Primary schools in south london

[minxmum]

Hi,

I'm a regular lurker on mumsnet but very rarely utter a sound! And apologies if I'm in the wrong topic area. But big changes are taking place so was just wondering if I could get a bit of advice. I currently live up north but have been offered a job in London at the end of the year. I'm a single parent to a 20mo DD and am keen to find somewhere to live that ticks a number of "lifestyle" boxes whilst being restricted by house prices i.e. can't afford places like Clapham. My mum lives in Kent, hence south london, and I will be working in Westminster so need reasonable transport links into central london. But, more importantly, would also like nearby primary schools to be of a reasonable standard. I have lots of friends in london but none with kids so was just wondering if I could get some parents' perspectives, ideas etc. about where to start looking. Thanks!

I live in Tooting but down near the mainline station so just across the border into Merton. Most people I know agree that the primary schools in Tooting and Furzedown are generally pretty good and I think it is a good place to live with children.

Fisil, do you mind me asking what you find offputting about Graveney? My children are a way off secondary yet (oldest ds in yr 1) but we are very close to Graveney and at their primary school the attitude among parents seems to be "Get them into Graveney or they are doomed". And, of course, Graveney is very hard to get into so even though we are about 600 metres away that is not much use. In fact I know people who are selling their house to sit on the doorstep of Graveney in the hope of getting their kids in.

Other than Graveney, more able children round here seem to travel down to Sutton and Wallington when it comes to secondary school.

we live in anerley which is on borders of beckenham[expensive] and penge[cheap] anerely still has good prices for houses /flats and there are a lot of local primaries and you`ve got bromley shopping centre not far plus croydon shopping mall is not too far the other way.theres a flat on our rd in anerely going for 159 000 its been reduced.two bed first floor..are you looking for ground floor because of your little one..have a look at george proctor estate agents and that will give you a rough idea of what you can get, by the way we have a train station at the end of our rd so that flat for eg is two mins walk..

I live in a road beginning with F but it is the less posh side of Furzedown i.e the other side of Mitcham Lane. The thing I have heard about Gravney is that if your child is not in the TOP set (Extension) then they would probably be better off in another school. It's a bit like having a Secondary Modern and Grammar all rolled into one. I know a couple of kids in the extension set and when they mix with kids from the lower set for subjects like Food Tec there is a marked difference. I met two mothers recently who got a place at Graveney but refused it even though both children would have been in the Extension set.

I have nothing against Graveney (or Saint Cecilia's, or ADT). They are good schools and get very good results. But if your child doesn't go to one of those then it is not the end of the world. There are lots of other very good schools in Wandsworth that I would be equally happy to get my children into.

Honor Oak is quite good. 10 mins to London Bridge. Stillness Primary apparently good.

I looked at Graveney this year (my DS1's in Year 6). DS1 and I weren't that impressed. In the speeches session, one of the deputy heads made an unfortunate comment to the effect that boys had done better than girls a few years ago but that the natural order had now been restored. (Yes, under different circumstances I too might snigger, but it's not what you want to hear when looking for a school for your son.) There was an undue emphasis on academic results, leaving us wondering whether anyone who wasn't in, or slipped out of, the "extension" band was just written off. (For contrast, the head of Dunraven talked about having arranged a work experience placement with the local midwives for a pupil who wanted to be a midwife). The intake is oddly skewed - iirc it's nine form entry, of which 3 forms are "extension", three "upper", two "middle" and one "support". I can't imagine it's great being in "support". I found the school scarily large. Pupils have to sew a little piece of coloured fabric on to their blazers to show which year they're in, which seemed terribly "orphan Annie". There also appeared to be an undue emphasis on neatness - far too much neat handwriting and tidy felt tip colouring on the wall displays for my liking. (My son was more concerned he could be given litter-picking duty if his uniform wasn't neat enough!) When we returned home, DH looked at the prospectus and observed that it showed a cricketer holding the bat the wrong way and someone breaking health and safety regulations.

All that said, the pupils seemed pleasant, orderly and well-motivated. Had it been our local school, we would have put it down on the form but it wouldn't have been first choice.

Ooh, loads of great ideas here. Marina - your comment made me laugh. Think the affordable housing will have to be the option I go for, with perhaps a "flavour" of a decent education. And will just wistfully dream about bijou neighbourhood/hot lover!

Coming south next month and will focus my search on Forest Hill/Honour Oak, Hither Green, Furzedown, possibly Tooting, possibly Gipsy Hill. Haven't even thought about secondary school potential but you know, when I've made my fortune as a civil servant (not!) may just have to move again...

Celia2, \link{http://www.graveney.org/portal.asp?mlmenuid=608&TargetPortal=2&ApplicationID=33\here} are the admission criteria. It's not exactly a banding system. 63 places out of 250 go to those who do best on the test, but the remaining 187 places appear to be allocated without reference to ability.

Interesting to hear about Graveney - thanks everyone.

Glad to hear you are narrowing the search down, minxmum.

Crystal Palace is where several boroughs intersect. As others have said, Lambeth is not great but maybe if you choose your street carefully the other adjoining boroughs (Bromley, Croydon) would be better. It is a lovely area (agree that Gipsy Hill is very nice) but haven't lived their with kids. It used to be reasonably priced but has gone up a lot in the last few years

Fisil, you may finf it laughable but it is a fact that children from DS's school get into ADT, St Cecilia's, Sutton Grammar etc, and avoid Merton schools whenever they can.

When you look at Honor Oak I would suggest that you take a look at the victorian properties around the garthorne road residential area. Very close to the station but no noise as backs onto nature reserve. These properties are attractive and the streets are quiet. The area has the potential to be a good investment due to the east london line tube extension.

Celia2, that may be because Merton changed from a 3-tier system (junior-middle-senior) to 2-tiers like the rest of London a few years ago. I expect the long-term consequence will be that Merton secondary schools improve and less children go outside the borough.

schools in Blackheath/parts of Lee Green are relatively v good - Brooklands in particular is v well-regarded (blackheath). Lovely area too!

Hi, I moved away from East Dulwich in the summer partly due to my DD's school. We fought hard to get her into what we locally perceived to be the best primary school (Goodrich), but once she start we were no convinced. It's a very large school with great provision for children with special educational needs, however... If your child is fairly average then they just don't get a look in. my DD has flourished since we moved out of London into a small village school. I would be very careful about that part of SE london and it often apeals to people who'd like to live in Clapham, but can't afford the prices.