Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire??

[Mumof2D]

Hi,
We are planning a shift... need some suggestions..
Which is a better place to live Bucks or Herts...? Our preference is in the order of good grammar school for girls, followed by good feeding primary schools and of course neighbourhood.
Thanks ....

I would say there's not a lot in it between Herts and Bucks for quality of life and both have nice areas/villages etc.

I gather that people do move to Bucks because of the grammar schools (I don't know about Herts).

I know a girl at one of the Bucks grammars. I am concerned that she is going to burn out. It is her that is choosing to work so hard but I am a little aghast that the school have not identified that this girl is a breakdown waiting to happen. She takes school so seriously, to the detriment of any extra-curricular activities and has completely given up any social life because she has got the idea from somewhere that every moment that she is not in a lesson should be spent studying.

That to me is alarming enough that I will be very very careful about which school my child goes to if they do have the opportunity to go to one of the local grammars.

Hertfordshire itself does not have grammar schools as such but some people in Hertfordshire can access the Buckinghamshire grammar schools is my understanding. For that reason I would go for Bucks to ensure I was definitely in a grammar catchment.

(Slight bias as despite living in Cambridge now I went to a well known good girls grammar in Bucks albeit a hundred years ago!)

PS> I went to the school you started the other thread about!

Hampshire!

Thanks to all the mums for valuable input...

Hello TeenandTween,
Amused by yourself???

Absolutely not Herts if DC have SEN!!

Thanks for this. We're trying to choose too but Bucks is so pricey.

some people in Hertfordshire can access the Buckinghamshire grammar schools is my understanding

You wouldn't get into the girls' grammar schools of Dr Challoner's or Beaconsfield High from Hertfordshire. You'd need to check catchment areas to see where the schools take pupils from.

If your priority is grammars, go for Buckinghamshire.

Thanks. Where in Buckinghamshire is good value? High Wycombe seems so busy around the station though might be good for shopping ethnic foods.
The train connections into London take ages compared to Welwyn, Potters Bar etc. Maidenhead seems to have fair schools and journey into London should get much shorter with Crossrail but it seems so far out.

If you want grammar then you really have to live in Bucks. Places like Berkhamsted generally have lots of children passing the 11+ and then successfully gaining a place at Chesham Grammar, Aylesbury Grammar and Aylesbury High. BUT the year we applied for DD she didn’t get a place at AHS whereas historically every year prior she would. She was allocated Chesham but she only just scraped through on distance. The last admitted distances are shrinking every year, particularly with the amount of new builds going up in Aylesbury.

Don’t discount the Herts comprehensives though. Ashlyns and Tring Schools are great, for example.

I’m not sure if living the Bucks side of Tring could get you into Aylesbury High? Possibly. However living in MK on the Bucks side usually gets you into SHF in Aylesbury or RLS in Buckingham. So how far north are you prepared to go?

Places like Beaconsfield and around (for BHS) are always expensive. Also around Little Chalfont and Amersham for DrCH. It’s been this way for 100 years!

The key to Bucks isn’t the grammars. It’s where to live for quality secondary schools if you don’t get to a grammar. Some parents think a decent comp is better.

Very many state primaries don’t have spare places. In Bucks all schools fees grammars. All DC take the tests unless withdrawn. Some preps are well known Crammers. No state primaries prep for the 11 plus in Bucks but talented children are given enhanced work in the primaries and lots of schools have quite a few talented children who excel at grammar schools.

Thanks @Zodlebud shall keep that in mind. Saw a lovely house in Beaconsfield today but at £1.35. At the very summit of our budget but yet I feel not enough house even for the money. Ideally, I'll like us to keep it at £1.1 max.
I hope something suitable comes up in Aylesbury but not too far out and with fair connection to London.

@TizerorFizz No state primaries prep for the 11 plus in Bucks but talented children are given enhanced work in the primaries what does this mean? Very many state primaries don’t have spare places. In Bucks all schools fees grammars. Not sure what you mean. Bucks doesn't provide primaries for all DC in their County? So they have to go private? We're not quite ready from primary yet so I hope they'll have us in mind for the future when we move
We don't wish to move as far as MK. I'm not familiar with abbreviations of the schools so please type them out if you can.

