Langley schools in Bromley

[user1492521358]

Hi lovely people, we are looking to move to bromley close to Clare house primary school with a view of getting in-year admission for my 6 yr old (yr 2). With regards to secondary, we are keen on langley (both girls and boys) but on rightmove the flat shows 1 mile distance to Langley schools. Now i really dont know how accurate the distances are on rightmove so want your advice pls to see if our changes are good? Also, the 2020 stats are L.boys- 1.14 and girls-1.41 miles. Please help

I know it well. All those schools are i Beckenham not Bromley. What road is the flat in. Can you post the link.

Overbury avenue, Beckenham. Also how safe is the area and also around west wickham station please?

Amazing. Thats where I live too, top or bottom end? All those schools are walkable but can be a bit of a trek in bad weather. The bus goes from the Chinese Garage down to LP schools. Its lovely here. You have kelsey park a few mins away with a cafe, lakes, walk through to Beckenham shops and station plus a few shops by the Chinese garage and in Oakwood Ave which is on the main bromley to beckenham rd. WW station is a bit of a way out, why do you need to go there? You might be better off going to Eden Park or Clock House.

Its the 358 bus. If you're driving go down Overbury, turn left up to roundabout, 3rd exit down towards eden park and LP schools are at the very bottom on the left. You can see it better on Streetview. There are also school entrances in Wickham Way for the girls.

Thank you :) so it’s towards wickham road and 0.2 miles away from school so I’m hoping to get Clare house In- year fingers crossed. Do you know if that’s even possible? Downside is LP is 1 mile away so not sure if we’ll get it as The catchment keeps shrinking for boys I heard. If we move towards ww station, LP is 0.7 miles away but no Outstanding primary close by :( so confused.

The issue with Langley secondaries is that there is not really any alternative in the area. We are in West Wickham and DD goes to Langely Girls.

The last 3 years were problematic for secondary school administration as the primary schools were full to the brim and several years had to add bulge classes which obviously meant more children also moving to secondary. And with them being fairly good not a lot of the cohorts are going to public schools and none of DD's year chose a grammar.

Birth numbers decreased and I know that DD's old primary in West Wickham wasn't full in 2019 intake. So the situation about catchment/distance will be very differnt in 4 years compared to the last 2-3.

Depending what you are looking for in primaries being Outstanding is not necessarily everything. DD's old one (Hawes Down) will never get that seal as they don't have a lot of outside grounds, they share with the attached SEN secondary. But that doesn't mean that teaching isn't good or that they try to incorporate outside learning otherwise.

You must be in Clare House catchment as the school is at the top of Overbury Ave. Its recently undergone refurb and extension. Have you looked at their website. LP might come under Eden Park but you'd have to check. My dc went to LP gurls from Overbury Ave but that was quite a long tine ago! What about Harris Academy. There are private schools St Christophers for Girls and Bishop Challoner for boys. Have you looked at the league tables. There is a lovely little primary near Alvemarle Rd in Beckenham but I cant remember what its called.

The Harris Academy primary and mixed secondary both have outstanding ofsted ratings and are just the other side if Kelsey Park

@MrsTwitcher- Thank you , that’s very useful. If we don’t get Langley, I think Harris academy beckhenam would be the next available option from Overbury Ave. I have absolutely no idea about these schools so pls don’t get me wrong but somebody mentioned to avoid all Harris academies because it’s run like business and lots of bullying. Any thoughts?

We are currently only keen on state schools and not private ones so options are limited that way.

People speak highly of LP secondaries , do you know if it is still the same today? Buying a place will purely depend on this distance (1 mile from Overbury) and I don’t want to make a mistake this time.

Thank you @reluctantbrit. How is west wickham as an area? Is it advisable to live close to high street? I will be scouting around the area soon to get a feel for it but would love to get your opinions as well as I currently don’t live very close to the place.

I cant comment on the schools really. My dc went to LP girls 40 years ago when it was Beckenham Grammar 40 years ago i only go to WW for the new Lidl and lunch at The Swan pub.

I live reasonably near West Wickham, it's a OK high street, Sainsbury's, M&S & Lidl with a Tesco due to open at Chinese garage roundabout shortly. It's not quite as up/coming as Beckenham, which has a more traditional feel high street with independent butchers, cafes, bookshops etc - a Sainsbury's and m&s, plus a Waitrose. Both areas feel clean and safe to me.

Beckenham has more of a nightlife - pubs, restaurants - they get busy during nights in summer. Also a cinema, but spoiled for cinema choice in central Bromley, once they reopen.

Kelsey park is glorious. Better parks nearer Beckenham,including Beckenham place park with wild swimming lake during summer months

Secondary Schoolswise, mine went to Ravensborne as we were the other side of Bromley at the time. Don't reccomend it. Bullying policy was non existent, very academies in approach, SEN provision woeful.

We live on the other side of the railway line in West Wickham, near the Pickhurst schools.

We like it, it is a bit quite from late afternoon onwards but the high street is nice and you can get everything. I know several people who grew up in the area and stayed or moved from Croydon to West Wickham.

Schools - the problem is, a lot can always change. Langley Girls got a new head 3 years ago and I know several parents with girls in school under the old head hate the new one. You never know if the changes she introduced will affect grades in the next years. Currently the girls are one of the best in the borough.

I agree, Ravensbourne has a very bad reputation, they have a new head and I know one family who got in under the new head and was impressed with changes so you never know what may happen.

Have you checked your distance to Eden Park High, that is a new secondary so you obviously don’t see any results yet.

My son goes to the Harris Academy Beckenham which is opposite Kelsey Park.
It's a lovely school, the teachers are superb and there's no such bullying then you cannot meet in any other school. Teachers are very strict on any kind of bullying and consider it as a very serious issue if can find any form of it. All the parents are very supportive and proactive. PTA works hard and helps school a lot.
I can highly recommend the academy for girls & boys.

I'm looking at Langley park boys potentially (and girls for dd later on) but the boys results in past years dont look all that great to me. Anyone knows more?
DS is year 4 dd only y2 but we are planning to move within the next year and going round and round in circles about secondary schools...