To move to Folkestone - tell me all!

[Putthedamnlidonit]

Hi everyone,

We are considering a move to Folkestone from Portslade as the schools are better and we would like to get a bit more for our money. We have a budget of 700k max, have three children toddler -age 7. We are quite alternative and like the liberal feel of Brighton but can't afford a decent house and garden there. Have read through some awful threads about Folkestone but no recent ones. So, is it nice? Schools look excellent, are there plenty of things to do with kids, similar to Brighton and Portslade? We like where we live but are fed up of having a tiny garden. No need to commute to London anymore. Any advice much appreciated! Thanks!

Folkestone has improved massively in the last few years.

I will add though, OP, that that house is a nice size and has a lot of potential . Lovely big garden as well .

Ive lived in kent all my life

I love folkstone but it can be quite rough, with 700k though youd get a lovely house. I actually also love margate.

I think all kent towns tbh have rough parts, even god forbid whitstable.

DP grew up in whitstable and honestly in summer its an absolute pita getting to his house because of the traffic. Plus its quite boring to live in, everywhere gets busy and it can be quite frustrating with all the visitors, people from london take up a lot of space. I think folkstone actually has more going on.

Id rather live in herne bay. Im from faversham, it does have an arty side and its got much more of a community spirit than whitstable/herne bay which may or may not suit you.

Deal is nice. Sandwich/walmer also nice.

700k will get you loads anywhere in kent.

I do think youve got to bear in mind the grammar system, some of the non grammar schools can be not great. It really depends whether your child will pass the kent test or not.

If your child doesn’t pass the Kent Test, Herne Bay’s probably your best bet. Herne Bay High is generally well regarded, and if you can play the religious card, you have access to church schools in Canterbury and Thanet. If your child does pass, it can be a little hit and miss which grammar school they get into - but they will get a grammar place somewhere.

@cakeisalwaystheanswer tonbridge grammar is super selective, you cant compare a super selective grammar taking the top 5% with a kent grammar taking the top 25%

The peer group in folkstone would be absolutely fine. I dont understand why you bought a weekend home somewhere you deem so beneath you

I didn't buy in Folkestone, Hythe is a few miles up the coast and a world away. Lots of Londoners have weekend homes there. It's great for little kids but harder when they are older and we always spend the summer in France, hence it is now rented.

And my point about FSG is that it isn't taking the top 25%, only 67 of the 180 girls passed the Kent test, 102 sat it and failled, so it is a very different peer group to the North Kent grammars. And I will repeat from my earlier post, the non-selective 6th form college where the OP currently lives has a higher average A level score than any of the Folkestone grammar schools. This obviously suggests that the average ability of the whole cohort in Brighton is higher than the average ability of the Folkestone grammar schools. And to be fair and compare an apple with an apple I should really average in the results from Folkestone Academy, but I don't need to. Hence my concern about peer group.

And being a deprived area is a fact, see Folkestone's own report,link below, page 6.

"Nevertheless, despite evidence of some changes in fortune, parts of Folkestone continue to suffer from levels of deprivation that are amongst the highest in the country.
As the baseline assessment in Section 2shows, the proposed Folkestone CLLD area has some of the most deprived communities in the country with:
12 out of 19 selected LSOAsin the CLLD area amongst the top 20% most deprived areas in the country;
65% population and 68% households being amongst the top 20% most deprived areas in the countryand 80% of the population are amongst the UK’s 30% most deprived;"

www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/media/340/Folkestone-Community-Led-Local-Development-Strategy-2016/pdf/Folkestone_Community_Led_Local_Development_Strategy_2016.pdf?m=637001740021130000

FSG is a great school, yes the girls have 2 chances to get in, they have to pass either Kent test or Shepway test. Yea a few may get in with appeals as well but the girls do well there.

I just wanted to say that with regards to Folkestone and Dover grammar schools, one of the reasons that they have their own test and don't just rely on the Kent Test is because fewer children are able to pass the Kent Test in these areas....not necessarily because the children round here are more stupid than in less deprived areas, but because a lot of the parents can't afford the tutoring that seems to be a key factor in a lot of the more 'middle class' children passing, or because of the many private primary schools that boast high Kent Test pass rates because they coach for passing.

Sorry for the rant - it's a subject close to my heart at the moment!

@cakeisalwaystheanswer I know where hythe is. Its not a world away from folkstone, you just exist in your DFL bubble there.

Why would having a cohort that is say top 40% rather than top 25% be in anyway concerning? Why would it matter if there was the full range of abilities there? There are actually a fair few people in north kent grammar who didnt pass the kent test too. As the PP said above a lot of it is due to lack of coaching.

This is why people from kent (and many other parts of the UK) hate people with weekend homes from london. They are snobby and judgemental, it makes me really angry that you deem it good enough to come let your children play in hythe, but not good enough for them to socialise with children 4 miles down the road.