@Delectable The secondary modern in Beaconsfield isn’t a school people are falling over themselves to send their children to if they don’t pass the 11+ so I would err on the side of caution in that area. Probably the best areas in Bucks to live with great secondary moderns as well as being in n grammar catchments are Waddesdon, Amersham and Marlow. But they all have house prices to match and your £1.1m really won’t go far.

Re primary schools, there aren’t places at the most sought after ones as the previous poster writes. They are highly oversubscribed. Even if you live next door then if there isn’t a place then you can’t go there. The LA will find you a place somewhere but you’d be very lucky to have any element of choice in the matter and if you have more than one DD they may not even end up in the same school. That is assuming, of course, you are looking at in year transfer places and not normal reception entry in normal admissions timeframes.

If you’re willing to drive to the station villages in Bucks have good primary schools. Eg Hazlemere, Tyler’s Green, Widmer End, all within 15 mins drive of Amersham Station. Holmer Green and Ramsay are decent secondaries. Lads chose between Royal Grammar and John Hampden. Girls between Beaconsfield and Wycombe High if the pass eleven plus. If you want to walk to station look at Hughenden side of High Wycombe by National Trust.

@Delectable
Over £1m in Aylesbury will be almost impossible! Some enlarged estate house might be that but Aylesbury in general doesn’t have this sort of property. You would t want to live there either! And I know it well!

You need to look at Bucks CC web site on secondary schools. I can name them all but you could look up where they are in the towns! Bucks has only 13 grammars so it won’t take long!

As I said, the bigger issue is secondary schools. For clarity the girls grammars are Beaconsfield High, Aylesbury High, Wycombe High and Aylesbury High. There are several co Ed such as Chesham Grammar, Royal Latin School, Sir Henry Floyd & Sir William Borlase. You need to look up catchment areas on the Bucks web site. However if you wanted Aylesbury High school, you could live in one of the villages and commute from Aylesbury or Stoke Mandeville or Wendover. You could look at Wing where you have The Cottesloe Secondary and commute from Leighton Buzzard. DD could go to Aylesbury High.

Secondary schools that are sought after are: Waddesdon, John Colet, The Misbourne, The Amersham School - others are perfectly ok. Again check catchment because Waddesdon is a tiny catchment.

All primary schools mostly take all catchment children. However they don’t prep for the 11 plus other then teach the curriculum. Bright DC will get enhanced work within the curriculum. This is not the same as doing 11 plus style questions or timed papers under pressure.

Thame in Oxfordshire has Lord Williams School which is a popular comp and Tring in Herts has Tring School which is also good. If you chose to live in Bucks and you pass 11 plus, you will get a grammar school place but not necessarily first choice.

Do look at the Bucks schools web site it is very comprehensive and detailed.

Dr Challoner's High for girls also, in Little Chalfont, easy walk to the station.

Beaconsfield used to be one of the priciest places to live in the UK (maybe it still is?), the advice to look at some of the villages is a good one. The Aylesbury-Great Missenden-Wendover-Amersham trainline is also much, much cheaper than the High Wycombe-Gerrards Cross-Beaconsfield-Denham one if regular commuting into London is a factor.

Amersham School has really turned around in the past decade. It was previously to be avoided if possible but a superb HT has changed it completely and it is now over-subscribed. To put this in context when DD started there in 2010 it was virtually unheard of for students to stay and do 3 academic A levels – DD now has 2 STEM degrees having spent her whole secondary school career at Amersham School.

&thing47

Years ago when it was The Brudenell School For Girls it was a very good secondary school. During the 90s it wasn’t bad at all. The Misbourne was always the better secondary in the 80/90s and they were the first to have a 6th form in the 80s. Interestingly both Raans and Cestreham (the boys secondaries in Amersham and Chesham) tended to struggle.

