Suggestions for an academically excellent state primary in South East

[MrsMummyBx]

DS is at a prep school which is lovely and quite focused on academics but we are worrying about fees and wonder whether we can find a brilliant state school and we would move accordingly - ideally in Essex but other Home Counties fine too. We need to be able to commute to London for work. I’ve looked on SATs league tables and also Ofsted but not sure either of these particularly reflect the academics of the school especially in relation to leaver destinations. I’ve got hopes for DS getting into grammar so need to be a grammar school catchment too. Any suggestions welcome!

The only grammars in Essex with a very local catchment area are the Southend ones - children sit the 11+ but local children are prioritised if they get a good (but not unachievable) score.
The Colchester and Chelmsford grammars don't have that kind of local focus...although in Chelmsford children living within 12 miles are prioritised.
I don't think you should be looking for an academically brilliant state primary, but one where you child can be challenged and supported. The 11+ exams aren't academic - they are mostly a very limited set of skills applied in very limited ways to an exams.
Focus on an good local school, use a tutor in years 4/5 to fill in the 11+ technique and then let the grammar school teach the academics when your child gets there.

Thank you, I totally agree that a challenging and supportive one would be great, but I just don’t know which schools would fit the bill, certainly none in my immediate locality. I went through the grammar system myself and loved it, would love it for my DC :-)

I don't want to sound discouraging, but very highly regarded primaries are fiendishly difficult to get into as an in year admission. You may well find that there are siblings already waiting for places in the year you're looking for, and even if not then there's almost certain to be a waiting list. Obviously it will depend on the individual school and its admissions criteria, but you're likely to have to live very nearby to get a space, and you would have to have already secured the local address (through a tenancy agreement or exchange of contracts) before you can use it on your application. So you'd have to move house very near to your target school without knowing when or even if a place would become available. There's a school near me (that I won't name, sorry!), whose reputation would fit your description, and they won't even allow prospective in year parents to visit because the chances of a place coming up are so low. You can apply for a place and join the waiting list - that's a legal requirement - but they'll only show you round once you get to the top of the list and a space comes up. Even if you find a school that meets your criteria and has a place, and then get everything sorted to move, you could find that the place has gone before you can make the move - you can't 'hold' a place for months in the state system like you can in a prep. Sorry, that's probably not what you want to hear, but the reality is that targeting a place at a popular school that's not in your area is really, really hard.

Would you consider Hampshire? Lots of fantastic primary schools. No grammars but the comps are as good as they get.

I'm near the New Forest and I guess north Hampshire is better for London commuting, but people do commute from Brockenhurst, Southampton and Winchester.

Some excellent secondary schools around here are Thornden in chandlers Ford (but house prices are ££££) Hounsdown near Totton, which serves the east of the New Forest and some places have very reasonable house prices. All the Winchester comps are great. Also Priestlands in Lymington.

I would avoid 11+ stress if I were you!

@andantino thanks for your reply, it’s a helpful reality check as I do think the logistics will probably be very tricky. It’s probably something we should have thought of earlier so we could be in situ for the normal application process instead of trying to get in mid year. We’d have to be incredibly lucky to get into our target school after we moved I guess! And then would have to have a backup plan in case we didn’t get it, probably in the private sector. Perhaps we should just hold fire and target our move for secondary entry somewhere good. It’s just the fees that are depressing for now and we will need to tighten our belts!

@SanFranFran thank you - actually we hadn’t considered Hampshire but I love it so maybe we should do a bit of research, thank you for drawing it to my attention. Would be a lovely place to live but I think we hadn’t really looked before as I’m a bit wary of the commute. We both need to get to Liverpool Street so would need to cut across London which I presume would be a bit of a nightmare. I had a colleague who moved out to Winchester to a gorgeous house but seemed to curse his commute! Are there any areas to live that would be best to ease the journey do you think?

@SanFranFran P.s. I’ve just had a look at Thornden and it looks good! They seem to do well with their results. Just had a look at the catchment - and a v quick nose on Rightmove - some great properties!!

However just had a look about the journey and it seems around 1.5hrs to Waterloo, with having to get over to Liverpool Street I think we might not cope with that which is a shame...

Buckinghamshire is big grammar school territory OP. Can't help with any details though sorry.

Be aware that primaries may not give any help with grammar entry. I'm in a grammar area, and the primaries are specifically prohibited from giving any 11+ help. The preps aren't really supposed to either, but they do. Most of the grammar entrants still do come from the primaries (though a disproportionate percentage come from the preps), but the large majority will be tutored. Of course, state primary plus tutoring will still be far cheaper than a prep, but don't assume that even the most high achieving primary will specifically help with 11+.

