Primary schools in Prenton

[WhiteFerret]

So we have decided to move to the Wirral from London-ish area, for a number of reasons, and heard loads of good things about the schools there, both primary and secodnary. We have finally found the right house in Prenton and started looking more closely at primary schools nearby (we have a boy in Year 1 and a girl still in nursery).
Although most of the schools are ranked by Ofsted as 'Good', their individual markings in reading/writing/maths etc, are all below England average as well as below the local authority average! They are also much lower than our current school and we have never considered it particularly amazing. I mean, it's lovely, our son likes it very much, and we'd be perfectly happy with it if we weren't relocating, it's simply "ok" rather than "wonderful" if you know what I mean, and the fact that all the schools in Prenton are ranked much, much lower makes me a bit anxious. Well, to be honest, I'm completely freaking out.
Of course, I'm fully aware of the limitations of the Ofsted reports, some of them are a few years old, and some schools don't seem to be ranked at all. I value opinions of parents much higher than dry reporting. All the info I've found on various forums seem to be a bit old though.
Could anybody here shed some light on the schooling near Prenton, please? What is it really like? Which schools are worth looking at in your opinion, and which ones to avoid?

Thank you very much,
F

I'm afraid I don't know the area well, but when you're talking about rankings, are you talking about attainment or progress? It might be that some of the schools have more children starting from a lower point, but make good progress with them, so you need to look at progress scores more closely than attainment scores.

However, if your DC are bright, you might want to talk to each of the prospective schools about how they cater for a range of abilities. A good school should do this, but you might be reassured by a chat with the individual schools about how they would nurture a child that is more advanced, academically, than the majority in their class.

Thank you LetItGoToRuin, I've been looking both at the average score and the progress scores - they're below 0 in all the Prenton schools. At the same time I've come across so many great opinions about education in this area, I'm so confused.
We would obviously like them to go to a good school, but at the same time like them to keep some life outside of the school, you know, playing with friends, having hobbies etc. And the overall atmosphere is something that cannot be found in the ofsted reports! So many people around us at the moment spend all their time just driving their kids from one tutor to another, even at the weekends, a bit scary, I guess I'm looking for some middle ground, or maybe a Holy Grail ;)

Good idea about chatting with each school, we'll be arranging some meetings over the next week or two, it's a 400km drive for us so quite a journey, will try to pack it all into a day or two.

My husband also thought about focusing on good secondary schools and checking what primaries feed into them.

Always great to hear from the parents who have a first hand experience though!

One of the issues you are going to be faced with is that the local schools are mainly going to be full. As a year 1 pupil, you will find it very unlikely that you will get a place at appeal because of the infant class size regulations.
Which schools are you thinking about?

Oh yes, I know that may be a problem, but I'm trying to limit my stress to one thing at a time :D

We've been looking at Prenton Primary, St Josephs Catholic and Devonshire Park. Mersey Park looks good on paper but we're too far away anyway, the same with Townfield Primary.

Wirral isn’t big and there are lots of buses. Have you thought about Bebington or Oxton schools?

Have you made an offer on the house in Prenton?

Not a particularly helpful post of mine in terms of what you are looking for, but there is quite a distance between Prenton Primary, St Joseph’s and Devonshire Park, which is close to Tranmere Rovers Football Ground so I’d start with the one closest to the house if I were you.
I would say that whilst Devonshire Park might technically be classed as Prenton (Tranmere’s ground is known as Prenton Park) it’s more of a Birkenhead school. Is it that much further away than Devonshire Park?

Sorry meant to say is it that much further away than Mersey Park?

Goodness I’m not making any sense - what I’m trying to say is that if Devonshire Park is in your list, it might be worth considering Mersey Park as it really isn’t that much further away in terms of distance.

Are the comments about Wirral education general because of the grammar schools, rather than particularly related to the primary schools?

Also, if I were moving to Wirral from London I wouldn't be considering Birkenhead. I have friends in Prenton and their house is lovely, but Birkenhead generally is fairly deprived. Have you considered the West coast at all?

@Rachie20

Wirral isn’t big and there are lots of buses. Have you thought about Bebington or Oxton schools?

From what I've heard we won't get in there because of the distance, is that not necessarily the case?

@TokyoSushi

Have you made an offer on the house in Prenton?

