Where about to move to (in surrey or kent)

[sea74]

at the moment we live less than 5 ninutes from east croydon. We moved here before we had kids, just to start putting our feet in the property ladder. Now my eldest son will start school in sept 12 and we are really reconsidering where to move to, considering good primary and secondary.
We would like to stay close to london, i dont care about house...i always say that for good schools i would live also in a flat. I just want a very decent area, connected to london (we both work there and we like to be close enough to pop on a train in the weeked and go to oxford street or to the museums). We have seen beckenham but i dont know how schools are. Some people say bromley? Orpington?
In surrey kingston (maybe we could afford a garage!!! Ahahah), farnham, waltom on thames but that it is not an easy trip to london....
Do u have any recommendation for a place where basically grow up two kids, without need to move every 4 years?

Do you have daughters as well as sons? If so why would you move from Croydon when you have Coloma on your doorstep? Lots of Catholic boys go to John Fisher in Purley and some even travel to the Oratory. If you want JF or Coloma you will have to send the kids to Catholic primaries - there are several good Catholic primaries in Croydon.

We moved to Orpington several years ago as it was somewhere we could afford a family house and be within an easy walk of the station. Its not the most exciting place, but good commute into London (15-25 minutes to London Bridge) and we are very happy with kids state primary school. High st has big tesco, alot of charity shops, and a few reasonable restaurants. Bluewater and Bromley each only about 20 minutes away. Secondary schools more mixed, still possibility of the 11+ if it appeals to you. For comps, people try to get Darrick Wood but catchment keeps shrinking. Although I do not intend to be here forever, while we carry on needing to get to London every day it suits us well!

I put a number of my children through John Fisher (Croydon, Surrey); it's much easier to gain admission to the school these days since it it has done away with the its selection policy.

From speaking with young mums at my parish, it is absolutely vital you have the boy baptised within 3 months of birth and attend mass (a minimum of once a week).

Also, you can accumulate points by participating in church activities.

A list of what John Fisher is no longer allowed to do (since 1999):

-Interview candidates & their parents
-Admit any boys for music places, sports places or indeed academic places
-Apply for school reports from any boys prep or primary school
-Take personal statements written by the boy into account (detailing his interests and motivations for wanting to join the school).

John Fisher now operates a points system, so the boys with most points get in. This system allows John Fisher to continue to take boys as far away as Kent, Sussex etc, as a boy with '60 points' would have priority over a boy from Purley with '59 points'.

John Fisher boys for 2012 achieved:

60%+ A*-B grades at A Level
92%+ 5 A*-C grades at GCSE (79% inc Maths & English)

It's been more than 10 years since you have sought advise about which area to move for good schools. Since I'm in a similar
position with similar question I wonder if you can share with me where you ended up moving, which schools have you been ended up joining and if you are happy with the choice or there is anything different you'd like to suggest.

I am living in Crystal Palace and have got one daughter who is only 3 months old at the moment. We are considering move before she starts the primary. Ideally either Kent or Surrey in a small village easy commutable to London where we work. The criteria Number One to choose is the best scjool.