Can this work? Moving to Cambridge from Australia

[SuperGlumFairy]

I currently live in Australia but my husband is from Cambridge and so I lived there for a short time some 15 years ago and loved it. We have since been back a couple of times, most recently in 2010.

My husband and I are now separating and he wishes to return to Cambridge. I am considering going too. We have 3 children and I don't want them to not have a relationship with their father, I don't feel like I have much left here in Australia anyway, no job, no family and just a few friends. I have a British passport so no dramas there.

I won't qualify for any JSA payments, Income Support, Housing Benefit as I will likely have too much in savings from the sale of our house here so hope to live off that for the first 1-2 years while I let my current back injury heal more. I believe I would get Child Benefits and Child Tax Credits so about 200 a week there plus husband's CS etc

Is 500 a week enough to rent a nice 3-4 bedroom house plus gas,water, electric, house insurance, groceries, council tax and TV license? It's a rough budget but I am looking at either going to Cottenham, Swavesey or Ely if anyone has any thoughts on those schools/villages? I don't drive and for me Ely would be perfect but I know the Community College there seems to have had some issues. My Miss 13 is very bright but also very shy and not sure how she will cope with the change even though she wants us to go. Cottenham Village College and Swavesey both seem to have excellent feedback also.
Ideally I would like to be walking distance to both a secondary school and primary school for my 8 year old twins, as I don't drive..which also means I need a village that has everything I need..ie Dr, corner shop, dentist, post office etc
Am I asking too much? I prefer to be in that general direction mostly because my In-Laws are based out that way and we'd like to be close to them for the children's sake.

If anyone has any thoughts I would love to hear them and any info on what I can expect utility price wise or with trying to get the children into schools there. I am not even sure what Yr level they would go into!? I am a bit confused with the way it works.

Sorry for the epic post..so many questions in my head.Thanks so much for reading.

It is indeed very £££ to run a car here. Why not move to Cambridge itself? It will be relatively easy not to have a car in Cambridge.

EFA are there are any parts of Cambridge in particular you would recommend? Must have a good secondary college is a big priority for me. Would love to hear your thoughts on where could be some good places closer into the city. I used to live in Chesterton so I guess I am more familiar with that side of town but willing to look in most directions at this point.

TBH I think all the secondary schools in Cambridge are good. I like the south - you could go to Great or Little Shelford villages (Sawston Village College) or the new development being built in Trumpington - new secondary about ot be built being run by the successful Parkside Federation.

Cherry Hinton is cheaper but handy for Cambridge, or you should also consider the areas of Cambridge City to the south, near Addenbrookes.

In as much as there are any worse areas to live in Cambridge it would be Arbury in the north.

you might want to look at rents OP - quite high in central cambridge -but would make non drivng easier
villages to the south would have the same problems as those to the north
I would ring the LA about spaces -sure there are cheap phone deals from oz there is a fair amound of movement in and out in many schools - so you will have to ask for now - it will give you a feel anyway .

I think really the only opition for non driving and emergencies is to budget a certain amount for taxis -

Villages to the south that I mentioned are less than 2 miles from Cambridge. Apart from histon/impington, the northern villages mentioned are a lot further away.

Great shelford is 4.5 miles from cambridge centre
cherry hinton does have good links to cambridge - what is the secondary for there?

Netherhall.

Gt Shelford has loads of great shops and facilities and its own train station.

Netherhall is supposed to be one of the best secondary schools. We're going to be in the Coleridge catchment but have asked for Netherhall (I don't know if we'll get in there though).

I was actually surprised at the ofsted reports for Cambridge sec schools when I read them - I was expecting scores of mostly 2 for a lot of them but they were getting 3's in many areas. My husband went to Manor which was probably the worst school at the time but Manor was getting the same scores as Parkside and Chesterton in a lot of areas on the reports I read.

But if you're interested in Netherhall, I think it's mainly the Queen Edith estate and some parts of Cherry Hinton for the catchment area. The Cambs LEA website mentions primary schools in the catchment areas so you should probably aim to get into one of those if your children are 8 years old at the moment.

the village colleges outside Cambridge are often considered to be good schools. We were thinking of Sawston at one point but we're moving into the city now.

