Moving to Shropshire advice please

[Forestmum4]

H

They don't have a flooding problem in the north of the County though.

Oh yes we do....

I live in Shrewsbury and it’s beautiful. Minutes from the river and town centre, lovely old Victorian houses. Also very close to the countryside along with good schools.
I used to live in Telford and there are some lovely areas as well as great transport links. Ironbridge, Horsehay, Lawley are all very nice.

@Forestmum4 what's your budget?

Between 400 thousand to 450

Church Ashton is lovely. Friend lives there. Nice community. Village feel. You are also close to the A41 to get out to m54.

DH is from Whitchurch. I know it well. The junior school there has many problems. Nice town, but also some county lines issues and a very insular attitude. The secondary is improved. Little chance in the future of getting into Bishop Heber over the border in Cheshire due to an increase in housing there.

DH is far from posh but immediately said stay clear of Telford! The park and shopping areas there are lovely. But still not the nicest place to live.

Audlem is nice. Prees. Wem itself. Shrewsbury is gorgeous.

Clive is a lovely little village between Shrewsbury and Wem.

Church Aston you also are in catchment for the grammar schools in Newport for secondary.

Anyone have any information on Market Drayton?

Telford is one of those "new" towns with no actual high street/town centre, just loads of traffic islands, retail parks and an indoor shopping centre.

Market Drayton is a market town. Secondary school wasn't brilliant in the past but not sure what it's like now. Very limited public transport - Beeching closed the railway in the 1960's and although it has a bus route to Newcastle (Staffs) and Shrewsbury, it's not brilliant. I live less than 10 miles from there and tbh it's not a place I ever go to. It has canals, a Palethorpes factory and a huge Muller yoghurt factory - so fine if you like yoghurt or sausage rolls! Lots of new houses going up there.

Audlem in Cheshire (a few miles away) is lovely village though. But secondary school would be in Nantwich. But probably not anything there for children/teenagers.

My mother lives in Wem, near the local high school. There’s good public transport to Shrewsbury. Wem seems to be a fairly small, quaint, quiet town with just enough local activity going on to keep her happy there. I lived in Shrewsbury for a few months and loved it there, it’s a great market town, although it has problems with flooding.

@StrawberryCreamCake I nearly discounted Telford myself when I was looking until I came across a post online of someone saying how great it was after someone who hadn't been there for 30 plus years was trashing it
You will also find people that never go there trashing it.
I now live in a small town on the outside of Telford but I would happily move back it's lovely and I go to Telford alot, the Town centre is fabulous and modern with lots of shops and the town park is simply amazing, it's the best park I have ever been to with family golf, a number of different play areas, water play, sky reach, wonderland there is also a small zoo being built there.
Again you often see people online moaning about the town centre, Its brilliant and really modern and well looked after I think some people just love a moan, It has a great library there, ice skating, play place, restaurants really decent shops, IMAX cinema.
There is an awful lot to do if you have kids and everything is easy to get to, no traffic which coming from the south east we found amazing.
Takes next to no time to get anywhere the roads are brilliant and it's so well connected.
I certainly wouldn't discount it definitely visit it if you are looking to move!
I go there alot because it's great and would never move too far away life feels so much easier living here. People are really friendly.
I simply love it.
We looked at Apley first there is a lovely newbuild development there being built by kier living.
We were drawn to the area as there was a house by Apley woods forsale.
Lawley is a huge newbuild development with lovely parks.
We lived in Lawley for a while in an older bit that had all detached houses it was lovely.
You can walk to various parks in the area which are lovely, there are woods and various other walks in the countryside on your doorstep and also for convenience there is Morrisons within walking distance and various shops and take aways.
Telford is very well taken care of as a town I come under shropshire council now and they are crap.
In the town I live in the locals team together to litter pick and get things done.
I still love living here too just much preferred Telford town council even down to what sort of bins are provided for recycling they do things so much better than shropshire council.
I live in Shifnal which is a lovely small town and has a good reputation, everything is within walking distance and people are friendly.
Newport is nice too as is Ironbridge.
I also liked horse hay.
Much Wenlock is lovely.
We looked at Shrewsbury but we were put off by the traffic, I just preferred Telfords ease of getting places quickly and how it's laid out with access to so many different areas.

I really wouldnt discount it, anyone who has come to visit since we have moved have said how much they love it with it being in the countryside but still with so much to do and really well connected.

Op if you like old places look at Ironbridge, much Wenlock, or Shrewsbury or the older towns surrounding Telford.
You can have the best of both worlds then old and new and well connected.

The secondary in MD has been taken over by the same academy as the one who took over Whitchurch. A huge amount of money will be ploughed into it as has been in Whitchurch. My friend taught there last year and said it was horrific. It has been that way for the last 30 years.
Whitchurch secondary has a new head who started this academic year.
Lower Heath and Tilstock are part of the same academy.
There is a school bus from MD for Thomas Adams in Wem. The head there has been head since last year. He has been at the school for 20 years or so.
Whitchurch infant and junior are part of an academy based in Stoke.

Church Aston has an infant school so any junior school would be in Newport. Newport schools are absolutely full. Another friend has moved to Newport and her children have had to go to a village school because all of the town schools are full.

