to be really confused about thinking of moving to Bognor Regis?

[Confusedmartie999]

Currently live in Horsham, son has a lovely catholic school to start in September, one intake of 30 a year.
Problem is there is no catholic secondary school anywhere near which is a problem for us being a practising family.
The secondary's near are leatherhead ( could never afford ) and barnham ( a good option as my mother and brother are in Chichester.
We are stuck in a tenancy until March now however the local catholic primary do have a place and he could start in January as oppose to September so only 2 months of driving the 60 mile round trip.
We would then have to really hope that a decent rental came up at the time we need it as the journey is too far / will cost too much in petrol to do for any longer than those 2 months.
My issue is that the school we have got id high performing, 90% of children achieving level 4 or above as oppose to 48% in the other one. The other one also teach in mixed ability classes through year 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6 which the current one dont and on our visit to the new possible one the headteacher informed me that currently around 50% of children are non English speaking on entry ( mainly Eastern European ) which was almost used as the reason for the low results.
The upside would be being closer to family, affording a 3 bed rental rather than 2 bed and hopefully the children would make some friends they would take over to secondary whereas here they won't have anyone starting secondary with them as the kids all go onto either private education or single sexed schools neither of which we can do / want.
I'm really confused, my husband says 5 years is a long time to go to a not great school ( he mainly disliked the fact that because it's right in bognor town it's very comcrete and they have no grass playing areas whereas the current one has masses ) and my mum says to think of the kids at 11 knowing nobody going to secondary school :-(

Well, while I am also a bit tired of seeing the same thread constantly, I haven't commented on any of the others so I will here.

I think you'd be mad to move your child to a not great sounding school in an area you might not even find a house in, when you've got a place in a lovely sounding school where you live.

48% level 4 or above is really low. Plenty of schools have more than 50% of children coming in at age 4 speaking a different first language and get much better results than that. It sounds like either the teachers' expectations and aspirations for the children are low, or the other parents' are. Either way, probably not the environment you would want for your child.

Is there a non single sex state secondary in your area? If so, I can't believe that absolutely none of the children at your local primary go to it. Some must. Have you actually checked with the school where their Year 6 children go or are you just taking your information from friends and neighbours? If your area only has single sex schools then why is that so bad if that is the norm? I personally would want my boys to mix with girls, but if an all boys school was the only option I wouldn't immediately discount it. The 2 schools probably mix at various events anyway and there might be clubs in your area that your child could join to mix with more children.

Confused I think it's because the posters on this thread have given the OP advice on her previous ones which has been completely ignored. It's almost like she's waiting for a 'better' opinion to come along. And it has been almost identical questions, 4 times in as many weeks...

If you keep posting the self same identical thread over and over what you're really saying is that we're all stupid and either didn't see it first time round or didn't give the right answer first time round.
Have you not noticed that the answers are always the same? If you're looking for local MN'ers try your local board. Sooner or later you're going to have to make this decision all by yourself - or are you still going to be posting this when your kids' peers are in uni already?

...but I thought you couldn't afford to move OP?

But why not live in Barnham itself? The train goes everywhere you need it too (Bognor/Chichester/London) and its far nicer than Bognor but the rents are still reasonable. You DC could also walk to BL school too.

Anyone else hoping that Bognor falls into the sea just so this horror can end? This made me laugh too!! Poor Bognor, once upon a time it had an M&S and everything!

Seriously, don't move to Bognor, your DC won't thank you for it in later years!

I can't find my previous threads or I would have bumped them up

At the top of the page under threads, click on threads I started, they'll all be there.

Is there not also a good catholic primary in Arundel? So move to Barnham, primary at Arundel (not too far to drive) and then secondary at Barnham.

This house is in a nice area. its not massive but it has 3 beds...

Plenty of children in Horsham go to the secondary in Crawley, I don't see why you've dismissed it? St Wildred's is a good school and it is easily commutable.