However the key to Bucks is secondary schools. Great grammars are everywhere. Some secondaries are better than others. SLT in the schools makes a huge difference, higher achieving pupils and parental support matter too. There’s also a bigger issue of parents using private senior schools if DC don’t get to a grammar which can remove some great DC from the secondaries. Many Bucks secondaries have thriving 6th forms.

Better value areas are around the very tight catchment for Waddesdon School and east out at Wing for Leighton Buzzard station. Bucks no longer has any single sex secondary schools, only the 4 grammars I mentioned.

There are grammars in Herts- 3 in Watford and I think there are a couple in Mid Herts. There are lots of nice places around Watford and it isn’t quite Bucks prices.

It’s a lot more expensive than Aylesbury! Chesham is always a bit cheaper too. Where there are fewer grammars, they are far more difficult to get into. Most of Herts children don’t go to grammars. 25% of Bucks children do.

If I was looking to move before DC are at school, I would pick a few towns and villages and have a drive around.

Thanks all. Apologies I'm only just replying. I've come back to read it time and again. I now how a bit better understanding of the schools and areas.

To clarify, I meant "I hope something suitable comes up in Aylesbury Amersham" (not Aylesbury).

@Zodlebud we're hoping to move this year and starting our family now. :) Amersham and Little Chalfont seem to be the place for the Dr Challoners. We also like DAO but it has only 65 exam places and it'll be pretty much impossible for us to get in through any other criteria.
@Youonlyhaveonelife thank you for the info on High Wycombe.
@TizerorFizz we went to Aylesbury and didn't like it. Chesham, not much either. It seems some in Berkhamsted get into Chesham grammar but who knows for how long? The Dr Challoner's are our top picks for Buckinghamshire. I'm now familiar with the Buck's schools' website, thanks. Also keeping in mind that we won't be ready for secondary for another 11yrs, lol but as we don't wish to move again we need to be moving/buying as informed parents to be. :) We viewed a large barn conversion just past Chesham. Driving through Chesham was not pleasant and I worry that will the huge mosque it'll be super busy on Fridays.
@thing47 yes, Beaconsfield is pricey. Thankfully we prefer Amersham schools which are slightly less dear; or Potters bar if we could get into DAO; otherwise we'll have to see if there're any value fee paying schools nearby ie less than £20k per annum in today's money. We won't have a mortgage. We don't earn tons and we'll have less for extras so this isn't our preferred option.
@Disfordragon yes there're 2 or 3 grammars in Watford but they don't rate highly in the tables. However, there's the question of big fishes in small ponds, cheaper area and who knows what will happen in 11yrs? Watford might be a good area to consider. Any tips as to where exactly? I'll have a look at the schools and their catchments properly. Thanks.

Will be interested in your views about chances of getting into and where to live for Dame Alice Owens,. The catchment seems so wide with only 64 exam places and the nearest applicants are less than 500meters away.

I think you are missing a trick not looking at the villages. Aylesbury won’t compete with the Chalfonts. It’s a lot cheaper though and, again, the villages are very different. DH is from Chesham and his office is there. Amersham and Chesham Bois are just up the road for a different feel. Fridays are not that bad!

Also in Bucks, you must look at the secondaries. The Amershsm school
Is the best in the area toh like so check catchment.

?? The Smershsm school is considered the best in the area….

Also there is an independent school for girls in Hertfordshire near Potters Bar but it’s not cheap! You could look at Pipers Corner in Bucks for a girl.,Boys go to Berkhamsted or Stowe in the north. You really have to decide if grammar is nailed on, snd then, if not, where to live for second choice school. Then to pay or not to pay.

I'm slightly less endeared of Amersham School, having had a child go there myself, but it's certainly true that the current HT and SLT are very good, and the school has put a lot of effort over the past few years into persuading the pupils who do well at GCSE to stay on there for A levels (previously they tended to leave and go to a grammar school or to Clement Danes for sixth form).

That said, I totally agree with @TizerorFizz that you are missing a trick by not looking at the villages around the area.