Dorchester

[crikeybadger]

Hi there,
We currently have our house on the market and are looking to move to Dorchester. We're currently in a village in Somerset so are looking to have a bit more going on and Dorchester fits the bill on quite a few levels.

We know Dorchester fairly well but mainly in terms of the town centre and the facilities. All the primary schools seem to be excellent, but in terms of places to live, are there any areas that we should steer clear of? I get the impression that most of Dorchester is fine, but would be good to have some insider knowledge.

I know places like Fordington are very nice, but probably out of our price range as we have 3 DCs and DH would need an office at home too.

What is the Damers Road area like? Or the area generally around the hospital?

Hope someone can share their thoughts,

TIA

Just a wee bump for any Dorch residents.

Hi,

Dorchester is a very low crime town and the area around the hospital is okay. If you want to pm me any streets that you are interested in i can let you know what I think.

Don't want to offend anyone.

Thanks for that sailorsgal- will do over the next few days.

Funnily enough, I've spent most of the day in Dorch Hospital with DS who broke his arm at the park -maybe I was tempting fate by asking about the housing near the hospital.

Poor DS hope he recovers soon. I don't think there is a grotty bit of Dorchester, if there is I have't found it yet. We live in a village just outside but spend lots of time in town. My concern would be parking and residents' permits or living on a road near a school as you have to contend with lots of coaches. But sounds like sailorsgal is on the case for you. We love it here. Moved from London a couple of years ago.

Oh thanks Mummyrev, it's been a bit of a shocker of a day really. He's got to stay in overnight so DH is with him now and I've come back with the other 2 DS.

Good point about the parking permits, I think they are about sixty pounds a year.

Glad to hear that you like it- I can't wait to move once we've sold the damn house.

Sorry to hear about your ds. Do you need anything?

Good point about parking. Damers road itself can be pretty bad at times and yes most of the streets around there are on permits which can be a bit of a pain.

There are some lovely villages on the outskirts, eg Broadmayne and their school also has a good reputation.

Good luck with selling your house.

That's such a kind offer sailorsgal, but it's fine. He's just gone in for the op now.

We really want to be within walking distance of the town centre and schools. We live in a village at the mo and I get quite frustrated that I spend most of my days ferrying the kids around in the car. Am also looking forward to small things like the cinema, a deli and a decent coffee shop.

I know what you mean, thats why I moved into town. When we had the snow last year I didn't move the car for over a week.

Not sure how old your children are but Manor park school feeds into the better middle school St. Osmunds. Out of Damers school and Prince of Wales I've heared the latter and they both lead into Dorchester Middle school.

Plenty of cafes in Dorchester thats for sure.

So is St Osmunds generally accepted as the better middle school then? We have 2 DS of first school age and one who is a toddler.

It's a different system to Somerset so I guess it's important to look at the Middle schools as well as the primaries. The catchment area for St Osmunds seems to be east of a line drawn at Weymouth Ave so that will affect where we look at houses.

So I have heared. How old are your boys?

If you have a toddler the better preschools are The Grove, next to Damers School and Dorchester Community nursery on York Road which has an excellent reputation.

Re: which is the better middle school - it depends what you are looking for. Dorchester Middle is fantastic on the maths and science side. My dd has just finished there and has done well. Prince of Wales First School has just had (yet another) excellent Ofsted and the best option if you want a smaller, non-denominational school.

Can also recommend the Prince of Wales preschool.

I know the reception class at Prince of Wales was at full capacity last year.
The area around this school is very nice though and it does look like a lovely school. One side of Poundbury is in the catchment and the other half isn't.

Thanks for another view Stropperella, now I have lots to consider.
Manor Park and Damers have about four times as many pupils as our current school which could be a bit daunting I guess, so I'll have a look at PoW too.

sailorsgal- they are about to go into yr1 and yr2 respectively. Just dawned on me that I'll have to do multiple drop offs.

crikeybadger, why would you have to do multiple drop-offs? yr1 and yr2 are on the same site. Also, the PoW preschool is on the same site as the school and the Grove preschool is on the same site as Damers.

Unless of course you mean that you might not get them into the same school...

No, I was thinking that at some point one will go to middle and one will still be at first school.

I didn't know that area was called Victoria Park. That would be the only area that i would probably avoid but its not all bad.

Ds is will be going into year 1 too.

Good point Stropperella- I'd forgotten that at some point they'll go by themselves to school. DS would be highly embarrassed if I tried to accompany him.

I think you're right though, the schools are all good in Dorchester, so it's just choosing one that suits our boys I suppose. It's hard to work out though if we pick the house we like and then the school follows from there, or if we only look at houses in the catchment areas of the school we prefer.

It's all immaterial at the mo anyway, until we can sell the house.

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone.