Info on Marlow, Henley, Thame, Chalfonts

Hi Nancy. This is such a massive thread that posters are unlikely to see your post right at the end. I’d suggest starting a new thread

Hello lovely mumsnet group! We are planning to relocate in Thame this summer. Are there any areas we should avoid? We are looking into a property close to Roundhead Dr atm. Is this a nice area for a family? Your help is very much appreciated. Many thanks!

Any luck with ringing the schools for places op?

I've lived in Chalfont St Peter for 10 years and just want to say that travelling from Chalfont St Peter to Stoke Poges can take up to 25- 30 mins in rush hour (I used to do this route most days). Traffic in Beaconsfield can be really awful during rush hour too. Travelling from Marlow/ Henley and further out to Stoke Poges could end up being a very long journey for your husband so it might be worth trying these journeys in rush hours. Chalfont common side of the village will be affected by the HS2 so those house prices in Chalfont are reflecting that in their current price. My neighbour's children and people I know whose children are at Chalfont community college got A* and A grades they needed for their uni courses so I don't think it's as bad as some people have made it out to be. Also Seer Green, Penn, Jordan villages might be worth considering. These are lovely areas to live in and property is in high demand, so it won't be easy to buy around here. Gerrards Cross near the train station is great but you probably won't get a decent sized house for less than 1 million. The Duke Wood area is an estate and nothing much there. A lot of people are put off by it due to it being too close to Slough and can hear the traffic from M4. Chalfont St Peter is getting better, a new Marks and Spencer and Costa is opening soon here which is pushing up the prices. There are a few outstanding schools too. Some parts of the area are better than other esp when it comes to schools. The traffic from Amersham to Stoke Poges will be awful esp with the HS2 affecting some roads around that part.

Spanielmad Space Camp isn't the cheapest trip but they do get a lot from it

Yes Space Camp as in zero gravity etc there are 40+ of them off at Easter all VERY excited!!

Yes trips are many and varied! MFL exchange trips, history trip to Berlin, German to xmas markets, there's some sciency trip to Finland, d of e through to gold (expeditions to Norway), politics to Washington, this years sports tour was Hong Kong and Australia- next years South Africa, ski trips and so on ....

Some children do all the trips, some none and most something in the middle but yes there are many opportunities!

I'm sure the others all offer similar. All schools do have an individual feel and their own identity so it's important to visit them (not at open evening though these are always jan packed and hideous!!)

They are ALL focussed on results. They are grammar schools! However, I believe they are all supportive and are outstanding schools. Sports may differ from school to school and no doubt you can download a prospectus. Often schools have a lot of details about their sixth forms so you can see how the older children in the school are developed into adults. You really would not be unhappy with any of those schools. Yes, they do run expensive trips so be prepared to dig deep. That is the big difference between a secondary and a grammar in Bucks and why there is a pecking order of secondaries. It is the extra opportunities that the grammars seem to offer.

Yes my friend's son went on the Space Camp and had a ball!

Oh and in year 10 they run a trip to Space Camp in Alabama.

I think they're all good - obv different people have different preferences.

My children are at Borlase so can only really speak for them but their pastoral care is excellent (my youngest is quite anxious and they have been excellent). Borlase is outstanding at sports competing at very high levels in a whole range. A number of students are selected to play at national/ international level - particularly in hockey and rowing but also other sports and a great many play at county or higher - the school is very supportive of them but also inclusive of all abilities. Sciences are very strong - there is a STEM coordinator and a wide range of enrichment opportunities are available- most students do CREST awards and there is a big STEM fair plus loads of other stuff. Languages- French, German Spanish and Mandarin - compulsory to do at least 1 to GCSE. They are focused on results - name be a school which isn't - but supportive rather then pushy. Their results are outstanding and that is the norm. They are a selective school and so there is tgat level of expectation. Dance, drama and music are also outstanding and all offered through to A level. They produce well rounded confident young people who work hard but also have fun.

I'm sure the above could also be said for all other Bucks grammars.

Have you managed to visit the area yet? I would really do that before selecting schools etc as it's important you like the area and there are quite a variety of different places in your search.

You can list three preferences for in year admissions in the same way as you do with normal round admissions. Note though that some of the schools you're looking at (e.g. LWS and other academy schools) deal with their own year admissions themselves, so you can either apply to them direct, or you can apply via the Local Authority, who will pass on your application to the school.

I do think the schools will know earlier because they should have their roll for the first day but I also know appeals can go on very late. Certainly Lord Williams at Thame is a good school and I would ring them becasue you would not want to change from that school if a place is available.

Generally, as far as I understand it, if a child has the required score they will be offered a grammar school place if there is one. My local girls' grammar frequestly had 33/34 in a year group due to appeals so schools can be flexible. Not all are so popular and there should be a late place somewhere but with increasing numbers of pupils coming from outside Bucks, the whole landscape has changed. In my village, three late applicants got into Chesham Grammar 10-15 years ago, but times have changed. SHF in Aylesbury was also in that category and John Hampden in High Wycombe. There was always a pecking order of grammars! You may get lucky!

It is virtually the same anywhere you look at in this country - parents like good schools and shy away from the less good. Bucks is no different to anywhere else. It woud be fine if every school was good, but many of the secondary moderns have always fluctuated in terms of their quality and some have a long history of RI or worse and people tend to avoid them, if they can.

I think the Head at Cressex is doing a good job so if you cannot get in anywhere else, it is not the end of the world. There are also 6th form options when the time comes and grammar schools do recruit at that point. Chalfonts is not the end of the world either, and, although some people find it big, they often do not cope well with the difference between a small cuddly primary and a large secondary. There is also Holmer Green School which you could consider.

I suspect the reason Bucks do not publish their vacancy lists until 11 September is due to last minute and never-ending appeals. There are appeals against the 11 plus results and also against school allocations here and there are hundreds of them.

I would see what the options are for Y8 vacancies, be prepared to travel and get your younger child into Y6 and register as a late registration for the 11 plus. Again, be prepared to accept what you are given if he is successful. You will need to flexible on primary schools too.

You cannot, I believe, register a preference for schools not in Bucks, on your preference list from Bucks CC. You will have to see what the admissions arrangements are for all the schools outside Bucks and there may not be central admissions system in those Local authorities.

I should think your son in year 8 would catch up just fine at that stage but tricky for the younger one if he is likely to be so thrown by moves. I think moving him sooner and trying to get a late 11+ test seems best. We are seeing if our oldest can move up with DH first so that she can start her GCSE courses there rather than move mid course which is clearly a bad idea.