Guildford Schools

[LisaF123]

Dear Surrey Mums,

We are moving to Guildford coming September. We have an 8 year old boy (he will be in third grade next year).
We are Canadians and live currently in US and know very little about the schools in UK. My husband accepted a reader position at University of Surrey, and. at least for the beginning. that will be our only income.
We are desperately searching for info about housing and school system in Guildford and surroundings. We are both working in academia and price our careers, but are the most important thing for us is that our son gets an as good as possible education.

Could you please share your opinions/advice about what would be the best scenario for us ? I understand that for state schools one needs to live in close proximity, that there are waiting lists etc. We will only be able to physically move to Guildford in late August, is it still possible to register our son then ?

Thank you so much.

Lisa

Thank you.

Hi Lisa. Did you finally get moved here? We just relocated back to the UK after five years in South America, and have found the adjustment a struggle. So when I saw your notes about schools, houses, etc I really could empathize! We have a boy aged 9 and a girl aged 7 and are still struggling with the school thing, as finding places has been a nightmare, especially in year 3. It seems there was a bumper crop of kids born in 2004. We now have kids in two different schools on opposite sides of town, complicated by two very full-on jobs.

Anyway - just checking in to see if you are settling in ok and to introduce myself. I am also North American - would love to tap into a social network here, so if you want to meet up, give me a shout!

Greta

Dear Mums,

I am sorry I did not have a chance to write.

Yes, we moved here at the beginning of September and everything is a struggle since then (at least for me).

Fortunately, we have found a place at one of the relatively good schools (but not our choice), and this seems to be the best thing so far (because I do find that school good--at least so far). Of course, my husband loves his job, but everyday I am wondering whether it was the best decision to move, and quite often I am thinking to find ways to move back. I am originally from Europe and even being close to my parents does not alleviate the struggle.

I find everything here very expensive, while the salary level is at best the same as in the US (in my field, it is less by one third, at least). We have started looking for a house, and found one, but I am having a hard time deciding to pay what we would have paid for a house at least three times bigger in the US.

I still compare the prices with those in the US, and it is painful...maybe I should stop doing that. ...We used to buy lots of books for our son, or legos, but now, since everything is sensibly more expensive, we would probably need to limit that.

The access to the medical system also makes me nervous. Maybe I am used with the freedom in the US (when you have insurance) and the easy access to the best facilities, but it is a little hard to accept to see a doctor just in the area where you live, while knowing almost anything about the doctor treating you.

Welcome, Greta! I hope everything is now better for you. I am sorry for your struggle.

And thank you everyone again for all your help...and I am sorry about complaining so much.

I will keep in touch.

The South East of England is very expensive, I'm not sure where you come from, but London has to be compared to New York, and places like Guildford to expensive suburbs.
But if you haven't already do look at the stages of relocation heres one verion, because you are probably suffering one of them. It is also much harder to move in winter as people are around a lot less.
Do try to get to know your GP, it will give you more confidence. If referred you do not necessarily have to just go to the local hospital, you can ask to be referred elsewhere. Did you take out private healthcare? If so you will find Guildford is quite well provided with Private hospitals.
But just try and take it as an interesting adventure, you don't have to stay here forever.

Thank you very much for the encouragement.

After we moved form Canada, we lived in LA, Philadelphia and more recently in New York City area. We lived in a NYC suburb (less than 30 mins commute to Manhattan; the bus just costs the equivalent of 2 GBP each way) with outstanding schools, where we rented a house for not much more than we pay now for an apartment; and the access to the school system was guaranteed once we proved that we lived in that area. In Philadelphia, where there are a lot of great schools, everything is sensibly cheaper.
Here you need 1GBP to buy what 1 USD buys there (clothes, books, food etc)...so I hope you understand my shock.

As I said, we moved a lot and thought we would adjust easily (as it happened before), but not it seems more difficult...maybe also because we are older :-)

But I look around and see that people seem happy, so I hope somehow I will adjust.

We do have private health insurance, and we pay 200GBP/month, a lot, I would say, given that each month we also pay for the state system (in our profession, the salaries are not too high)...but it is still hard to decide not to have it.

I was hoping to sta here forever, after so many "adventures" already :-)

Thank you again, have a nice weeked

I lived in Chicago for a while and loved how cheap everything was, and I had a choice of big 1 bed apartments (a very different situation to the UK). Do what Brits do when going to the US and stock up on things: Bicarbonate of Soda, Shampoo etc.
In the UK Biscuits and sweets are cheaper, oh and pushchairs. The wages for your kind of area aren't high either.
But the countryside is beautiful, and people are nice once you get to know them (initially reserved but very welcoming once you get to know them, a bit different from the US).
Oh one other thing that is cheaper is health stuff. EG. I and my DH's ex boss both needed a bridge on our teeth. She paid $2000, I paid about £200, both private. The cost of self-funded operations is not always that bad in the UK (I've looked at the cost of a hip replacement at Mount Alvernia and coudl imagine finding the cash if I ever needed one).
Have a good Christmas!