Would I be mad to up sticks and move my children (Year 6 and Year 4) to the coast near the Mumbles in Wales for a year?

[WontBeUsingPassMyParcelAgain]

Just that really.. I have an opportunity to move us to the Mumbles for a year. I would love to live by he coast and the doc are on board, but I can't decide if I would be mad to move us from everything we know to someone where we know no-one. Just the three of us.

Any advice about the area, tips if you have moved area and general thoughts gratefully received.

I think to move, and then come back again, would be a bit difficult.
It takes a while to get to know the areas, and to get to make friends.

Your Yr6 dc wouldn't be living in the catchment area to apply for secondary schools then either, which could be a big issue.

Bonkers to do it to a child in year six, to be fair. It can be a fucker of a year in school at the best of times, but to go through it with a bunch of people you don’t know would be grim, especially when there’s the prospect of yet another move and a new school with more people you don’t know to look forward to.

It depends what you have near you at home but it's an amazing area to live, you can have a great lifestyle with beaches and mountains and gorgeous landscape plus the ice-cream is amazing. Personally I'd move and never go back but I may be biased! Go, sign them up for a local surf club and enjoy.

Why just for a year? That's a bit unreasonable, they'd just have settled in. You'd not be unreasonable to move there in general, it's lovely there.

The Mumbles is beautiful, but a move anywhere for just a year is a huge upheaval, especially Y6.

I wouldn’t. You’re not going to be there long enough for them to settle or any of you make friends. Why is it only a year?

I think it totally depends why you have the opportunity to go there for the year. What will you/the dc get out of it? (apart from the obvious ‘nice to live by the coast’)

I’d do it. All this “especially in year 6” nonsense is exactly what prevents everyone from doing anything all the time. Before you know it they’re at GCSE age and then you are suck. Live a little, give them an adventure!

Where are you now? Could you just do some weekends there instead? Moving is a major upheaval. As is moving schools.

Op I can speak from experience as someone who moved back to Mumbles (though my kids are younger than yours).
It took us about a year to fully settle into life there and feel at home and as if we had made some good friends. From what I understand, this is quite normal no matter where you live!
Mumbles as a place - we love it. The school (Oystermouth) is fantastic and very opening and welcoming in my experience. There are other excellent primary schools in the area too. Agree with pp though, it could be tricky with a y6 child.

In terms of lifestyle, it’s brilliant. We have such an active, outdoors life. If the weather is ok we are either down the beach swimming/surfing (which we can walk to), walking/cycling/scootering, playing in the castle, there are lots of options. And Gower is a short drive away with all that it has to offer. As a place to live, really we can’t fault it. Moving back there has been a good move for us.

Would you be able to consider a longer term move?

Also just to add, the primary school in a Mumbles is quite oversubscribed, so it would be worth considering whether your children will be able to realistically get a place there.

Do it and make sure they keep in contact with all their friends for when / if you move back.

Angharad - it makes quite a difference to their lives though if they then can't get into a local school for the next 7 years of secondary (plus extra years for sibling)

Thanks for the responses. I should have been clearer.. We have the opportunity to stay for good if we like it, but I feel like we should do it for a year in the first instance so we have the opportunity to come back if we don't feel we are settling. We are an outdoorsy family but one whose weekends are tied up with sport in the Midlands which precludes us from travelling to the coast just for the weekends. If we could do that sport in Wales, then we would be fine there all year round. We have virtually no contact with family here. I moved here from the south west, with my bodyboard, for DH due to his work and then he died. I feel like I need to do something to keep me going.

The issue over school place for Year 7 is a key thing to work out. I need to take advice locally about it. I thought I would also start by ringing the council in Wales and asking for schools with spaces in the area and then rent a place that fits. Lovely to hear that the area is nice. We have visited twice this summer and done some fact finding and all like what we have seen so far.

And my child going into Year 6 currently feels like he has one friend. He sees it as an opportunity to try and make new ones.

In that case, it sounds like it could be a fresh start for you all...

It sounds like a lovely fresh start. It's good that your DC are on board. Do you know mumbles area at a, could you do a weekend or week there to give you chance to look around? Your DC will learn Welsh.

wontbe I’m sorry to hear about your husband.

If it is an outdoor activity then I’m sure you will be able to do it! Secondary schools are your main consideration here. The catchment around Mumbles feeds into two schools - Bishopston and Bishop Gore. Both are excellent schools, Bishopston is held up on a bit of a pedestal but actually, if you look at Estyn (the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted) Bishop Gore has an equally good rating (which is the top one, ‘Excellent’). People get their knickers in a bit of a twist about living in the catchment for Bishopston.

If I can help you out with any ‘local’ knowledge, please do let me know. We have found it to be a very happy and welcoming place here, and it has helped us enormously being able to get involved with school life and make friends there.

Do it. Embrace the opportunity. Your children will adapt. I'd say the key age is year 8/9 which means he has a minimum of 2 years to settle. Go for it.

The deadline for English schools year 7 admissions is 31 October, Wales end of November (?)

So unless you are prepared to make a late application, you'll have a couple of months to decide if you'll stay, not a year. That's why year 6 can be a bad time to move, just as the year before starting reception can be.

Go for it OP. You'll have Gower on your doorstep. I'd kill for that.

Good luck!

Not a good plan, especially if it jeopardises secondary school place.

I think if your children will be able to continue their sporting interests and tgere are school places available, you should just go. I'm not sure if the idea of a year is a helpful one. You all deserve some peace and happiness.

@WontBeUsingPassMyParcelAgain - fellow young widow here (pretty sure we know each other through another site actually). Definitely do it. As you say, you can always move back. The quality of life will be so much better - proper coast instead of sports tracks in Midlands. People will be friendly and you'll probably grow a better support network.

I'm on holiday in Cornwall this week and have been mulling over living here and ditching surrey! Live you it's been a few years since DH died and I can't help thinking me and kids need a new start somewhere beautiful.

So sorry about your DH

Most people don't leave swansea again once moving there it's a great place OP, and a lovely area for your kids to grow up in. I really don't think there's all the drama over school places in Wales that there seems to be in England, but that's just my perception and not actually based on any knowledge. If you're moving there before he starts year 6 then he'd be eligible for a place in bishopston in year 7 anyway? As you say, probably best to do a bit more research into the schooling situation, but I don't think it should really hold you back. Especially as it sounds as though your eldest isn't particularly happy at the moment anyway.