Hello, I don't know if you've moved yet. Or even if you'll see this as it's been up a while.
I live in Crediton. I personally don't like it. I would have moved by now had there not been a cost of living crisis. There is a lot going on. But It's very cliquey and everyone is related in some way by marriage (hence the cliquiness).
They're not particularly keen on outsiders living here and It's taken 2.5 years for me to be somewhat accepted and seen as a "local".
But unfortunately my daughter has gone from living in a city and having a thriving social life with plenty of playdates, to virtually nothing because I'm not in one of the mummy cliques. She's gone from having multiple birthday party invites a month to having 3 in two years, despite having a good relationship with her peers. Its an utterly closed community unless you were born and bred in mid Devon. Kids friendships and parties are literally based on who went to nursery with who.
Primary Schools wise, I would recommend Landscore. They've gone above and beyond for my daughter.
But there's also nothing wrong with Haywards. The key difference seems to be that Haywards is that it's bigger and
it's catchment is the less affluent bottom end of town. Whereas Landscore is significantly smaller is at the top end of town which is more affluent. Haywards also does traditional teaching whereas Landscore follows the more progressive collaborative approach which focuses on group work and peer support to build strengths in all areas.
I live near Haywards but I chose Landscore because they seemed like the better fit for us, size wise and teaching method wise. Speaking of catchment, it's actually irrelevent as both schools are under subscribed. Both schools have wrap around care, Although it is quite dear.
The local secondary school, QE is a mixed bag. It really depends who you ask. A lot of parents send their children to Chulmleigh school or Thomas Moore school instead. I don't have a secondary aged child so I don't have an opinion.
Also, it's an absolute battle for parking. There's barely any on street parking, and barely anyone has a drive in the centre of town. The car parks cost £12 a day and if you live somewhere without a drive there is a decent chance you will need to utilise it a few times.
I hope that was off help. I'm Sorry I couldn't be more positive