Moving to Slough/High Wycombe

[Greyilocks]

Help please! Just found out we are reloacating to the Slough area, we need a secondary and primary school for our children aged 8 and 10 by Christmas! We don't know the area at all - any advise gratefully recieved!

Is it Slough specifically or can it be the area around it? There's a fair amount of ground between Slough and a High Wycombe.

Anywhere in the area really, Hubby is working in Slough but we are happy to move to anywhere that is good. Thought of HW for access to the moterway as family are north. Open to suggeations though!

Watching as we are contemplating moving to hw. Have friends there but BBQ education link rates schools there very well.

OMG just realised how awful my spelling is this late at night, time for bed me thinks!!

Depending on your budget, there's lots of options. Maidenhead & Windsor are the biggish towns nearby. There's loads of villages with easy access to Slough and the motorway. Taplow, Fifield, Stoke Poges, Cookham and Marlow off the top of my head. Not sure how to help you more at the moment, but feel free to ask.

First decision you have to make is whether you want to live in a grammar school area.

Both slough and High Wycombe have grammars - and the resulting problems if your child doesn't get in (and the 10 year old has probably now missed sitting the 11+)

HW has good grammars - Wycombe High for girls, RGS and John Hampden for boys and there's a co-ed one in Marlow (Sir William Borlase), all three have wide catchments of the towns around the Wycombe District. I don't know a huge amount about the Secondary Moderns but some of them are outstanding, and if you live in Marlow (far, far nicer than HW and only a couple of miles from the motorway) you can go out of county to Oxon or Berks for good comprehensives. I don't know a lot about primary schools.

If you can afford it I would suggest Marlow rather than HW if you want the grammar system. HW isn't the nicest of towns and, in my opinion, is going downhill. The schools are good and there is a newish shopping centre with a M&S and a cinema, but that's all it has going for it. Marlow is more relaxed, smarter and greener. It also has far fewer social problems, and is generally a more friendly place to be.

What happens if you have missed the 11+ entrance exams then - is that it for getting a place (or not)?

Is your child in Y6?

It does depend on your budget. I live in Burnham and like it, but I would move to Cookham if I had the money.

Danesfield Primary (on the road between Marlow and Henley) has a really good reputation.

If you've missed 11+ there is 12+. Or could you afford to put them both in a prep to 13 to buy some time to make decisions about state schools when you've had chance to do research?

Beaconsfield is the Bucks town convenient for Slough. High Wycombe is a bit further away.

Beaconsfield is very nice.

As others have said, this is a grammar school area. If you want more comprehensive education, you need to look towards Windsor, which has a three tier system, or Maidenhead.

As for specific areas, it depends what you can afford. Slough itself is very blue collar.

I live in Cookham and although it's in Berkshire and under the Maidenhead Local Authority, you can sit the Out of County 11+ paper (for Bucks). The catchment went wide enough this year, to encompass Maidenhead so a fair few boys managed to get into John Hampden in High Wycombe (as did my son). There are three coaches running from Maidenhead up to John Hampden and Wycombe High (all organised by the parents).

Parts of Cookham are also in catchment for Sir William Borlase in Marlow (we are). If you decide not to sit the 11+, then there are some very good schools in Maidenhead.

Avoid Slough,horrible town centre and run down although alot of big companies are there, are you planning to rent or buy, some the areas mentioned are some of the most expensive areas out side of London, Cookham and Marlow are particularly nice but £1 million is not unusual for a house. Didnt a survey come out a little while ago saying that over 40% of the houses in Beaconsfield were worth over £1 million.

I am wondering if you are able to fund private schools, I live in the area and we have some brilliant privates. Parents are very fussy around here including the 4 wheel drive mums who dont work who spend most of their time organising lunches or hanging out in Costa coffee (sorry but they do!)

There are reasonably nice parts of Slough - Burnham, Langley

It depends on what the OP wants and can afford. You probably have every kind of housing situation imaginable within a 5 mile radius of Slough town centre.

There are loads of places a lot less than 1 million pounds in the areas Rocky12 mentions. Try the agent Andrew Milsom website to get an idea of property in the area.

My house is a lot less than £1m, within walking distance of Wycombe (steep but walkable), 4 mins from the M40, 10mins walk to John Hampden Grammar and Wycombe High, ideal for 8 and 10 year old children.....and on the market to boot. Do you want it?!

Thanks everybody, we are coming down this week to look around the schools, unfortunately we cannot afford either a million pound house or a private school so are viewing 4 schools in High Wycombe. My daughter is in year 6, we have missed the closing date for schools and the 11+ but still have time to apply for the schools and the council are arranging for her to take the 11+ in the next few weeks, I like the idea of the grammar school but can't decide about it being all girls? We are looking at houses too so Fraidylady let me have your details!! I hear what you all say about the villages nearby but they all seem to be much more expensive.

I have a DD in year 9 at a Bucks grammar school. The pass mark for the 11+ is about 90% and it's difficult to achieve that within the time limit without tutoring or extra practise papers at home. Have a look at the Bucks section on the 11+ forum website www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum, for some information about what is involved.
My DD is at an all girls school, and I think girls do well academically with no boys to distract them. They do have links with the boys grammar school next door. There are some co ed grammar schools in Bucks if you prefer that- I think Sir William Borlaise would be closest to Wycombe.

Hi all, this is the first time I have ever posted on a forum! I really need some advise, we are looking to move out of london to buckinghamshire,my husband is freelance but mainly works in uxbridge or at theBBC he mainly drives to work, we have 3 children 4,6 and 8 my middle child a boy has aspergers, but will be schooled in a mainstream school, any advise on a nice area to live with good schools? I would ideally not like to be too rural!

South Bucks schools would be closer for your husband's work, but house prices tend to be a bit higher than further north. High Wycombe or Amersham/ Chesham would be accessible for the M40.
You could look at Aylesbury, Wendover or Great Missenden. My friend has a child with special needs who was very well supported at Wendover junior school. The John Colet secondary school has quite a good reputation. The area will be effected by HS2 at some point.
As far as secondary schools go everyone takes the 11+ unless parents withdraw their child. Of the upper schools ( non selective, there are no true comprehensives in Bucks due to selection) Waddesdon C of E school has an excellent reputation. Some parents send children to comprehensives in neighbouring counties if they don't get into grammar schools.

Dulwich - I've sent you a message.