Info on Marlow, Henley, Thame, Chalfonts

Welcome to Marlow - I've clearly been here too long as my first thought was "what a good price" - great location- St Peters Street leads to the river (slipway). Are you not loving the avocado

Omfg! Proximity to the Botanist and chi chi shoe shops is not worth that!

Also forgot to add FWIW the Windsor schools moving to combined 6th form...
whatintheworld had a chuckle at that...

Yes sure! I don't really know Windsor (or the plane noise!) but do know the Chalfonts, Gerrards Cross etc and surrounding area and their schools pretty well. Will PM you shortly.

The queen doesn't seem too fussed about plane noise!

And don't want to malign a school on public forum but would urge caution about CCC...

Absolutely agree with this. Spaniel I am happy to PM you if you'd like?

Re: plane noise. I used to live in Longford and worked nights and I could sleep through Concorde taking off. You just get used to it and don't notice.

spanielmad am happy to answer any specific questions if you want to PM me.
I would suggest if you are serious to do a mock school run...
really horrific traffic all over.
I did do the run from GX to beaconsfield/windsor and thought it would kill me...
Plane noise bothers some-doesn't really bother us as it just becomes white noise.
Old Windsor, St Leonards hill, oakley green and surrounding areas have bigger houses -lots of kids cycle to school from all of those places.
just think worth a look.
And don't want to malign a school on public forum but would urge caution about CCC...

I have been lurking on this thread for a while....
I lived in GX for 17 years and moved-
partially because it did change from charming leafy commuter town to one with with lots of new money (nothing wrong with that-just changed the vibe)-which meant knocking down all the old houses and building massive ones that filled the boundaries. The mix of shops and ppl changed a lot.
But most relevant here is that my DS took 11+ with a very high pass and still did not get a place in any of the 3 grammars we were in catchment for. Because a few years earlier they changed the criteria to distance from schoo, not top marks down. Be wary of this!!
We moved to Windsor.
Absolutely brilliant for us-although DC are in single sex schools they are thriving-to the point where I took DD out of her fee paying school and put her in a local one.
Great results and happy community life.
There is also a middle school system that might make transitions easier.
There is something to be said wherever you go-especially at GCSE year-to have your DC be independent and walk/cycle to and from school.
I would not go to Chalfont and a Beaconsfield traffic nightmare.
Also 7 miles from Shiplake is a battle in rush hour.
I would look at Marlow or Henley. And take up rowing
Good luck-think you 're going to just have to take the plunge!!
And remember-wherever they end up isn't necessarily where they will stay-you can re-visit later.

If you're thinking seriously about CCC then definitely try to get a look round it before thinking further. I gather that it's a bit of a marmite school, quite possibly because it's so enormous. I have one friend who's delighted that her DC is about to start there in Y7, but several others who appealed against their DC's allocated places there to get in elsewhere (mainly Amersham School).

I think there is a real tension, btw, between wanting to avoid a school move, and wanting your children to attend good schools.

I think you should reconcile yourself to 2 schools per child - if you are REALLY lucky, it won't happen, but if you want to guarantee only 2 schools for your younger primary + secondary) and 1 for your older (secondary), then you will have to accept that the secondary school for your elder child will be a lottery in terms of quality.

The younger one could easily just have 2 schools. Attend the primary school you are given, move to the selected secondary (non-selective or selective depending on results of late 11+). Job done.

The oldest is the issue. If you are determined that they stay at the initial school, then you can't also be determined that its quality is good. If you allow one school move - so from the initially-allocated school to the chosen school (whether selective or non-selective), then you stand a better chance of getting a final school where he can thrive.

If not moving school is the absolute priority, then you will have to be prepared to compromise quality of school.

I do think there is a difference, btw, between 'full' and 'full but with a selection barrier to get through as well'.

The renting / ownership thing is ONLY an issue if you are not moving area. It is to prevent moves whose only purpose is to 'play' school admissions. As you are moving areas, in conjunction with a house move, it shouldn't be an issue.

We moved around 40 miles, so not a ridiculous distance, but the council accepted the rented address as a 'real' one because we could prove DH's new job and that we couldn't commute to DS's new primary from our old house, nor back to the old primary from our new one.

It's something like if you own another house within x miles they will take that as your home address

Yes, some schools will assume something fishy if you rent a house while you still own one elsewhere, but I don't know how the Bucks grammar schools deal with this (probably varies - look at their admission criteria or ask on the eleven plus forum).