Relocating to Chester

[JLM21]

Hi Mums
I’m a new member but found this site so useful in the past. You mums are an awesome resource!
We are planning to return to England next year, from living abroad with our 2 young children, and think Chester will tick most of our boxes.
We’re looking for a good primary school to ideally feed into equally good secondary, would consider grammar but probably not private at this stage. Hoping to get a village/ community feel with easy access to the city. Safe and family friendly area absolute priority. Any information or advice on which areas to look at gladly received! Thanks so much 😊

Thanks all. We are probably looking ideally for close ish to Chester city centre, really want to feel well connected. An area with a welcoming church community would be really lovely. The surrounding natural beauty is a big pull to the area but wouldn’t want to be too remote/ isolated as we’ll be trying to make new friends for us and the kids

Lots of the villages aren't remote at all and have a good community. Frodsham has a good transport network to Chester, Liverpool and Manchester (and the airports). Good schools, good church community.
There are pockets of the city centre that are not as great as others. I would choose one of the outlying villages over the centre as it's so close to lots of the villages mentioned (some of these are big villages/small towns)

The Holy ascension Church in upton is lovely, they work with upton heath as its a CofE school. All 3 of my children loved the school

Handbridge is close to the city centre. Really good primary school called Overleigh St Mary's. 2 high schools - Catholic High and Queens Park High. I went to Queens Park in the 2000s and it wasn't the best back then but the new head seems to have improved it.

It's a 15 minute walk into the town and it does have a church which was always very family friendly when I was growing up in the area.

Blacon has a bad rep but my DH lived here when he was little and many of our friends live in the area. Some of the kindest people I know but it's speed bump city! Lots of funding, council houses and children's centres etc... Can see why people slag it off but I don't think it's that bad.

Hoole/Upton are lovely areas especially Hoole with the local shops. I enjoyed living in the area for a few years.

DH went to Bishops as it was a religious high school and said it was ok, think he got a better education then me but were talking 15 years ago!

Chester is a lovely city and I'm glad to be from the area. Unfortunately when it came to buying my first home, I couldn't afford it so moved to the Wirral where I could get more for my money. Again people slag off places like Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead, Bromborough but they are actually lovely places.

Not far from North Wales and Flintshire has some lovely areas also.

Farndon all the way ( was my childhood village)... right by the river dee. Feeder school to my old high school bishop Heber .
Malpas , Tilston etc local villages feeding to same school. Shocklach has a tiny primary school which is also amazing.

Right on the welsh border ...

If you don't mind me asking, what's your budget OP?

I know a few of the local ministers, they are all lovely and always stop for a chat (I'm not religious but I always bump into them when I'm out and about).

Farndon for village life & Handbridge for being close to town. Have lived in them both & loved them both for different reasons.

@JLM21, Chester on the whole is lovely with good schools. Just a bit left field but if you really do want to think about grammars then where I live in Trafford, Greater Manchester, has 2 of the highest performing grammars in the country (plus others). It’s close to the city but also has a very village feel.

Handbridge also has a very hot butcher.

@OneofPansPeople

Handbridge also has a very hot butcher.

. They do Lorne sausage, which is lovely, and my dc love their chicken skewers!

And the market is excellent, has undergone a real revival. I go there for my eggs and cheese, fish and pies. There are loads of independent cafes there too.

Sounds like so many options!! Great to have choices. Love the sound of the market (and hot butcher 😅)
Budget about £300-450k, depending on the usual variables... not sure what will happen with the housing market with the whole Covid thing

That's a decent budget for Chester! If you want central, but village/community feel, here are some ideas (without knowing how many bedrooms you need).

Hoole:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72893592.html

Westminster Park:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73333584.html

Handbridge:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83201296.html

And further afield:
Christleton:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67852023.html

Farndon:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83466712.html

Great Barrow:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81496879.html

That Farndon one is on the corner of my old street! It was Dave Maddocks the local PCs home. Goodness me I am a little girl again!

Bless you ladies. Thank you 🙏🏼
We’re so excited about coming home now. I know it won’t be all roses and light but if you guys are anything like a fair rep of the people of Chester I reckon ‘it’s all good’ as they say here in Aus!

Hi again, looking likely we’ll be based in the Upton area! We’ve emailed some of the local primaries to see if they have places - Upton Heath, Newton, Acresfield, Hoole, Upton Westlea and Mill View - does anyone have children at these schools or know anything about them? We’re looking for the best place to nurture our 5 & 7 year old after a big upheaval and for the 7 year old especially to help him catch up with his equivalent year in the British system.
Thanks so much 🙏🏼

My youngest is at upton heath. They have a fantastic new headteacher who in the short period of time he's been there has done an amazing job, they've also got a lovely new build and are still working on the outside areas. My other 2 also went there and are doing amazingly well at upton high

Thanks that’s good to know. Is it a pretty big school? Do you feel the children are well known individually or would there be space to ‘hide’ if you know what I mean?? I see they do Forest school which is great!

Saighton is also nice with a cute primary,. I would imagine you would be in catchment for Christleton hign,. Christleton is a great choice, nice village, close to Chester, great schools.

Yes we’ve heard that about Christleton and we had heard of Saighton too. Have you had children at Saighton Primary or know someone who has?

I've sent you a pm

You wont get a school place until you have an address and a confirmed moving date. Schools cant hold empty places and so even if they have a place now they may not next week. Waiting lists are based on how meets the admission criteria the closest, so you could be number 1 on the list and then go to number 5 as people hop ahead of you.

I went to Saighton, but that is so long ago now 😂