Moving to London: House location for a young family

[ridinghigh]

Hi all, we will be moving to London from the Mideast in the first week of September 2012. Our kids are 4 and 7. The biggest worry right now is the house location. It should broadly be based on the following factors:

1. Not more than 20-30 mins commute from Paddington Station, which dh's office is close to (Kingdom Street).
2. There should ideally be very good state schools nearby.
3. Rental budget around GBP 1,500-2000 p.m. (we plan to rent for 6-12 months after which intend to buy).

Would greatly appreciate any inputs on the location. From some of the threads, I have gathered Ealing fits the above criteria. Any other locations you could guide us to, as the choice one sees online is just overwhelming. Thanks.

Damnit yellow, our time paradoxes contradict each other

Mothership - yep, fully aware of situation in Ealing. However, the LEA still have a legal responsibility to place children in schools when applications are made. I'm sure OP isn't going to rock up to a school on Sept 1st and demand places. The biggest problem is that she may be offered a place in a school nowhere near where she lives. Some Ealing schools have high mobility, particularly in Southall.

All on-time applications made this year were offered a place in an Ealing primary school, and if there is demand for new arrivals and late applicants they will have to create more places. As far as I know there aren't swathes of Ealing families without a YR place for their DC. Ealing are opening bulge classes left right and centre to cope with the YR demands.

Hi - I would recommend Wandsworth, Putney or Battersea for young families. Great for kids and lots of good state school options, albeit they will be difficult to get into. Have a look at a website called Nappyvalley.net to get an idea of the area.

The TFL journey planner - www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/default.aspx - is good for planning journeys.

Good luck.

Riding Not sure if you are british, and your comment re Harrow school was a joke, so if my next comment is beyond patronising, I apologise, but it's an easy mistake to make if you're not from the Uk originally, so I'll explain, and if you want to give me a , feel free

In the UK, government schools, for which you dont have to pay are called "state schools" not "public schools" as they are in, say the US, and most other countries

A public school in England is a prestigious subset of the independent schooling system. They are so-called because back in the olden days it differentiated them from schools run by the church. However, they are fee paying schools and usually towards the top of the fee paying spectrum

So state schools and public schools are totally different things

State school= free
Public school = about GBP30k per child per year

Rich, thanks, it would indeed be the first time settling in UK for us, but i have started to make the distinction u described above by researching various fora.

mrsjoe/mothership, thanks for the insider tips. from most of what i have read online, when one is late in applying to schools post the regular admission cycles, one has to check with the schools directly and not the Local Council. this probably coz the allocations would have been made by the LEA by then, and only the schools would know if there are spaces suddenly vacant. just means added work for us approaching each school individually.

thanks for giving a glimmer of hope regarding spaces, i understand that nothing is assured, but dread that the kids have to waste months without education. besides, there is some generic public policy that no kids should go without education. i would rather get them into a 4th/5th choice school than they sit at home. Besides, we could apply to better schools in the Jan '13 cycle. How difficult is it to move schools then? would the better schools be hesitant if we are moving from a lesser ranked school?

Rich/Mrs Joe, so u reckon our kids couldnt become a churchill or nehru if they didnt go to a public school? ;).
Do we fret too much about our kids education, or is it that the brand really matters in reaching the elite echelons of the British society? just talking out loud here...

It's not that they would not want you because you'd moved from a "lesser ranked" school- it's just a question of capacity because once people have their kids in the "outstanding" schools, they do everything in their power not to move and these schools will already have waiting lists. from people who applied within the usual timeframe, didnt get allocated their first choice, so waitlisted for that whilst accepting another place.

You are right that the LA will find you a school place BUT if you're used to the independent sector in the middle east, you might not be happy with what they give you here in terms of behavioural standards, academic expectations etc.

azure/frontpaw/MDL, thanks I will check out your suggested places.

Reel, could you pls let me know the exact coordinates of that house or the school next to it?

