Where to move to from Islington for schools

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I have name changed for this as I may be recognised in real life from this post.

DH and I currently live in Islington. DS is 18mo so we have a little time before we need to be too concerned about schools. While I would be happy for DS to be educated through the state system, I'm not happy with the nearest state schools we would be allocated (high EAL, FSM, etc). I'm also not very happy with the private schools locally - Miss Gower seems to have a bad rep and The Children's House only goes up to age 7. I don't want to have to make the run up to Hampstead (or into the City for a school without outside space).

We want to move in the medium term so we figure we might as well take the plunge before school admissions start. I'm looking for inspiration as to where.

DH works in the City (Old Street) and I currently work in Westminster(although my offices are likely to relocated in the next 3-4 years probably to the City / Holborn). We both cycle around London, so would prefer to take a folding bike on a train and cycle at each end.

We are very fortunate to have a comfortable budget of about £1.5m.

We would primarily be moving for schools, and also to gain a bit more space and a bigger garden.

We would ideally like to live in an area with good state schools, but I am concerned about paying a premium for a good catchment area. I know there is no guarantee of a place when factors like siblings are taken into account and admissions criteria can change. We may well go down the independent school route, so would ideally like to live fairly close to some good ones.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Farewell - I think I can guess which school your DC are at. I'd be happy if we were allocated the school I am thinking of; the results are pretty good. My friend is looking at it for her DC.

The commute is definitely something to consider very carefully. We'll probably look at different areas in London as well; Blackheath was mentioned as a good option. I know the commute can often be just as long living within London however. It currently takes me 45 minutes to get to work.

I am at the risk of stating the obvious but do consider the quality of the journey. 40 minutes commuting in on the intercity trains is usually a much pleasanter experience than the same amount of time strap hanging on the Central line of the underground.

Good point Volcan. We both really dislike the tube and tend to bus / cycle as much as possible at the moment.

The only way you can find it quicker to drive than cycle is if you live absolutely miles from the station. By the time you add in parking, morning traffic (in my ordinary town, there are multiple 10 minute queues in every direction every morning on routes to the station).

At my children's prep school lots live half-a-mile from school and nannies walk them home. By the time you get to senior school many private schools lay on a dozen or more buses covering a large area, so you no longer have that issue.

If you look at the best private schools they are mostly not 'in' London, but around it, catering to all those Oxbridge-educated parents, who while certainly found in significant numbers in Islington, are more numerous across Hertfordshire, Surrey, etc.

Certainly the two St Pauls Schools, and Westminster, are right at the top of the list, but there are others which do better than any state schools (the best state school I believe QEB, got under 20% last year) in commuting distance of London

Tonbridge (25%; this is about 60% boarding)
Habs Boys (24%)
RGS Guildford (24%)

I would agree on the commuting front. Perhaps spend a week in a hotel in your chosen area and try the commute morning and evening to see how unpleasant it is?

You could move out to somewhere like Borehamwood, nice fast train, still basically London.

I would say look at Guildford. A straightforward commute to the City and Westminster, great schools (both State and Private), and on your budget you could get somewhere reasonable.

BTW I wouldn't say someone who can afford £1.5M should be going private, lots of people on that budget around here can only afford State (but then the State options are pretty good).

I've just moved from West London to Chelmsford for very similar reasons to you. My eldest is at the feeder nursery to the prep school that his brother will be joining in 2013. He loves it.

We live in a much bigger house, have a much nicer commute and love being so close to the countryside.

I work in Liverpool Street and my husband at London Bridge. Do I miss the tube? Do I heck.

second: As far as I can see, only ONE person said anything about not going to private school and, even then, I suspect she was simply responding to the other comment that if you have £1.5m to spend then you should go private.

It's hard isn't it, when they're so little and you don't know who they are yet. But it really doesn't have to be all or nothing, with this commute/schools/work agony.

Looking at where you're both working and with your willingness to cycle to/from train, rather than taking a wide 'what areas are nice?' approach (and Windsor is nice, but seriously - the commute!), doesn't it make sense just to look at areas around stations on the Thameslink line?

You would get off at City Thameslink and bike to Holborn, and your DH would get off at Farringdon or Kings x and bike to Old St. If you do that, you'll keep your jobs and still see your kids. No agony needed. So just look up the line (am south of the river myself, but sounds like north might be easier for you) and suss out properties and schools via Rightmove. Sure you can work up a shortlist in no time and then start visiting the areas and viewing schools and properties.

You've started nice and early, you sound determined, and I've no doubt you'll find the right place for you, probably somewhere not too far from town, but nice and open, with good family facilities and most likely a good state primary. It sounds like that is really what you're looking for, like most concerned parents are, the private primary thing being more of a panicked response to your local options. Believe me, I've been through all that and when we finally found a nice state primary it was a no-brainer to save the money - maybe for secondary...

Look at Victoria Park village.

10 mins to old st. Good state schools.

