Good school & village locations from NW, W, and SW of the M25?

[99redballoons]

We have two children at primary school, one in Reception and one in Y3. We want to move away from our current London location to a more rural setting. Due to Dh's work we have to stay on the West side of London and are looking from as far NW as Chorleywood and as far SW as Surrey Heath. Finding an area with housing we can afford plus a good school is quite a problem. It's unfortunate we are limited as to where we can move because of Dh's commute.

We love Chorelywood and would potentially be in the catchment area for St. Clement Danes, which is a partially selective high performing state school. The downfall is that housing is very expensive (of course!) and we are looking at 650K for a small detached or reasonable semi.

The other area we like is Horsell, west of Woking, which has much more affordable housing (comparitively 650K would get you a spacious 4 bed detached property), however, Woking High is more of an average school matching the Surrey LEA avg exam results, which are only slightly above the national average.

We are torn between going for the 'great' school vs the 'OK' school. We could stretch our budget considerably to buy in Chorleywood, but I'm nervous about over-stretching ourselves, especially as my income is practically nothing atm. My arguement to DH is that we could afford a nice house for much less in Horsell and would still have money to maintain our current lifestyle (which is nowhere near extravagent, eg we have SKY tv, eat out every couple of weeks and the kids attend a number of after school clubs). However, if we have a huge mortgage I would want to cut back on those little luxuries. I feel we could always get extra tuition if we felt the 'OK' school wasn't good enough.

What are your thoughts on this? Is it better to be happy and comfortable (financially) with the kids at an 'OK' school, or stretch ourselves for the better education? I think my head is going to explode trying to make this decision!!!!

PS. Other areas we've looked at include Denham (no state schools nearby), Sunningdale (too expensive, may as well choose Chorleywood) and Lightwater (no secondary school nearby). We're avoiding the Heathrow flight path areas.

Wokingham is about 30mins from M4-M25 junction by motorway, and about 50mins avoiding motorway.

Thanks CCLady.

PrettyCandles, I didn't realise it was that good. Will mention to DH.

What about Englefield Green? Is that in Charters catchment? The primary school is fab (St Judes). It's quite a lot closer to Heathrow than Guildford.

Is Weybridge too expensive (school is Heathside)?

Hi LittleCheesyPineappleOne, sorry, we've been away and only just catching up! Englefield Green doesn't appear to be in the Charter's catchment :-( Also, I've been 'watching' the houses coming up for sale in Weybridge and they are out of our budget. May as well stick with Chorleywood, which we can just about stretch too. Thanks for posting though. :-)

Amersham, Chesham, Great Missenden - are they all too far from the M25 for you (which is what I've gleaned from your posts - you are looking for something not too far from M25??? Am I right there?) There are brilliant schools (state and private) around the chiltern area. Chorleywood is very expensive (I speak from family and personal experience)

Hi

Chorleywood is a great area, but watch the catchment for the schools. There is currently a huge shortage of places at secondary level, and there are currently plans to build a new secondary in the area, but this won't be ready for a few more years.

As it is part selective, the catchment for Clement Danes, and also Rickmanwsorth, varies from year to year. Some years it is very very tight indeed.

Hi...we are just about to put our 4 bedroom detached house for sale. It has always been in the catchment for Gordon's school and will available from May 2012, please contact us [email protected] for more information..House is 494 metres (.3 miles) from Gordon's school according to Surrey County Council website and Gordon's is listed as the closest secondary school :-) No Chain

Hi RoRosMum,

I would be interested if your house is coming up for sale within the Gordon's catchment. I just tried to email you on [email protected] but that email does not seem to be valid?

Thank you

Charters catchment is quite big and goes out to ascot, bits of which are surprisingly affordable. £650k will buy you a large 4/5 bed detached house and all the primary schools are good. School buses are free from north ascot to charters too. Great school, lovely area and no planes (get some helicopters on race days).

I live in Horsell. The Primary school is fabulous, the middle school hasn't fared so well but has to be improved so can only get better. My eldest daughter attends The High School. There is a mix of social backgrounds yes but surely that's the best preparation for life?! Ab has met some lovely friends and is acheiving high marks. You get out of a school what you put in I suggest. St John The Baptist school is within easy reach of Horsell but via car and their results are outstanding. Horsell is lovely and I would recommend living here. Great walks, pubs and you can walk to the station and get to London in 25 mins. May I suggest however that Windlesham may be good? Catchment for Collingwood (same standard as Woking High), Charters (fab school). The primary schools are great as is the one in Valley End. Middle schools are again struggling a little but Hammond in Lightwater is within driving distance and that one is outstanding. Windlesham is beautiful and more rural than Horsell. Easy access to M3......perfect!

Also, there are private schools too of course but it's not true at all that most children around here attend them. Some do and the families are in all honesty normally quite snobby about it. They are more of a status symbol for parents than a brilliant school for most!

Check online for the proposed HS2 route though re your Chilterns search.

It might not go ahead obviously, but if some houses seem surprisingly good value (for the area) that might be why.