Having said that, most of the prep school kids I know are also privately tutored for the 11+...

As you would be applying for in year entry (your child is already at school) all you can do is go on the waiting list, not sure what your areas rules are but we were told take the place offered (another rubbish school) or make private provision because they had wait lists at every decent school (we did get in but had to homeschool for a bit). Rather than the school, work out where you would like to live, with parental support kids do well everywhere

@MrsMummyBx I don't know north Hampshire very well but I know that Hart district has been voted one of the nicest places to live in the UK. The main town is Fleet and a lot nearer to London than I am. If you look at Fleet on Wikipedia it tells you the schools.

Depending how much you have you spend on a house, look north along the Thameslink line - excellent schools in Harpenden and St Albans (primary and secondary) and a very quick commute to Liverpool Street, but all that comes with accompanying house price tag. You could look a bit further along the line in Bedford- a bit cheaper and still good schools. Longer commute but more chance of a seat!

If you moved to Leigh on sea hadleigh or Benfleet is not far into London and primary’s schools are good. Catchment first grammar schools are west cliff and Southend high

Thanks so much everyone, more research needed by me into these new suggestions. Really appreciate the advice :-)
@Skyla2005 we did consider Leigh - heard the primary there is superb - I haven’t been in absolutely years so need to visit asap, been researching on Rightmove and looks like we won’t get any more for our money than where we are now which is a bit depressing but at least we would save on school fees which would be amazing and I believe Westcliff grammar is a bit easier to get into than Chelmsford and Colchester. I’m an Essex girl born and raised but I’m a bit concerned that it might be a bit Towie-esque (we live in the height of Towie land currently in west Essex in same area I grew up - but I would quite like something a bit more genteel now and DC has picked up an Essex accent from prep school which I’m not keen on). Without sounding totally ridiculous, do you have any insight into what Leigh is like on this front?

Leigh on sea is very nice obviously it close to the beach and it’s very family orientated. The schools are great but like I said just outside is hadleigh and Benfleet both really nice it not as expensive and without that towie feel but I’ve never felt that In Leigh anyway ! Have a day trip and see what you think Good luck

@skyla2005 thank you, we will definitely have a day trip once we are allowed to travel - excited! What are your thoughts on Thorpe Bay? Bounds Green also v good I hear...

How about a move to a bucks prep for grammar school entry at 11? The bucks prep would definitely prepare for 11 plus and the whole of bucks js grammar/secondary modern. There’s some good preps around Chesham area

Yes Thorpe bay lovely and also chalk well Schools are really good

Dartford area could be a good idea.

South Farnham School is widely regarded as one of the best primaries in the South East, and feeds nicely into Weydon School, which is one of the best regarded state secondaries.

The diferrence in local house prices however will probably cost you more than the equivalent private school fees were you to live elsewhere and buy your education.

Hi everyone, your ideas are so helpful thank you.

@Gregoria67 thanks so much, I hadn’t thought of Farnham but looking at the schools, they look fantastic. And the secondary isn’t selective so that would take the pressure off the 11+. House prices are pretty punchy as you say, and I agree it may be cheaper to stay where we are! If we moved, we would likely have to ‘downsize’ which would not be great but prices in our current area aren’t too different so it is definitely worth us looking!! That’s another daytrip on the agenda after lockdown!!

If you like idea of Hampshire - no 11 plus and on the whole fantastic schools - then have a look at the following places near the Hampshire border - Alton, (Eggar’s and Amery) Petersfield (TPS), Liphook (Bohunt) Fleet (Calthorpe Park and Court Moor) fantastic schools and lovely places to live. All the trains go into Waterloo and you can pick up Waterloo and City straight to Bank.

You might also want to look at Twyford in Berkshire as it is on CrossRail so straight into Liverpool Street - has a very good comprehensive - Piggotts but you would also be in catchment for Reading Boys (although very difficult to get into.)

An affordable and efficient way to explore could be to ask The Good Schools Guide State School Team for help?

If you could take London out of the picture, finding work reasonably locally, Lincolnshire has AMAZING primaries and the Grammar System.
If not, Rugby? ( 48 mins to Euston)

@Ionacat thanks so much for these places, that’s super helpful. We will investigate each of them!

@selly24 thank you, I will consult the good schools guide - I hadn’t thought of that. Re local work, both of us work in financial services and the hub for us is London so I think Lincolnshire is a bit too far for us unfortunately... it’s a shame as it’s a lovely county!