Yes APMF agree, I might have been the person referred to but I was objecting to the idea that you've a moral obligation to send your children to private schools if you've an expensive house. I do hear this in real life all the time, sort of sighing 'it's a question of priorities'. We could afford private, but we've actively chosen a state school because we think it's by far the best option for our children, rather than out of negligence and a desire for expensive holidays.
Anyway, thought those comments were derailing the OP's original question where she'd expressed a preference for going state.
I think Pinkdelight talks a lot of sense. It's so hard to try to reconcile all these disparate factors into one perfect package. There is no one perfect place to live, but none of it really matters because your children and you will be fine whatever you decide once the decision has been made. It's the process of making the decision that is stressful rather than actually sending your child to local state with high FSM, or commuting or going private or whatever.
FWIW OP I've found the whole experience of sending dcs to local state school to be so enriching for our whole family that if I were having my time again, I'd be looking for a great comprehensive with a proper mix of people and not worry at all about primaries.

How about Stoke Newington? A lovely area for kids and families generally. Plus it would give you both an easy commute. It has some good state primaries (Grasmere, Grazebrook, Benthal and Jubilee are all rated Outstanding).

You'd also be in a good position secondary wise- Stoke Newington School sixth form gets 10% of it's cohort Oxbridge interviews. Pick your location carefully and you'd be in the running for a place at Mossbourne Academy (by Hackney Downs)- described by Sir Michael Wilshaw as the best state secondary in the country.

They're making admissions to Mossbourne by lottery from 2014.

Applications to Lauriston in Victoria Park are cut throat! If you want stress free school applications I wouldn't recommend Hackney. Much as I love it here.

Thanks all for your really helpful comments.

Pinkdelight - your post makes a lot of sense and I think really distilled it down for us. Looking at locations on the ThamesLink will make a great starting point. I'm sure we will find something there that suits us and it would certainly be easier for DH.

I don't think that Hackney and Stoke Newington are really for us. Much as I do like the areas, they aren't too different in terms of housing to where we are now.

Harpenden & St Albans and around have been mentioned but do seem to tick quite a few of your boxes - excellent state schools, access to v reputable private schools (both highly selective and also not so academically high flying).

The commute is great when it works but rubbish when it doesn't. The advantage of living somewhere like Blackheath is that if it all goes wrong train wise, or if you're stuck at work late, it's not going to take 1.5hrs and cost £100 in a taxi to get home.

That said, Herts has suited us. It's a lovely family centric place to bring up our DD but close enough to London to enable us to do our jobs and still see (some!) of our friends.

You would get a fabulous house for your budget!

Have you considered Dulwich or Herne Hill? The Village has lovely houses, outstanding primaries and obviously some of the best private schools in London

This is an old thread but given that your son was only 18m you may still be looking! Have you considered (independent) Haberdashers' Aske's in Elstree? Boys and girls school next to each other, extensive coach system (shared boys and girls) from year 3 that covers all of N London as well as Radlett, St Albans, Harpenden etc, so where you live isn't so much of a hassle (apart from the first 2-3y but everyone does a rota of some sort). Boys start from year 1 so you'd need a reception place somewhere. Facilities amazing.

I endorse Green's point. Loads of really good private schools if you live in Herts or the outer reaches the tube out that way and the fast over ground trains from Radlett. Fast Met line to places to Moor Park, Amersham. Also lots of choice if the child would not get into a school like Habs. Or go into Bucks for the state grammars although that's a bit riskier. Our child took a school coach from age 5. Or just move over to Hampstead area for UCS etc. Do not rule out Colet Court/ Westminster if he is bright.

around here and I suspect in many commuting areas of the SE there is a big, big price premium around popular (non selective) state schools, but of course if house prices remain high you get your money back in the end, which you don't with fees! But the education is different. Suggest looking round schools and thinking about what you want in terms of education.

Agree with pps that an important factor is the length/difficulty of two commutes, long term. Most people around here with DC in the popular state or private schoola have one person ( generally the man!) commuting and working long hours (sometimes with travel) and the other SAH (official stats say this area is over 50% SAHMs) or in a very flexible and low paid job.

We both commute with no tube (we both walk from mainline stations), 90 mins door to door and it's pretty hard. Mainly because I want to keep my job for financial security and equality reasons. But I don't recommend it! Eats into time for anything else, means they are in childcare a lot and has been bad for our relationship IMO!

Mind you there is (slightly) less pressure on schools etc here, and childcare is much better.

Oomph, we looked at dulwich and surrounding but the dulwich privates schools are super selective. I doubt either of our DC would have got in!

Well you work backwards. Get them into the private school as early as you can. One of ours got into Habs a year young at 4. Not sure they would get in at 11+. Also if you move too far out there is more chance of just one local private school which is any good. Move instead to places like NW London and you probably have about 10 good private schools and state religious, state comps and state grammars to choose from.

You might want to look at northwest London. I am thinking of Northwood ( Met line - very fast), Pinner, Rickmansworth or Hatch End. You get a decent size property for your money with large outside space. There are private schools nearby or good coach links to Habs, Merchant Taylors, NLCS, St Helen's etc.