly rated schools like Loreto in St. Albans if you are Catholic and the Watford Grammars by the highly competitive exam ticket. Parmiters is obviously very competitive, so exam/music places = lots of preparation and distance = very close! You are definitely right thinking so far in the future - you do not want to get caught out and have to do another expensive house move!

[JustADadHere]

A friend of my son lives in Bricket Wood and attends Verulam in St Albans, so that is a choice. He also has friends that live in How Wood.

[JoArtyJo]

Wow thanks for that info Helanac123. Can't say I'm surprised that the distance has got smaller, glad I knot that now rather than in a couple of years time. Sounds like too much of a lottery.

JustaDadHere thanks for that- I like the sound of verulam as I have 2 boys- it's pretty far from us I think so good to know it's possible to get in.

Think I may have to investigate the north of St. Albans some more. It's just so expensive it stresses me out! May have to leave it a few years if we can't afford it right now.

Can't believe schools are such an issue. I'm a secondary teacher myself, not working at the moment but if a job in a good school comes up in next few years would seriously consider applying to get the kids in as child of staff!

[JustADadHere]

Verulam has a very large catchment area. Every year about 5-10 boys from Radlett (which is farther from St Albans, but admittedly has a much more convenient transportation link than Bricket Wood) end up there (I have heard the head lives in Radlett, so this may have some impact). There are even a few boys in Verulam from Borehamwood. It is a good school and is improving each year.

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Bricket Wood is lovely but I think you are right to be a little wary of the shrinking catchments/high scores required for the SW Herts Consortium schools. My son is starting at Parmiters in September, and the academic/music places required much higher scores this year than in previous years - it was quite shocking. I'm not sure about the catchment for distance places, but I know that in Watford the catchment for the boys grammar has gone down to something like 240 metres which has caused tremendous upset.

We are literally round the corner from Verulam; I don't like it but I do like Beaumont and Sandringham (we would have got Beaumont had ds not got the Parmiters place) which are very close. If you move to AL1,2 or 3 you still get a shot at Parmiters if you want it but you will be in catchment for some great secondaries too if you choose carefully. Good luck.

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Oh and sympathies on the house prices - we would love to move too within central St Albans, but to make it worthwhile would cost a lorra money.

[Yffy673]

OP did you manage to find a house in bricket wood ?

[Oliversmumsarmy]

I have friends who live much further away than can be measured in metres that go to Parmiters. I actually thought you had to take an exam to get in.