Advice on the best schools and areas in Truro

[Juliammy]

Hello,

We are planning to move to Cornwall from Bristol this year and would appreciate an advice/opinion from local people on the best areas and schools in Truro and around. We want to buy a new build and, therefore, considering the three developments:

1. Pen An Dre in Gloweth - nearest primary schools are: Truro Learning Academy, Threemilestone, Bosvigo

2. New development off Tregolls Road - nearest schools are: Tregolls School - an Academy, Archbishop Benson CofE

3. Parc Hendrawna in Perranporth - nearest schools are: Perranporth Community and Goonhavern

We'd like to be somewhere walking distance from the school, park/playgrounds, local store and ideally some restaurants/coffee shops - somewhere that looks nice and has a good reputation :-)

Ok... Archbishop is a good school, if you like / can bear churchy things, Tregolls has a reputation for being very good with SEN / additional needs and has a high proportion of children from these groups - parents seek out places there if their children need extra help. The housing nearby is okay, but the Trelander Estate bordering it has a high (for Cornwall) crime rate and there don't seem to be many shops built to support the new housing. You'll also be in the Penair catchment for secondary, and they've had some problems lately.

Pen An Dre - good development but traffic through the area is in a bottleneck and getting worse, especially as they are about to build thousands of new houses at Threemilestone. Truro Learning Academy is walking distance - had an awful reputation but recently converted to Academy status and is getting better - though local parents are still wary. Threemilestone is also a good school, but like Archbishop Benson and Bosvigo (also good), you'll have to fight to get a place as Truro schools are becoming oversubscribed. What age are your dc(s)? You'll be in Richard Lander secondary catchment here, by the way.

Perranporth and Goonhavern - good schools, don't know as much about them. However, personally I wouldn't be fond of Perranporth in the summer as it gets quite over-run with tourists. It's a bit of a cheap holiday mecca and there can be summer crime. You'll have a park and coffee shops there, though.

In summary - of the Truro schools, Bosvigo, Archbishop and TMS are best, but make sure there are places for your dc(s)!

Thank you for your advice!

Our dc is 3.5 and ds is 1. We have to apply for schools before January.
We drove around Truro yesterday and the areas around the Pen An Dre are not quite where we would like to live. The development is nice though.

We liked the look of the area as we drove from the city centre to where the Waitrose is being built (off Tregolls Road) but I had a look on a map - that is actually where Trelander is if I understand correctly?!

We drove around the areas such as Carnon Downs and Devoran which are lovely but there's nothing there unless we failed to find shops, etc. We wouldn't mind that too much, if it was on the other side of Truro - not as far towards Falmouth.

St Agnes is very much our cup of tea but they are not building there anymore and again it's not that close to Truro for different children's activities.

Perranporth is off the list now. We drove there yesterday and it's not kind of place I'd like to be.

I've now realised that we won't find 'St Agnes' on the outskirts of Truro with new built houses :-) so we'd be happy to settle somewhere in a small village on the outskirts of Truro with a very good school as long as it's within an easy reach of Truro and not in the middle of nowhere.

Ah - Carnon Downs and Devoran are popular as they are within 10 mins of Truro and local schools (Devoran and Kea) are very good. There are also (Devoran and Perran-ar-worthal) good pubs / restaurants / tea rooms / walks about. The Olive Grove in P-a-w is great, and there are pubs with good food in Devoran and Perranwell Station. The Bissoe Trail is great for cycling with children - activities are all nearby (sailing etc) so this area may suit you. It really isn't that far from Truro central. This area thus tends to be a bit more expensive but is full of families.

St Agnes is a very oversubscribed school - the village is growing but not the school places and I know people with a daily drive to Mithian and Mt Hawke schools as they were refused a place.

I'm not sure which side of Truro you fancy - let me know villages you liked the look of and I'll let you know where's ok!

We are now considering Devoran and Carnon Downs as well - like you said it's close to Truro and great schools.

We like one house in Probus but local school previously outstanding was rated 3 'requires improvement' last year :-/ What's Probus area like?