Youlllaugh, guess we would just have to live as close to paddington as possible then. Any rooms in the station itself? hehe

Rich/Mrs Joe, so u reckon our kids couldnt become a churchill or nehru if they didnt go to a public school? ;)

Of course. From 1964-1997, every British Prime Minister was state educated.

We spend £1600 a month for a small one bed in zone two. Still have 30 mon commute ( one of us walks the other tubes)

I think you need to increase commute time. What about parsons green ( south of fulham), you may get a 2/3 bed flat there

I'm sure OP isn't going to rock up to a school on Sept 1st and demand places.
Actualy she did say she might try that - although I am sure she did so in jest, which is why I replied in a equally light-hearted manner.

Anyway OP this Ealing Grid for Learning page has a spreadsheet of available places which they regularly update. I image all the borough have something similar which could help reduce the number of calls you have to make to individual schools.

Where are you coming from? My sister almost died when she came over from the states at how small places were in central London (she jas been in rural US for about 35 years now). Travel can be expensive (zone 1+2 pass is £120ish pcm and train ones are huuuuuge).

Doesn't your husbands company (I think I know who they could be) help you out with relocating?). Housing can be sorted but schools are more complicated unless you can pay and don't 'need' to go to a 'top' fee school.

Battersea? Five mins to Victoria then 25 or so on bus to Lancaster Gate, then ten min walk, or tube to Paddington. Not bad for a london commute - I know people with 1.5-2hr commutes in london. I really really hate commuting though!

Crystal Palace is supposed to be nice but I have no idea about schools. Again, on the line to Victoria station. That's about 25 mins on the train.

Why did that go twice? MM must have reflux today.

frontpaw, we r coming from qatar. the relocation package covers tickets/visas, 3 months free accomodation (up to 4,500 p.m.), luggage shipping, signing bonus etc. unfotunately, no schooling or housing search assistance, which we will have to do on our own. but thanks for the suggestion, it may well be worth taking up private schooling with them for the first year, considering the scenarios that are being mentioned here.

How about south east London? 800k would go a long way Brockley, Ladywell, Forest Hill, Hither Green. Really nice places for a family to live and good state primaries.

I don't think rich was suggesting that riding's children could not become prime minister if they didn't go to a fee-paying school. I think she was just claryfing the meaning of 'public school' in the UK, terminology which can be very confusing and misleading, to save OP from thinking that Harrow is the school for them, great facilities etc without a clue that it'll cost a few pennies.

Riding - Agreed. If the journey time is a deal breaker, I think you need to be looking at not more than 10 minutes on the tube if you want a total journey time of 35-40 minutes. That gives you 15 minutes for Paddington to office, and 10-15 for home to tube, plus the tube taking longer than the advertised time.

How about the Southfields-Wimbledon stretch? Great primary schools in that area and straight to Paddington on the District Line (about 30 minutes).

If private is an option, there is a new private school near where I live that is opening this year which I know has places. Might be worth a look - www.wandsworthprep.com

mothership/mrs joe, this may seem like a basic question, but how normal or feasible is it for folks to have a car in ealing? i m saying this in the event our kids get into a school a fair distance from our home.

all in all, ealing/hanwell seems to have nice schools and quick/easy connections to paddington, and is currently among my top choices.

smartarse, thanks for the suggestion, i just met yesterday over lunch with a friend who has lived for several years in wimbledon, and who almost sold me about it, considering the nice schools and houses there. It does entail a longer commute but i think i need to broaden my horizon to enjoy a better quality of life possibly (better housing options, assured schooling, green areas).

Re cars, totally feasible- you'd probably have to park on the street (just get a resident's parking permit from the council for which you have to pay around £100/yr) and you obviously cant guarantee you'll be able to park near your house, but lots of people in London do have cars

BUT BUT BUT, traffic in the mornings is pretty bad. You could end up spending 3 hrs a day on the school run

Concur with RichMan having the car is no problem - getting anywhere at that time of day might be!

Hanwell is a bit patchy, some lovely bits and not so great bits, like anywhere in London really, Ealing itself has more good bits, but then you obviously get less for your money. We're down the road in Northfields and I am very happy here.