Househunting in S.Bucks & Berkshire - how important are catchment areas? help!

[aniBT]

Hi all, we're househunting for our 1st family home... (scary!) and I'm wandering HOW important it is to consider the catchment area. I am currently looking in Ascot, Beaconsfield & Windsor (it's so expensive but manageable - just (with sacrifices)!) - I understand they have great schools. Stoke Poges and Burnham on the other have quite average c.ment areas from what I've seen by Ofsted (despite being more reasonably priced). What do I do? Pay more for a house in a 'better' area....? Or not and 'risk' my kids (v small) being sent to a v average school... Sigh. advice much appreciated x

5 annual ticket including parking!! Where on earth are you. It costs over 30 per day to travel into London and park at Beaconsfield....

My suggestion is that you think very long term, don't worry too much about primary and try to live as close as possible to charters school.

I'm afraid the catchment problem is pretty nationwide in well heeled urban areas. We have lived in Herts, Surrey, Cheshire and now Sussex and it was the same in all 4. I have to say in terms of primary, the North West was far ahead and I think our closest 6 schools were graded outstanding. DH commuted the 2hours from there to London 3days a week.

When in Surrey we also looked at Berkshire. The Wokingham primaries were generally good and you are in the catchment for Reading and Kendrick grammars. There was also a girls comp in Wokingham called Holt which had fantastic results considering it was non selective but this may have changed in 5yrs. Stay away from Bracknell forest schools though which neighbours Wokingham. They really were dire on the whole. Almost every primary we looked had a shocking ofsted.

In herts we were in St. Albans. Excellent schools but again, big problem with being over subscribed esp at secondary. Great train into London though; 25mins if I remember.

You could decide on an area and rent for 6mths to get more of a feel and visit other towns locally. You can't apply for a state place until the autumn/winter before your DC starts school anyway.

If I had my time again, I would never ever choose to move to Bucks. As someone else said - the 11+ is an unnecessary evil, which leaves parents stressing over whether to tutor (or not?); children praying they won't let their parents down and Grammar schools full of middle class, tutored, well-off children. (I could go on...) It's a nasty competitive rat race.

Go to Berks or Herts. They're just as nice.

Funny you should say you are moving for school places, I did the exact opposite 4yrs ago. DD didnt get a school plac the year they moved from admitting after 5th birthday (May born) to admitting for normal reception ages in Maidenhead. We moved in to zone 5 and got her a school place as school have more places and lots of movement on waiting list.

Wokingham. Most primaries are good, many outstanding, and all the secondary schools are either good or outstanding, one of the very few areas of the country that can say that. Decent train links into Waterloo and Paddington (via Reading) and shopping and general community in Eastern Reading / Wokingham is lovely.

Or Pangbourne/ Theale?