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Original poster

Moving to Buckinghamshire for good schools

63 replies

Tulip81 · 03/08/2015 11:59

We are thinking about moving to Buckinghamshire for the grammar schools. However my dc's are still too young, for us to tell whether they have the academic ability to pass the 11+. So please can anyone advise which areas of buckinghamshire have best comprehensives as a back up plan, if my dc's do not pass the 11+. Any help would be appreciated.

OP posts:
CharlesRyder · 03/08/2015 18:49

May be a bit left field but what about Langley?

You have the option of Slough Grammar or St Bernard's if Catholic. If DC don't make the grammars Bayliss Court is well thought of for girls and Slough and Eton is 'Outstanding'.

Lots of house for your money in Slough but you are so close to Windsor you can pretend you live there!

Original poster
Tulip81 · 03/08/2015 18:30

Thank you queenofnothing, thats really helpful! Its very interesting to see the varying results amongst the primary schools. Another thing to think about, i think our search area is going to be very small at this rate Shock.

Poisonedbythen can you tell which uppers are very good?

OP posts:
Ionacat · 03/08/2015 18:12

There are some fantastic secondaries in Hampshire and not just Winchester/Chandlers Ford either. Talkin Peace regularly gives advice about Hampshire schools, apart from a few areas the schools are great on the whole. Fleet, Alton, Petersfield, Liphook, Alresford, Odiham have had historicially great schools. It might be worth having a closer look at what the secondaries are like if you are only moving for schools.

poisonedbypen · 03/08/2015 16:33

There are no comps in Bucks. the grammars take the top 30% and the Upper schools take the rest, so their results will never be as good. If you move to Bucks for the grammars choose your area extremely carefully or you could end up with a truly awful Upper. There are some very good ones.

QueenOfNothing · 03/08/2015 16:24

This article says how many pupils from each primary passed the 11+....

www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/11653219.11_PLUS__how_did_your_children_s_school_fare_in_the_exam_last_year_/

QueenOfNothing · 03/08/2015 16:21

St Clements Dane is not a nice school. They won't let you sit GCSEs in a MFL if you're not on target to get an A! ( Or at least that's what one parent told me.)

So I think that's how they get such good results......

If you want grammar schools go to Bucks not Herts. Like I said with a 25% pass rate they're really not that hard to get into......

Original poster
Tulip81 · 03/08/2015 16:14

Yes teenandtween thanks i thought so but dh would prefer being more central as youve said, partly because we would be nearer to our family.

Thespottedzebra can you suggest any good schools in milton keynes?

We would consider Hertfordshire, but from what i gather competition is even more fierce for grammar school places.

Is st clements dane a selective school, i cant seem to download the admission policy!

OP posts:
TeenAndTween · 03/08/2015 15:55

Tulip Fair enough.

(Though you do know Winchester is right next to M3 and has direct train to Waterloo? Though I agree it is not exactly what you might call 'central' to the rest of the country)

TheSpottedZebra · 03/08/2015 15:52

Milton Keynes certainly is on the comprehensive system, not grammars, and is near the M1 and has fast trains to London.

Original poster
Tulip81 · 03/08/2015 15:49

Thanks for all your replies.

Teenandtween we are in hampshire at the moment. Chandlers ford and winchester seem to have the best schools, but its too far south for us.

Queen of nothing thanks for that i will look into those schools.

Lookslikeimstuckhere - for work purposes, my husband needs access to london and ideally to a motorway. So really our motivation for moving is for good schools, as well as a bigger house, as we have outgrown our house. Ours kids are too little to establish what type of secondary we would be looking for.

OP posts:
LooksLikeImStuckHere · 03/08/2015 15:26

Kind of depends on what sort of secondary you want really. Some are great a sport, some are great at design etc. What about jobs? Bucks is big, would you be south or north?

QueenOfNothing · 03/08/2015 15:23

Lots of the bucks comps are good. All the parents I know are happy with them. The ones I know parents are happy with are marlow, beaconsfield, and chalfont.

Really here in bucks the 11+ isn't the big deal it is on MN. None of the parents at my DSs junior school were bothered by the 11+.

Plus it has a 25 or 30% pass rate so it's not that hard.

TeenAndTween · 03/08/2015 15:20

I don't think Bucks has comprehensives. It has grammar and secondary modern.

Personally I wouldn't consciously move to a grammar school area, I would move to an area that has good comprehensives, which cater for both the academically able and the less able kids. Save yourself the 11+ angst.

If you can afford Bucks, how about Hampshire or is it too far from work?

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