I get the point about living in barnham completely but rentals very rarely come up there and whilst the secondary is there, the linked primary schools are in Bognor or arundel ( arundel is too isolated and again no rentals there )
I'm just trying to think of the best long term plan for the kids that's all.
For what it's worth I've checked the full key stage results and last year 48% got level 4 or above in grammar, 80% reading, 63% maths and 74% writing.
39% of pupils started school with English as their second language.

Sorry Confused, just realised you are the OP. The rest of my post still stands though. It's as though you're saying 'the advice wasn't good enough last time, I'll ask again in case someone better comes along'.

What about Barnham primary? I take it you don't drive?

In fairness rentals do quite often come up in Barham...I look at RM quite a bit as we are planning a move soon and the area that we are considering is pretty huge.

How much rent are you wanting to pay? I thought the house I linked was quite reasonable for the money.

You also have to realise that you are never ever going to get the perfect combo unless you have an unlimited budget...so at some point you will have to compromise. I have freinds with DCs who are at good university, they did a local (non catholic) primary and then BL.

Have you only recently moved to Horsham OP?

Yes only recently.
I do drive but we would like a catholic primary followed by a catholic secondary.

Live in Walberton then, half way (ish) between Barnham and Arundel?

Seems like it comes down to the usual thing, nicer location but smaller house v not so nice location but larger house.

£900 for a 3 bed semi in a nice area is pretty cheap (for the SE)...you'll not do much better in Bognor surely? Or do you not like the Arundel Catholic school?

Bognor is a complete dump, take yourself there for the day, look around it and discount it, unless you want to live in the arsehole of the South East.

aw
just move to Bournemouth
everybody else does
the catholic schools outperform those youve listed
and then you can also have the fun of ooooh religion or grammar !
and I dont think its worse to get to leatherhead from than bognor
although i dont know the area that well

I think you should give Horsham a bit longer than 3 months before you move again.

We are paying £950 for a 2 bed terrace in Horsham, I've never seen a 3 bed here for less than £1050 here.
There aren't any spaces for the other catholic feeder schools in arundel ir Chichester so it's either the bognor school which if the kids are at school there seems daft not to live there or Horsham but this is only a let until March as the landlord is then selling so we will he moving either way then.

Have you looked at St Richard's catholic primary in Chichester? It's listed as one of the deanery primary schools on the St PH website. Why are you looking at Bognor if your mother and brother are in Chichester? There are many areas around Chichester which are more pleasant than Bognor.

I wouldn't even visit the place again never mind live there. Non-catholic schools are fine.

Or, shock, you could, you know, not send your child to a catholic secondary school.

You sound mentally ill by the way you have fixated on this and posted so many times. Really strange.

What if your child doesn't want to go to a Catholic secondary school when the time comes?

sorry feel like I'm asking a really stupid question but i'm genuinely wondering

Isn't the senior school the most important anyway?

I am assuming that the closer you live to the Barnham school (BL) then the more chance you have of getting in?

Over the past year/6 months I've seen a few houses walking distance to BL that are 3bed and under £1000 p/m rental. Where I currently live Catholic primary places are like gold hens teeth! Most people go to a local primary and then sit on the waiting list if they are not lucky enough to get in.

I know I'm going on about Barnham, but living there would you not be well placed to sit on x3 waiting lists, Bognor, Chichester and Arundel?

What about Worthing? That's got a Catholic Secondary ( Chatsmore) and primary ( English martyrs). I was there a few weeks ago and was surprised how much better it's looking ( especially if they finally do something with Teville Gate- won't hold my breath though).

Oh OP. You need to watch this...it's a speech by Dr Ruth Chang and it's all about making choices and why sometimes, we just can't make one...and how to get through that...it makes SUCH sense and helped me make a very difficult decision recently. Please watch it....twice or more if needed.

www.ted.com/talks/ruth_chang_how_to_make_hard_choices?language=en

Since I got thoroughly told off for reminding the poster that this was the umpteenth time she'd asked exactly the same question last time, I'll say no more than "don't move to Bognor". It's not nice and worse, it's isolated and not nice. Better to consider Chichester if you want a nearby Catholic secondary or, as another poster has suggested, Barnham.