Well said YellowHats. I do wonder how they market their place in Hythe to their tenants seeing as its 4 miles from the 'deprived hovel' of a town that is Folkestone with it's awful schools. Apart from Brockhill secondary in Saltwood, all the other secondary schools are in Folkestone so I imagine that would be hard to 'sell' to a family but I doubt they include their numerous links/statistics etc whilst marketing it!.
Anyway, I think they've put the OP off living here which is a shame cos the view I have on the secluded beach I'm sitting on right now is simply glorious

I would try to visit any of these towns once in the good weather and once in the bad weather. It is a world of difference and may be your cup of tea, or not.

Yes and living by the sea in the summer is a whole different ball game on the winter

I would far rather live in folkestone than in Hythe if I had a young family. There is nothing to do in Hythe unless you love waitrose and charity shops.

Folkestone has changed so much in the last 5/10 years. Yes there are still issues with deprivation in some parts of town but, with your budget, you could buy somewhere in the West End which is beautiful and doesn't have these issues. Or in Sandgate, also lovely.

So many lovely places to go walking in the area, The Warren is incredible and the hills. The whole Harbour area and Creative Quarter is great.

Please private message me, I have lots I can tell you.

I grew up near Folkestone and it was a dump ten years ago - lovely now. Great restaurants, alternative arts scene, lovely shops. I imagine the naysayers haven't been in a while. My parents live there on the seafront and I'm very jealous at this time of year 😁 and yes, if I had your budget I would not consider Brighton out of my reach - in Folkestone it will get you s mansion!

@LesleysChestnutBob oh that's not fair, there's the canal and the light railway! But Hythe is 10 mins down the road from Folkestone and a lot less exciting it's true. Seafront isn't as good either.

Broadstairs is lovely and much nicer than Margate and Ramsgate. Whitstables prices have gone up the last 10 years but on your budget affordable. Westgate is nice also Minster , Wye, Canterbury, Chartham, Ash, Preston . All much nicer than Folkestone.

Living by the sea in winter is awesome. All those bright freezing cold days to go walking on the beach. Even in the rain with the wind blowing, there's absolutely NOTHING better for clearing out the cobwebs. And the dc love it. I feel like mine are super privileged to live here. We don't have a lot in terms of money, but they get the sea, and countryside, quite a lot of really good attractions nearby and less than an hour to London by train. Don't write it off just yet op.

@cakeisalwaystheanswer I agree that some areas are deprived but they have a real sense of community , stop reading shit and go and look yourself
You are a holiday maker, you make money from selling your 'business', give over with your self righteousness
@Lesleychestnutbob
Fantsastc independent restaurants /take aways
Indian - voted best in kent
Canal
Sea
Gorgeous beach with sand pits
Wet fish shop /buy straight from fishermen if you want
Roughs
A wild life park
A couple of castles
Independent :
Hardware shop
Habidssher
Chocolate shops
Interior shops
Clothes shops
2 butchers
Cafes
Bakers
Osteopaths
Beauticians
Tanning Centre
Conner shops
3 x Dry cleaners /altering clothes too
Bike shop
Card shops
estate agents
Chair shop
Rock a Billy clothes shop
Toy shop
Tattoo parlour
Vape shop
Underwear shop
Antique shop
Tennis club
The light railway
Cricket club
Sailing club
PYO fruit
Amazing florist shops
Independent veg /flower seller man
Farmers market
A cafe on the beach and a man on a bike selling French coffee
Not to mention the two food fairs a year, plus the venitian fete and Hythe festival, so yeah, you are right Hythe has nothing 🙄

There was the beach sauna last year, wonder if it will be back.
Also if you like scuba diving there is a local club and plenty of wrecks to dive to in the channel.
Paragliders come to folkestone to go off the hills too.

Sandgate is nice and peaceful, my brother lives there.

East Sussex is horrific now, I've moved to the west country as I hated it so much, Brighton in particular horrible atmosphere and an expensive dump of the highest order.
Folkstone is fun to spend the day and lots of interesting shops but I wouldn't live there for the reasons above.
I'd go for Broadstairs, Deal or Canterbury. Much nicer and you'd get an amazing house and garden there.

I arroved in Thanet in 1967 and left in 1978. My mother was brought up between Canterbury and Faversham. My gps farmed there. Mother still lives there.

It was very insular and I suspect parts of it haven't changed. My friends who stayed or gravitated back are rather small minded and still involved in sailing club, tennis club, golf, rotary, parish council.

My youth was YC's, rotaract, young farmers, sailing club. The yokels all wore identical coats, identical Chelsea Girl frocks, had the same haircut and thought Canterbury was exciting. Many hadn't been. I hope it's changed.

I don't live in Folkestone but on the Kent coast. We have had no problem throughout lockdown getting fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish because we can get pretty much everything locally. It really has made me appreciate the benefits of living so close to 'nature's bounty'.