Moving to southend help....

[Newtosouthend]

Hi all, we are planning on moving to southend due to my husbands job being relocated. We have 3 children 5,3 and 20 months. I was just hoping anyone had any recomendations on schools and nurseys in the area only I dont know where to start!! Thank you x

Hi Newto,
Southend is a big, mixed area so I'm not surprised you're feeling over-whelmed! I'm in Leigh, which is regarded as quite a family area with good schools. Where are you moving from and where is your husband going to be based? Do you have to be near a train station? Will you be renting at first?

Hi thanks for the reply. We r in staffordshire at the moment waiting for our house to sell. Yes as we do not know the area we will be renting at first. we do need to be near a train station about half hour walk away max as my husband will be commuting to the centre of london every day. We have visited southend a few times and I have been doing some resarch on the net. My main concern is getting my daughter into the right school for her as she has a few extra needs that need to be took into concideration. Have you heard anything about st marys primary school?. We are waiting results from an assesment my daughter had for aspergers although she can go to a mainstream school it needs to be one that can meet her needs as the school shes at at now havent a clue.

Gosh that really is a big move then!
I have heard good things about st Mary's - more so recently. I don't know prittlewell v well tho.
My sons old school north street was considered good on sen but that is in Leigh.
Fairways has a good reputation on special needs too.
There are two train lines into London from Southend - one to Liverpool street and one to fen church st/tower hill. Both are good but the fen church st might be better.

Thanks for that I will look into fairways school as its one ive not come across yet. Not sure which station will be best will look into that to. Yes its a massive move all on our own but im hoping its the best move school wise as we have exausted all our options here!! Ive only realy looked into st marys as it seems to be the only church school in the area and she goes to a church school now. Were not overly religious so may have to widen our search. Are there any areas or schools in southend we shud be looking to avoid or

You could have a look at the ofsted reports although they are quite hard to decipher I think. All the primary schools are ok-ish I think (diplomatic!). Southend is a grammar school area so keep that in mind if you are planning to stay long-term and consequently, a few of the secondary schools are not seen as so great.

Would you not recomend the primary schools then? Ive looked at the ofsteads for a few schools were we have seen some houses we like the look of. But for us its not all about the ofstead maybe we shud make some appointments to look around a few and get a feel for them. Thanks for the tip about the secondary schools, I hadnt even thought that far ahead. But I think thats good news, for us anyway as there are no grammer schools were we currenly are.

Oh no, I meant, there aren't many primary schools to avoid.
Bare in mind though, that some parts of Southend are deprived - so this has an impact.
I think for family-friendly living, Leigh is more pleasant - plus its that few minutes nearer London - and I would probably recommend North Street school first and then Chalkwell. Westleigh is a good school with a reputation for being pushy - and not so good on SENs. I don't know tho. They are all popular schools.

Leigh, Chalkwell and the Leigh end of Westcliff are very nice to live in - we lived there, near Chalkwell Park for 14 years. If you go north of the London Road/A13, house prices drop.

All three dses went to Chalkwell Hall School, which had a very good reputation then - not sure now, as we moved away some 4 years ago, and my youngest is now 15. Leigh North Street always had a good reputation too. Darlinghurst was improving a lot when we were there, and had a really good 'feel' when we went round it.

St Michael and All Angels church, on Leigh Road, had a good pre-school, as did Leigh Road Baptist Church, which also had a friendly toddler group - I say 'had' not 'has' simply because I don't have up to date information on them, not because they aren't good any more.

When the dses were little, and I was working, they went to Little Treasures day nursery in Westcliff, and we were always very happy with the care that they got there. LT did before and after school care, with drop-offs at some local schools (including Chalkwell Hall, iirc), so can carry on providing care once children are of school age.

I had a friend who's daughter went to West Leigh school, and they found it pushy and not very good with children who weren't round pegs in round holes, if you know what I mean - though again, that might have changed in recent years.

When it comes to senior schools, Southend still offers selective education at Southend High Schools for Boys and for Girls, and Westcliff High Schools for Boys and for Girls (four separate schools, iyswim). Ds1 went to Westcliff High, and ds2 to Southend High, and a friend's dd went to Southend High for Girls, and we were very impressed with the quality of the education they were getting. Belfairs High has also improved a lot, as far as I know, and is doing a lot of building so has good facilities.

I loved living in Southend - I found it to be a very friendly place, and I made a circle of friends who were, and still are, very dear to me, even though I know live 450 miles away.

Good luck with your move.

Thank you both for your advise it has been very helpfull. Will now do some more research on the sugested schools and areas.. Thanks again

Can I just ask when u say deprivred areas just roughly where are we looking at?

Um, I guess those areas nearer southend high street or shoebury, although there is a lovely conservation area right near the town centre too.
Best thing, of course, is to spend some time wandering around.

Yes we got the same impression when we looked around. I thought id missed an area then, my fav.area was close to thorpe bay. leigh sounds nice we only drove through it, if I remeber rightly its quite hilly, very nice though will have to research the area more.

Thorpe Bay is regarded as quite 'posh' - Bounds Green is a nice school I've heard. There is much more space that way and its peaceful - altho some call it dull, but the downside is an extra 20/30 mins on the train to London.
If i were you, I would probably check out areas near Leigh or Chalkwell station, with a view to (leigh) North Street or Chalkwell School.

We prob wudnt be able to afford that area anyway as houses seem more expencive. Nice though we stayed at the roslin beach hotel there last time we visited was beautifull. Will have a more detailed look into leigh though and prob come for a longer trip next time to check out schools. Just waitin for our house to sell...

Ah the rosilin is lovely. Good luck newto, and any more questions, let us know xx

Ah the rosilin is lovely. Good luck newto, and any more questions, let us know xx

Twice? Sorry

Hi Newto

I have heard good things about St Mary's from friends whose dc's attend the school, and I think it is generally considered to be a very good school.

My DC's have attended both Barons Court and Milton Hall in Westcliff, Barons court is quite popular although very small so difficult to secure a place unless you live in the immediate area, also they have very limited outside space for the children to play now due to recently expanding the school. Milton Hall is a very large school, it does seem to have a bit of a bad reputation (unfairly imo) due to the fact that there is a real mix of students from different economic backgrounds and nationalities, however my dc's have thrived there. There is a real community feel to the school and an emphasis on recognising and encouraging the gifts of each individual child.

I agree with all quiet regarding areas to look into. Leigh is lovely, if you get a chance next time do visit old leigh, it's very quaint with cobbled streets, sweet little shops and kiosks selling fresh seafood. Chalkwell is also very nice as is Southend conservation area (around Cambridge Road/ Prittlewell Square)

Best of luck with your move!

Thanks for your post its great to hear from people who live in southend as we just got a map and picked the places we liked the sound off then visited a few of them! We were realy clueless about areas! Have done our reaserch now and we r keen to move to seos. Thanks for info on schools it has been a great help.