To want to move from Surrey to Chichester for a better life for my kids?

[Mixedupmind]

Having a debate with my husband and very confused
We currently live in Carshalton Surrey
We have 2 children, aged 3 and 4
I'm a stay at home mum and hes self employed, we privately rent our 2 bed terrace for £950.
Recently I've been thinking we should move out before they start school for a nice quiet little village lifestyle / school, we could afford a 3 bed house for what we pay now and the schools are smaller and obviously less crime / trouble
His concern is the opportunities are less, the secondary schools don't seem to achieve as much as London schools and he fears the kids will be coming back to London for work.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Tenancy ends in August and son needs to be in reception next September so really it's now or never.

[Xmasbaby11]

I think you should live where you are happy. If you're happy, your children are likely to be happy too. There is no 'best' place - you just need to choose which one suits your life as a family.

[Aventurine]

I grew up in Carshalton and moved across the Surrey border and have wondered if i should have stayed in the London Borough of Sutton where you are! LB of Sutton seem to spend so much more money on schools and local amenities and events than Surrey Council do. I guess the grass is always greener. Can't advise on Chichester.

[Mixedupmind]

Yes this is my positive of staying here, that the schools do seem to do so well.
And we already have our school nursery place for our son to start in september.
But then I go down there, see little villages and bigger houses and think is that everything??

[Mandy2003]

Slightly off topic but I live further into Surrey near Guildford and I've seen a couple of you saying Sutton has gone downhill. Why is that exactly, in what way and for what reason?

I had an aunt and uncle who lived there but it must be 25 years since they passed away and I've not been to that part of the county since.

[Mixedupmind]

It seems to be made of People who don't want to work and those who enjoy causing trouble.

[Sukebind]

Hello, I live in Carshalton/Sutton and my DC go to primary in Sutton. If you are Catholic I assume you stand a good chance of getting a place at St Mary's which is a really popular school with a good reputation. All of the schools in this borough are comparitively really excellent, hence why they are so popular.
OK, Sutton High Street is not the nicest place in the world but there are much worse. Having visited Chichester I don't really feel that the shopping area is particularly better than any other similar area in most large towns. Also, you don't have to actually go to Sutton High Street much if you don't want to, especially if you live in Carshalton. Ditto Croydon High Street.
My DH and I would love to live by the sea but the areas we are interested in just have no jobs at all - it's not that we think this borough is so amazing that we'd never leave. What I suppose I am saying is that this area is pretty good in terms of quality of life so you would want to make really sure that wherever you move to can match or better it in those terms. All areas have their problems - some are just better hidden than others. My good friend who lives in and grew up in one of our 'dream locations' knows that it actually has a pretty high crime rate due to drug problems, and other less attractive facts about it that a visitor or even someone initally looking into moving would find.

[Mixedupmind]

Thanks for the above response
You're right, I don't have to go to these places but they are our nearest towns so just local and as I don't drive easy to walk into.
I wish I just lived a little bit further out as I don't think I'd feel like this but the rents in places like Banstead etc are extortionate.

[MeerkatTargaryen]

Put it this way, sutton on a sat/sun morning is not a pretty sight. My DH works there and the state of their office steps in the morning is just awful. He stays in at the weekend nights.

I once went out on a night out there as the company I worked for moved down my way from Epsom so most people lived that way. I was really uncomfortable. Did not enjoy it at all. My town has a bad reputation on a night out but it was horrible. This was a prob 5 years ago now. Def wouldn't go there now.

[Mixedupmind]

Yes and this is my worry as the kids get older as this is where they are going to hang out
But moving to the coast will it be any different or will they just be travelling back to this?

[CharlesRyder]

I don't think YABU wanting to move out of Surrey. We are in the 'concrete end' of Berkshire with 3yo DS and also shipping out.

I don't think you are going far enough though! We are going to Dorset.