If you're not driving though I agree with what someone else said and consider moving into the city (you can get a bike instead!).

As for moving from Oz - I think it'll be OK, a bit of a lifestyle change I'm sure but hopefully you will get to know people. We're in a similar situation. Moving back from 10 years in Asia so it will be a lot different for our kids especially who were really young when we moved away. The thing about Cambridge though is that it's one of those cities where you get a lot of new people so it can make it easier to make friends than in some places with a less transient population.

I think the only thing you can do is email the council school admission teams about the avalibility of school places:

This is the site and the contact details are on the right -www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/education/primaryeducation/applyprimary/

They are really very good (I'm going through admissions for my dd who is starting in year two, we are moving from a different county). I guess you have to find a house and school that you think will work and then either go for it or not. Have you looked on rightmove at the diffrent villages ect...??

Wish you the best of luck!

I have contacted the LEA but they were not very helpful as I can't apply at all until I have an address (ie rental contract) and due to the fact they always have admission applications coming in even if they had a spot available now, they may not by the time we get there. Of course I understand this but it's not very helpful. There is no point me getting a house right next to Ely College or one of the primary schools if there is no chance me getting a place at the schools. I would rather get a house closer to a school I can get into or at least closer to a bus stop that would take daughter to Witchford or Soham (assuming she got placed into one of those)
Going around in circles at the moment.

You can download from [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/education/parents/admission/apply2012/] which secondary schools were oversubscribed this year. Generally speaking if they're not oversubscribed at the start, they're quite likely to have places for your 13 year old.
Best bet would be to find somewhere to within a reasonable travelling distance of at least one of the schools that isn't generally oversubscribed.

The other thing you should do if you do move to Cambridge City (or nearby) - especially if you don't drive - is to make sure you and yoru kids all cycle well. Nearly all secondary age kids in Cambridge city cycle to school. Driving around the city is very slow, the busses (especially in the city itself) are pretty poor - expensive and unreliable - but cycling is the way that most people get about.

Try the hyperlink again - here

Thanks for the tips. I have been in touch with the LEA and they sent me the current (at the time) list of which of my preferred schools had spaces and waiting lists etc.

I am nearly 100% certain we will be headed to Ely, I am going to start 13yr old at Ely College and see how it goes, they do have space for her too which helps. Unfortunately both Lantern and St John's Primary are full, St Mary's school has one place available (though speaking to the school they seemed to suggest they could accommodate both my twins) so my plan is to get over to Ely, get an address in the Ely College/Lantern catchment but be prepared to walk a mile or so to St Mary's if that is where the twins end up. I will try to get on the waiting list for Lantern but at worst it is only 3 years until they would then go to Ely College anyway. There seems no other way to do it. Everything I want and need is in Ely, and a bright child should do well regardless of the school really. Soham is full with 6 on the waiting list for the secondary school and Witchford has places available if we needed to take that option in the future.
I love all the new development I see coming to North Ely as well so I think we will be well placed. I think Cambridge city would just be too full on for us laid back suburban Aussies ;)

All going well we should be coming over in the approx 4-8 weeks (dates still up in the air at this stage and waiting for Ex to make his mind up about some issues still) We have an offer on the house though, passports are not back yet, about to sort out a rabies jab and transport for the cat too! Quite exciting and scary too to be starting life as a single mama in a whole new country.

Good to hear you got it sorted.

You won't need a rabies jab to come to the UK - no rabies her for decades. And jabs for it aren't routinely given to those of us that live her. Only if you travel to some parts of the continent.

Good luck with your move.

Cambmum...oh the rabies shot is for the cat not us! She needs to have it before she can enter the country. Can't believe it will cost more to get the cat into the country then one of us, to me she is completely worth it though I know she is going to be very stressed. I just can't be without her though, we've already had to rehome our other pets..I can't lose her as well.