To ask for advice on relocating to Chester?

[devadreams]

We are considering relocating to Chester. I have historic family connections to the city but limited recent/current experience and would appreciate any tips on any areas in and around Chester you'd particularly recommend (or avoid!), as well as any insights re schools.

When I was a child I knew Chester was generally very good for schools, is this still the case? DCs are all at primary currently but secondary is imminent for DS1 so we need to consider both.

We'd be open to living fairly centrally as we love the city itself but also interested in the surrounding villages. DH would need access to the train station but not every day so fine to be a drive/taxi ride away.

Is £950k I'd be more inclined to move to Heswall than Chester.

With*

Personally, I would recommend one of the 'Chester Villages' - the ring of villages just east of the A41 ring road -- from North to South (ish) they are Mickle Trafford, Guilden Sutton, Littleton, Christleton, Rowton and Waverton.

They're generally very pleasant but only a couple of miles from the City Centre, but they are very close to the M53/A55 road, meaning that if you are looking to get to Liverpool, Manchester or North Wales you don't have to fight your way through town first.

You should be able to find something quite desirable within your budget. For example, The Park in Christleton is highly rated (though not large so houses don't come up that often) and backs on to the High School playing fields. There is one on sale at the moment: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67404588.html - 5 bedrooms oiro £750k. The decor's a bit old but that's easily fixed.

devadreams, we moved from Surrey in 2008. I don't miss the South East, even though we were happy there.

Just been to the Storyhouse cinema this afternoon to watch Little Women with my daughter. We had lunch in the Cathedral Cafe. It was great to walk in and home again!

If you're looking at the Catholic High School BTW, Overleigh St. Mary's Primary is just next door, which would make your logistics easier. I think it was recently rated "Good" by OFSTED, but has had a few changes of head teacher in the past 8 years so couldn't say what it's like today. Belgrave Primary, which is probably a 10 minute walk from the Catholic High (but across the busy Wrexham Rd) has always had excellent reviews from friends.

Not actually looked in any detail at schools yet, I was just intrigued by the name of the catholic high school and as we are not catholic was interested to know whether we should discount that from the outset!

Does attending a feeder primary tend to come ahead of living within catchment? Just trying to understand how important attending a feeder primary might be.

You'll need to look at the admissions criteria as it varies by school. I know the priority for the high school my DS attends when we applied was siblings - feeder schools - distance from school in catchment- distance from school outside catchment . But I don't think it's the same for all.

But it's not like some parts of the South East for pressure on places, there are some high schools that you can get into from quite far away. The most oversubscribed ones where you have to live pretty near to to get in are christleton and Blacon.

The SENCO at DS's primary tells parents that Bishops Bluecoat High school is good for SEN support - some of DSs primary friends needed extra support and went there on her advice.

Another poster mentioned Acresfield primary but I think there is zero chance you will get all your kids in there, there's only 30 kids in each year group with very little movement and it's always massively oversubscribed- My DS has been in the waitlist for a place there for 2 years and we live quite close by!