Whitchurch way again...Prees and Higher Heath are villages. Prees has 2 shops. HH has nothing! Buses run to both secondaries and HH has a bus to the primary in Prees.

Hodnet / Hadnall or Shawbury might be worth a look. All have their own primaries and buses to the secondaries.

Half of the children at Thomas Adams are bussed in. The majority of the children at Whitchurch are from Whitchurch.

We will defo have a look at the areas you mentioned. Thanks so much for all the details.
Does anyone know anything about Knocking Heath or other parts of Oswestry?

I have heard of Thomas Adams and the John Talbot school does anyone have any experience with either? My DD is at a 1350 pupil school. They have this year split the school into four smaller schools I think the Burton borough school in Newport does the same.

Thomas Adams is definitely the better school out of that, SJT (Whitchurch) and the Grove (Market Drayton). SJT and the Grove have had a lot of money spent on it by the academy chain but they're not as good as Thomas Adams. But they may improve quickly! SJT is definitely better than the Grove. DD goes to a catchment school for the Grove but most parents choose to try to get into Thomas Adams or SJT.

I'd also avoid Telford. Newport is nice and the more rural areas around but Telford isn't great. Just a massive sprawl of houses and retail parks. It doesn't feel at all like Shropshire to me.

Newport is a grammar school area but Burton Borough is a non-selective school.

I know market drayton , what would you like to know ? Whitchurch is busier with better shops than drayton but I know nothing about the school situation there. Shrewsbury is great. You will get a lovely house for £450k in those areas

I am basing my comments on the fact that your child is 12 so Y7/8...

TA is about 1300 pupils (7 forms in each year). Each form is their house. Pupils ideally stay with the same from tutor all the way through school. They set the children in from Y7. In September they taught the children in their form groups rather than in sets. Catchment is 50% from Wem, 50% from the outlying villages.

SJT is about 700 pupils. They now set the children. Two years ago they announced to the year 6s that they didn't set and by the Sept they had changed their mind! In Sept they taught their children in their English set rather than form groups. Catchment is 90% Whitchurch. Remaining children mainly come from Prees, Lower Heath or Tilstock (10 pupils or fewer from each school). Being in Whitchurch means the other local primary schools are in Wales or Cheshire so there are only the 3 village schools (and the junior school in catchment).

BB is huge. The newish head has changed a lot of things and I am not sure that many of them were for the benefit of the children.

If your DD is academic then she should be OK whichever school she ends up in. What are you looking for in a school? Could try for Newport Girls High. There is less competition for places for a mid year transfer.

Shrewsbury schools are a mixed bag. Depends which school would be in catchment.

Abraham Darby in Telford is good.

How about Stafford?

The Welsh villages close to Whitchurch would give you Penley as a secondary. Cheshire West would be Bishop Heber in Malpas. Malpas is a nice village. Chn, like at TA, come half from the village and half from surrounding villages for both Penley and Heber.

Forestmum4 I would not recommend Market Drayton. There are no public transport links, the local secondary is poor and the town itself has very little going for it. I have friends with DC at Thomas Adams in Wem and SJT in Whitchurch. The latter comes out better. Their rankings are also good when it comes to progress scores.
As a Shropshire resident I would choose Shrewsbury, Church Stretton or Newport if I were to move within county.

I cannot believe how lovely and helpful you guys are all being! I am not used it it! (Have lived in the south far too long😂)
Re schools like I mentioned before it’s more about a nice environment than massively high achieving my DD is quite academic (we didn’t put any of our children through the grammar system here as it’s very pressurising here, lots of tutoring and lots of over anxious parents) Lit of the two we are more concerned about the elder she’s a very good girl but a little shy and totally tows the line at school. The younger would literally go anywhere she’s very confident. We have no problem with a small primary as both girls went to a 45 pupil infant school for years R-3. Youngest is now at a 420 pupil school.

@Forestmum4

I cannot believe how lovely and helpful you guys are all being! I am not used it it! (Have lived in the south far too long😂) Re schools like I mentioned before it’s more about a nice environment than massively high achieving my DD is quite academic (we didn’t put any of our children through the grammar system here as it’s very pressurising here, lots of tutoring and lots of over anxious parents) Lit of the two we are more concerned about the elder she’s a very good girl but a little shy and totally tows the line at school. The younger would literally go anywhere she’s very confident. We have no problem with a small primary as both girls went to a 45 pupil infant school for years R-3. Youngest is now at a 420 pupil school.

In your situation I'd really look for somewhere in the Thomas Adams catchment or try for Newport Girls school if you want to be in North Shropshire.

We live in a village in the Thomas Adam's catchment. DC are too young yet but I'm happy with where we are if we're not going to be in the catchment for Priory or Meole Brace in Shrewsbury. Our village is rural but close to Shrewsbury so we can be in town in 15mins. There's also the bus which means teens have got some independence compared to some of the more rural areas.

Newport is nice but a bit of a bubble. From Newport you'd either go to Telford for shopping or possibly into Staffordshire which puts me off. But I love Shrewsbury so I am biased!