Yes, should we not have? :D

@millymae

Goodness I’m not making any sense - what I’m trying to say is that if Devonshire Park is in your list, it might be worth considering Mersey Park as it really isn’t that much further away in terms of distance.

Haha, thanks :) We're near Duck Pond Lane Park so Merey Park is nearly twice the distance compared to Devonshire. Ideally, location-wise, it'd be St. Joseph's, just haven't heard much about it yet (or anything else really)

@CheshireSplat

Are the comments about Wirral education general because of the grammar schools, rather than particularly related to the primary schools?

Also, if I were moving to Wirral from London I wouldn't be considering Birkenhead. I have friends in Prenton and their house is lovely, but Birkenhead generally is fairly deprived. Have you considered the West coast at all?

Goodness me, if houses with such a price tag are in 'deprived' area, I dread to hear what a 'good' one is! We were looking at West Kirby, but couldn't find anything suitable for less than 800k. I've heard than Birkenhead is not the best place, but I don't think we're close enough to be bothered by it, not sure why we'd need to go there at all :) We have job in Liverpool, and after visiting a few times we loved the feel of Oxton and Prenton. To be fair, we also loved West Kirby and Caldy, it's just slightly out of our range.

Look at Meols. Outstanding primary and close to all the grammars, but not quite as expensive as West Kirby.
Alternatively Greasby has outstanding primaries and cheaper property prices, but the houses there tend to be smaller and newer.
What's your budget? Prenton has some very nice roads of lovely houses that command prices i cannot fathom and would never pay to live in that area.... I live on the Wirral and was born here, grew up in Birkenhead and would never choose to live there now - the other side of Wirral is much nicer.

@emsyj37

Look at Meols. Outstanding primary and close to all the grammars, but not quite as expensive as West Kirby. Alternatively Greasby has outstanding primaries and cheaper property prices, but the houses there tend to be smaller and newer. What's your budget? Prenton has some very nice roads of lovely houses that command prices i cannot fathom and would never pay to live in that area.... I live on the Wirral and was born here, grew up in Birkenhead and would never choose to live there now - the other side of Wirral is much nicer.

500k but we need 4 or ideally 5 bedrooms (I run a business from home so need an office), a garage and a large garden - so it doesn't seem to go far at all. The whole area there looked lovely, the house is a walking distance from Oxton, seems much nicer than outskirts of West Kirby. But that's only based on a few visits, and now I'm beginning to reconsider.

I live in Prenton, not far from duck pond lane park, and I love it here. The area isn’t deprived at all, lovely neighbours with everything you need really close by.
I can’t advise on schools as my daughter is only 6 months but after living on the Wirral all my life I thoroughly recommend Prenton

@Gok27

I live in Prenton, not far from duck pond lane park, and I love it here. The area isn’t deprived at all, lovely neighbours with everything you need really close by. I can’t advise on schools as my daughter is only 6 months but after living on the Wirral all my life I thoroughly recommend Prenton

Thank you so much, Gok, I was beginning to have a slight panic attack here! ;)

Large garden is a big sticking point over this side of the Wirral - they are harder to find, and so tend to attract high price tags. Also the prices on the Wirral have really shot up in the last 2 years. Pre Covid you could have got what you want around here for close to that budget, but not a hope now. It is ridiculous.
The Wirral is a lovely place to live, and Liverpool is a great city to work in - it's nice and compact and very friendly. I'm sitting in work in Liverpool right now as it happens! I'm sure you will love it.

@emsyj37

Large garden is a big sticking point over this side of the Wirral - they are harder to find, and so tend to attract high price tags. Also the prices on the Wirral have really shot up in the last 2 years. Pre Covid you could have got what you want around here for close to that budget, but not a hope now. It is ridiculous. The Wirral is a lovely place to live, and Liverpool is a great city to work in - it's nice and compact and very friendly. I'm sitting in work in Liverpool right now as it happens! I'm sure you will love it.

Yes, seems like you pay premium for a garden, at least if you dont want to live in the middle of nowhere. We practically live in ours so it was something we weren't willing to compromise on, in a way it helps with a search as it limits the options considerably. About the prices, it's the same everywhere. My work is related to construction, so i can see it first-hand, seen some 1-beds on the very outskirts of London going for half a million, and going quickly! And it doesn't seem to stop, does it! Crazy. Now, we just need to sort out the schools. Goodness me, I moved many times before, changed cities and countries, but never with children, and it's the first time when I'm really stressed about it all.