Best location for Perse School

[GnTmummy]

Hello all, we are looking into our son joining the Perse school for reception and need to think about where might be the best place to live. I was looking at Sawston as there's a pretty good nursery there for my daughter (Babraham?) and i could swing by that, drop her off, drop my son off at Perse and get to the station at Great Shelford. It looks great as a journey on a map - does anyone know this circuit? Know Sawston - can recommend it? Anyone living in Sawston and going to the Perse??!! Any advice greatly received ;-)

Cambridge traffic is awful.

Don't want to be too negative, but the Trumpington Rd area of Cambridge is in the early stages of a massive house building programme, so traffic is going to be even more of a nightmare than it already is. A Sawston/Babraham/Trumptington Rd area/ Great Shelford station journey in the rush hour is going to take you a long time.

They run buses from various park and rides (but I only know definately from prep up, don't know about pre-prep you would need to check). So then no need for you to drive into Cambridge yourself.

Hi all. Thank you for your honesty! Gosh, sounds hectic and a real challenge-best not look to move there then. I don't suppose any of you have a general idea where people move to for the school? Know anyone at the school? My other option is Cherry Hinton-I need to get to Liv St. I'm not sure about this area though! Any thoughts gratefully received, x

I guess within cycling/walking distance when they are so little.

Certainly older children come from quite a distance by train (the prep has a mini bus shuttle from the station so some must come in by train or I guess get left at station by commuting parents).

Live in a village on the Liverpool St line and send children in to Cam on train? Get an au pair to take them.

As a popular school, we draw our pupils from a wide range of independent and state schools across a large catchment area. Pupils travel in from Kings Lynn to the North, Bury St Edmunds to the East, Bishop's Stortford to the South and Huntingdon to the West and all areas in between. About 40% of our pupils live within Cambridge City.

Commuting is tiring and requires a high level of motivation and personal organisation. For this reason, lengthy commutes should only be undertaken by older pupils.

Many pupils take advantage of the excellent rail services (we are a 15 minute walk or a short bus journey from Cambridge station) or the parent organised school buses. The school encourages the use of public transport and provides minibus 'pick-ups' from Cambridge Park and Ride sites.

www.perse.co.uk/admissions/frequently-asked-questions/

What about some of the new build going on off Long Road or near Waitrose?

I suppose it depends how long until your ds starts, and the sort of house you want, but location wise they are on the right side and a cycle to the station.

Geez and there I was worried about dropping off at two different locations within the same village!

could you maybe find a nursery near the Perse then you only have one drop off(ish) which would resolve the school run problem (a little). Or follow the train line down and live in Great Shelford/Stapleford - Whittlesford? Meldreth? I can't remember the other villages on that trainline but I think there are a few that could work for you. I don't know much about Sawston but maybe it would be better to be easier... so maybe Shelford (expensive but close to Cambridge!)

good luck!

Realise this is a very old thread, but interested to know where you ended up living if you went ahead with Perse? We’re contemplating a move to Cambridge for the school and wondering which area to target? We’d hoped to be largely car free, but not sure that would be realistic with 2 kids at the different sites… Like the area around Mill Rd, but not sure how we’d make the school run work from there…

Hello, I am facing the same problem. My son is in Y10 at Perse. He commuted to Cambridge from Hitchin for one year already. We constantly look for a house mainly in Cherry Hinton with no luck. Most of the times you see a new property on rightmove and by the time you manage to get through to the agent all viewings are booked, or you are offered a time during the week when you need to work... Just wanted to learn how others succeed to move into this area.

Hi @Slapukas - Good luck with your search... Does your son get the train at the moment? Out of interest, are there any particular areas of Cambridge where lots of his school friends live - or are they all over the city? And what do parents do when they have kids at 2 separate sites? Are they just constantly driving / cycling between them?

Yes. Train to Cambridge and walk from station to school. He developed walking technique by now, so, when we go out, I have to almost jog to keep up with him 🙂 I am unsure where the most of kids live. My son mentioned that a few of his friends travel to school ~15 min. I guess, you have to commit to driving/cycling most of your time if you have several kids. We had a nanny for most of the time with our oldest son. She lived with us and took him to and from school. Now he is old enough to go on his own. Our younger one is in Y2, so he is in extra care and we share responsibility of dropping him to school between myself and my husband. We live 0.2 miles from his school, which is very handy.