Suffolk.

[Magic7]

So - we like the look of Farlingaye but would prefer to be nearer Bury St Edmunds. Which part of Suffolk would you move to if you had no restrictions, and does anyone have a fab secondary school option for us? : )))

[PancakesAndMapleSyrup]

St benedicts is good...if you are catholic, in bury st edmunds. We moved up here in dec last year, please please research your schools and catchments if you are looking at state schools. Unfortunatley despite being a lovley area a lot of schools are dire. I dont know about others in bury though as slightly too far for schools atm but would love to live in bury!

[Suffolkgirl1]

Maybe not the answer you want but if I could move home to Suffolk, I would live in Woodbridge!

[Magic7]

Thank you. And thanks Suffolkgirl - I thought you were about to say Surrey!!!

[Magic7]

Thank you. And thanks Suffolkgirl - I thought you were about to say Surrey!!!

[Suffolkgirl1]

The difficulty I think is that most of the highly rated secondary schools in Suffolk are in very rural locations. My knowledge is restricted to the east side of the county so I cant really help re Bury St Edmunds.
Debenham, Hartismere and Thomas Mills High schools all do very well in league tables but their catchment areas are full of villages much smaller, and probably more sleepy ! than Woodbridge. If you want to be in a large town then I guess the best options are Bury St Edmunds Upper, of which I have no knowledge, Northgate or Copleston High schools in Ipswich. The later two, I and some cousins attended and did well but this was many years ago.
The other thing to bear in mind about Woodbridge, is that it is only 9 miles from Ipswich where there is plenty of life!

[Magic7]

Oooh, thanks Suffolk girl. So helpful. Loving the look of Thomas Mills. Debenham looks nice too. Off to google the areas.....

[Magic7]

Right, so we are going to visit next weekend and get a feel for Suffolk. Can anyone tell us which would be the nicest Premier Inn to be based at? We are probably going to be looking at Woodbridge but also keen to visit Bury St Edmunds. Any advice hugely appreciated.

[gardeningsarah]

There is premier inn the centre of Ipswich.don't know what it is like though. Another school that you may want to consider is kesgrave high school which is between Woodbridge and Ipswich. Unfortunately don't know anything about schools in bury st Edmunds. Have a child at Farlingaye so if you want to know more please feel free to pm me.

[testbunny]

Thomas Mills in Framlingham has amazing results (plus Ed Sheeran was a pupil!), but as a poster has mentioned, it is within a relatively sleepy village (although I do see plenty of children about!).

[Stressie]

There isn't,t a bury st edmunds upper it's called county upper school. All the upper schools in bury are very good. It's a case of visiting each of them and seeing which is best suited for your child.

[Magic7]

Thanks for posting. Testbunny, any idea where the children at Thomas Mills come in from if they don't live in Framlingham. Presumably, not all children come from the village?!

[gardeningsarah]

Children travel in to Thomas mills from Wickham Market, Hacheston, Brandeston, Easton, Earl Soham, Dennington plus there must be others but this is just off the top of my head. On the Suffolk County Council website amongst all the information, there is map which will show the catchment areas for a certain school. Hope this helps.

[Magic7]

Thank you so much for posting. We are visiting this weekend. Can anyone tell me which would be the nicer if those to live - not too tiny!!

[YouveCatToBeKittenMe]

Woodbridge is smaller than Bury st Edmunds, I've only been to Woodbridge a few times though
My DC's all went to school in Helluvahole which is the other side of Bury so I don't know much about the schools, only that the County Upper has a really good reputation and that Culford is very good (Private)
Bury is lovely though, still got olde worlde bits but a nice new shopping centre too

[frogsinapond]

County Upper in Bury is in a three tier schooling system and plans to stay that way (along with its associated primaries and middle schools). All the other 3 tier schools in Suffolk will convert to two tier by 2016, if that matters to you.

[Magic7]

Thank you. The three tier system is a main reason we have never considered Suffolk. The schools in Woodbridge have never mentioned it so am I correct in saying some schools are already two tier? And would the three tier be a reason to avoid Bury. Questions, questions. Sorry.

[DramaQueenofHighCs]

Yeah the ones already mentioned are good. I had friends who went to Thomas Mills, Northgate and Coppleston and they seemed pretty good!
My high school in Suffolk wasn't so good and got even worse when they got the new head (who I believe is still there). The website looks flashy and impressive and results have apparently gone up but apparently the school is still shit! Lol

[Magic7]

Hmm. My son goes up to seniors in 2016. Perhaps I need to avoid this disruption and stick to the two tier areas.

[Mitchy1nge]

Debenham is a good school by local standards, have you thought also of KEGS in bury st eds?

[Mitchy1nge]

king ed they are both CoE though

[Suffolkgirl1]

Woodbridge went two tier when I was at secondary school (many years ago) as I had a few children move to my class from the middle school that was closing down. The Ipswich schools have always been two tier in my memory. The county has always been split on this. Some middle schools down near the essex border closed this time last year, and the Stowmarket area middle schools are I think due to close next year. So yes I would tend to avoid the three tier areas at present as the council seem determined to reorganise them!

[frogsinapond]

Most of Suffolk is already 2 tier, it's just West Suffolk left now.

Thomas Mills, Farlingaye, Debenham, Kesgrave, Coplestone, Northgate etc all 2-tier and have been for some time.

King Edwards in Bury should be converting to 2-tier in Sept 2016 according to this.

[Whereisegg]

I believe Thurston is switching to two tier and is a beautiful village very close to Bury St Edmunds.

[Magic7]

Thank you. Appreciated. I definitely want to go for the two tier system. We are driving up at the weekend to have a look around. We are bringing four children so I hope they don't get bored. I know there is a nice theme park nearby etc but that would defeat the purpose.

So we will just spend our two days finding lots of little parks. Definitely want to see Woodbridge. And Framlingham. As they are where the main school contenders are. Might also look at Thurlston and Bury. Any tips on things I can do with the children or good little parks would be greatly appreciated. Sorry to be so needy.

[Suffolkgirl1]

Framlingham has a lovely castle.