[Mixedupmind]

The schools in west Sussex just don't seem to be doing as well, I'm not sure why, maybe lack of money?
Such a shame as very difficult to leave when my son has an outstanding school nursery place to start in September to go to an area that all the schools are pretty bad performance wise

[Mixedupmind]

The schools in west Sussex just don't seem to be doing as well, I'm not sure why, maybe lack of money?
Such a shame as very difficult to leave when my son has an outstanding school nursery place to start in September to go to an area that all the schools are pretty bad performance wise

[MeerkatTargaryen]

I know nothing of school performance as I don't have kids. However, when I do I don't think I really buy into this whole ofsted reporting bollocks anyway. Even going by reputation, it's like a hospital, everyone wil gave an opinion, but it depends on the child and how they are academically to what they will ultimately get out of it. I hated school and left with rubbish grades. Was bullied all the way through. This was at a now respected catholic school. I would never send my kids there because of 1) my experiences, albeit they were 20 years ago and 2) we are atheist lol. We will send our kids to the local schools (if they get in as it's school place day and Facebook is full of 'darling blah-blah got into so and so school our first choice yay' - someone shoot me if I ever post this lol).

Anyway from leaving school, I redid my gcse's at college (and met my DH) and got much better grades. At 33 I did an access course and 34 started uni. I am not academic at all and gave struggled my way through but I want to be a nurse so here I am almost qualified. I wanted to be a nurse when I was a small kid but I couldn't have done this from school. I was so fed up of education from then lol.

[MeerkatTargaryen]

Btw catholic schools have less funding than state schools. At least it was the case at mine (Brighton and Arundel diocese). The secondary school have been rebuilt in my town funded by selling off middle schools and part of the school land to housing developers. They had to beg for money from the government too as they didn't raise enough. Err how much does the Catholic Church have? I'm sure it's changed but in my experience we had falling apart buildings and 20 odd year old text books which had some of our parents names in them (honestly they did lol).

I know the school needed updating but part of it was a gorgeous listed building. They should have been made to keep that and turn it into apartments or something .

[grassroots]

You might want to have a look at some of the Outstanding graded village primaries in the Chichester area - and possibly have a look at the Chichester Free School as well? Or Bishop Luffa - which competes very favourably with most of the Independent School in terms of exam results.

[LocalEditorCambridgeshire]

You could try the local site

[Mixedupmind]

Does anyone know how I post on the local board?
I agree, ofsted really I use as an overview. How many children per class / how many children are at an early stage of English.
I'm actually really surprised I have to say that there seem to be more in west sussex in certain schools than where I am now

[MeerkatTargaryen]

That's because you are in Surrey . It's a whole other world over the border donctha know! They whack more on the house prices and people talk in posh accents and drive posh cars.

In reality, that's true in some parts of surrey. But people do think it's some magical nirvana of surreyness lol. I live on the border (drive 5 mins and I'm in surrey) and honestly houses are more expensive because they are in surrey. The nearest town is not that nice. I wouldn't live there. Nor the next nearest which is even worse (and next to a nice desirable surrey town with a desirable grammar school).

Meh I love my Sussex town with it's crap reputation that has cheaper prices (even though I still can't afford to buy anything lol) and great facilities, apart from a proper hospital which is in surrey lol. I work there but won't live there (I have to we don't have a hospital, well we have a community hospital not an acute one).

[Mixedupmind]

You're probably right.
I don't hear many of these posh accents you talk of unless I go a little further out to Banstead!
I just want a nice little primary school a decent secondary school and enough college / UNI opportunities for them that's all!
Can u get this is Sussex?

[Wherediparkmybroom]

If you want a nice primary and secondary I would avoid selsey, the high school is my reason for moving to Portsmouth in the near future!

[Mixedupmind]

Yes I haven't heard many good things about selsey
Any other areas ro avoid?
Is Bognor itself as crappy as people say?

[Wherediparkmybroom]

I like bognor, but it can be pretty crappy, selsey, withering etc you need two cars, do not lay yourself at the mercy of stagecoach! Bosham is lovely,
I really think you should wait until you've visited in the winter.

[Mixedupmind]

Yeah I think the winter may make me reconsider!
Are the schools as lovely and village based as I'm imagining!

[Matildaandthematches]

Someone up thread suggested Horsham and I would second that. I moved there from south London a few years ago and love it. I am from carahalton originally so have an idea about what you'd be leaving behind. Schools in Horsham almost all seem to be good or 'fine' at least, you can still be in London in under an hour, the sea is 25mins away and crime seems to be low. I hated always looking over my shoulder where we were. Here, I would walk home any time and wouldn't worry about my children being out as much (though am a bit sad they won't be streetwise London kids and we can't just nip to a museum whenever we want). It's rising in price steadily but is still reasonable. You get a decent three bed for under £300k still and lots just outside the town for much less than that. I go shopping in Chichester or a change. It's a 50min (but really pretty) train ride, or less in a car, so you wouldn't be a million miles from family.