Best areas commutable to London with primary and secondary schools

[Shrirao]

HI Mums,

I will be moving to UK next year with my 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter.. I am clueless where to start from. My main aim is to be closer to good state schools from commutable distance from London.

I was looking at welwyn Garden city area. Is there any other area you guys recommend? Any tips will be helpful. Thank you in advance :)

I will have more queries post this query.. please bare with me :)

Shri

Re OFSTED ratings. Many schools have not been inspected for a number of years, during which time they could have had changes in leadership, staffing, and pupil cohorts. The OFSTED criteria have also changed, so schools which were judged outstanding may no longer be so, and those judged good could also have changed . Ironically, schools which were said to require improvement could now be achieving very nicely thankyou! So take OFSTED reports with a pinch of salt and read between the lines.

It is best to look at the statistics which the government work out based on data relating to children’s achievement in key subjects, attendance, gender and social mobility, this should be on a schools website, and will show you how the school has improved children’s learning over several years, and how the school compares to other schools both in the area and nationally.

This data of course doesn’t tell you about how the school operates, what other facilities, strengths or extra curricular options the school offers. You would need to ask around the area for local opinions ,and always try to visit a school to form your own opinions.