New to Richmond

[expat123]

Hi All!

I have just moved to the UK from Malaysia (I'm Australian), accompanied by my hubby and 4-year-old daughter. We've been staying in a holiday let in Windsor for 6 weeks, but have finally found a rental house in The Vineyard, Richmond, which we'll be moving into around March 7th. I'm very keen to meet people and get involved in local life - are there any meetup groups or book clubs in the Richmond area?
We've just started the in-year admissions procedure for DD - council have told us that probably only Holy Trinity can offer her a Reception place at this stage. Naively we were hoping The Vineyard School might slot her in, but will have to go on a waiting list and keep our fingers crossed. She's really missing the stimulation of school and I'm missing the free time! Hopefully we'll know soon what is happening.
This is a great resource and a godsend for all newcomers!

Hi welcome to the area try putting DD down for marshgate too it's a great school as for groups in the area there is a playgroup at holy trinity church on a monday, the barn church attwood avenue on monday and friday, windsor road on tuesday this are all mornings and windham road tuesday am and thursday pm (although last 2 may have changed). Parks there are obviously richmond park, there is a park by the red cow pub, windham road park and north sheen reck.

Hi Expat!
Welcome to Richmond! I live on the Vineyard too, and would be happy to join you for a coffee when you've settled in?

Hi,

We are just round the corner from you too. Lots of groups that you could take her to just to keep her going until school kicks. how about going to the Alberts playground by the Whitehorse? Always lots of kids there....if it wasn't for this rubbish weather... I have a dd just about to turn 5 who would be happy to play.

That all sounds great! Thanks so much for your responses. DollyDiamond and jane1234 we'd love to catch up with you both. We just collected the keys to our place last night and once our shipment arrives from Malaysia in about a week's time, we can settle in properly. We have loved living in beautiful Windsor and it's a bit of a wrench to leave, but Richmond seems lovely and full of families. We look forward to the move!

there is a general chat thread here with a few meet-ups both daytime and evening. I know that Kew Riverside has a reception space but I'm guessing its too far for you to do daily. Holy Trinity seems to be OK tough.

sorry here

Also worth buying an annual pass to Kew Gardens as many summer daytimes meets are there (kids go free and annual pass for an adult is about £60 I think). Good playground and Climbers and creepers under cover in the event of rain.

Hi welcome to Richmond!

There are book clubs run at the libraries if that's your thing(at least there used to be).

I can personally recommend the following:

www.forsanityssake.com - brilliant activities calendar and weekly email update.

Richmond Netmums meetups have a Facebook page and meet regularly but tend to be more for babies/toddlers

Richmond NCT are quite active in the area and although some of their activities will be a bit more suited to those with v young children there are still lots of things to join in with and there is talk of setting up a book group. Find them at www.facebook.com/richmondnct I think they have a walk to Petersham nursery on Friday. I follow them on Twitter because as well as baby/pregnancy stuff they also tweet about local events and activities and things parents might like at twitter.com/richmondnct

Finally, a new local Richmond branch of parenting forum www.nappyvalleynet.com has just launched and might be worth a look too.

Of course you can't go wrong with MN! There is a local chat page you can join under this topic if you haven't already.

x-post with Kewcumber who has mentioned the chat thread and second her suggestion to get a Kew Gardens pass.

and I should add that quite a few of us on MN locally have 4/5/6 yr olds.

Going to check out forsanitysakes now (learn something new every day!)

fwiw, Holy Trinity has really improved recently and I know many parents who have chosen it over Sheen Mount (extremely popular school with extremely small catchment area so very hard to get place at). Parents at HT are very happy with it and so are their DCs.

That info on Holy Trinity is good to know, as we're not sure about whether we're happy for DD to go there. At the moment we're 2nd on waiting list for The Vineyard School, 3rd for Marshgate and 5th for Kew Riverside, so even if we don't like HT, hopefully we can get a place at one of our preferred schools sooner rather than later!

2nd is quite high but I'd be amazed if 5 9of DS's classmates drop out of school! There are only 30 placs at riverside so you ned 5 of 30 to drop out whereas marshgate have three class intake this year so you need 3 of 90 to drop out which I guess is more acheivable. No idea about Vineyard though.

Interesting heads up on waiting lists Kewcumber - I hadn't thought about class sizes when they told us our position! I think The Vineyard School also has fairly small classes, so might be a longer wait than we initially thought. Great to have inside info from mums who know the system inside out - we have found the whole thing completely baffling and have not been given much help by the Borough.

Thanks for the link to the local chat page too. It's easy to feel a bit out of place when you move to a new area. Everyone's been very welcoming.

The Vineyard has 2 classes in reception at the moment, so 60 children in total. Marshgate, The Vineyard, Sheen Mount and ?? have to each take a bulge class on a 4 yearly rotation due to huge demand.

Hi Expat, Welcome to Richmond. I love just up the road from you on Montague. There is a lovely leisure centre/ gym up the hill on Richmond Hill called Cedars Leisure Centre. There is also a nice balcony spa there which is great when you need to pamper yourself for an hour or two. The park is just nearby so you'll have lots of opportunities to see wild deer and bunnies at the park. There are also lots to do in the immediate area. There is a swimming pool, community centre just off A316 (near the Royal Mail Depot) where you can join for £15 a year and go swimming for only £3.50 per swim. There is also a community college RACC in the same area (behind Carluccio's restaurant) where you can take some courses -great way to meet other locals. I took a food hygiene safety course there and met lots of lovely people. There is also a knitting club that meets at The Tea Box each Tuesday on Halford road, very near the Vineyard. Have you registered for a local GP and Dentist? I know Perfect Smile Dental (across from Richmond station) are still taking new NHS patients. Hope to meet you for a coffee sometime soon. Welcome to Richmond! =)

All Richmond Borough parents need to be aware that the council is looking to make some significant changes to Secondary Schools over the coming years, which could impact existing schools, so check out the thread: "New Secondaries for Richmond Borough" and join the debate. The council will hopefully listen to parents' views, but we can only engage in the process if we know what's going on.

I know this is an old thread but would love current views of holy trinity- thinking of choosing this over sheen mountwhich just seems too big now