HELP with Brighton and Hove primary schools

[Karinoushka]

Hi everybody,

We are planning to move either to Fiveways or Hove and have a child who will be in year 4 next September. I asked the council about school places and they inform me that Balfour and Brunswick had 20 spaces available, while Downs junior had none. I was really surprise at the high number of free places and i wanted to get some insight from parents who have their kids in these 3 schools (Balfour, Downs junior, Brunswick). Hope you can give me as much info as possible. Thanks

I think there was a population shrink in B&H that has affected the number of children in primary schools. A school has closed recently due to low numbers. It doesn't necessarily mean the school is poor. Neither Balfour or Brunswick have bad reputations but I'm a professional not a parent.

Both of my kids went to Balfour, it's a great school. Pupil numbers have dropped city wide and the two previous RI Ofsted reports would have swayed more parents over to Downs I guess. We are equidistant to both.
They have just had a good Ofsted visit and I suspect the numbers will start to climb again.
Most families I know have had an overwhelmingly positive experience there. There will always be the odd few who don't gel at a particular school for whatever reason. Also, Ofsted reports are not the be all and end all, I think. Having said that I'm delighted they had a good one this time, for all their hard work.

Thank you MiltonNorthern, That's what the council told me.
I guess what i would really like to know is what parents think about the schools i've mentioned. Hopefully more people will come forward. i'm new here and not sure if i am posting in the right place (couldn't find the local section)

Thank you Notstrongandstable for taking the time to reply to my post. I did see the ofsted reports and suspected it might be the reason. But it’s good to know your children were happy there as after all that’s the most important thing.
We would like to move to Fiveways but are not sure we will find a place as the prices are quite high now. But because we are already thinking about secondary schools, I feel it would be the right place for us to be. But that’s another topic.

Brunswick is a decent school. It's big but split in two. Lovely big field and nice park next door.

Downs junior doesn't take reception so that's not relevant. There are lots more schools in the area and to be honest none of them are bad.

Secondary is a bit more challenging due to the lottery system, but again - no bad schools for those two areas.

Thank you Mrswimpy, our child will start year 4 next year so could go to Downs (except there is no available spaces). It’s really good to hear that there are no bad schools. I’m going to contact the schools and see if they would allow for us to visit.

Brunswick is a lovely school. It was our first choice for DD in 2019 but it was oversubscribed. The playing field is huge, they even have chickens!
Loads of clubs and activities.

The pastoral care seemed really good and the kids seemed really happy there.

It's right next to a lovely park and playground which is handy after school.

I remember the headmaster saying that big schools benefit from economy of scale and the children get more opportunities.

I don't know what changes have happened since 2019 but the parents I know with children at Brunswick seem really happy with it.

As it turns out DD is really happy and settled in our 2nd choice school so we never moved her. It's a really small, nurturing school. Feel free to DM if you would like to know more about it.