Moving to Teddington/Hampton Wick - how to meet people?!

[Cbeebie]

Hi, I'm super excited as we are hopefully moving to Teddington/Hampton Wick in December. I have a 2.5 year old and a 11 month old and know no-one so would like some tips as to the best way to meet people! Also, I am currently trying to find a pre-school for my eldest but have so far drawing a blank as they all seem to have long waiting lists; does anyone have any tips?

Hi Cbeebie. Don't worry, you won't have any problems meeting people if you have young children. The whole borough is full of young families and there is a lot of mobility in and out of the borough, so always lots of scope for new friendships.

There are also lots of people who, despite having lived here for some time, don't really get to know their community until they have children, because they originally moved here for work and then commuted into London each day. In many cases they live a long way from extended families, and so people rely on local friendship groups formed through ante-natal groups, pre-schools, schools, and lots and lots of extra-curricular activity classes ... everything from baby massage to fencing for tots! You'll find that local playgrounds are very friendly places too.

My only advice is ... don't get too attached to your neighbours! People move house at the drop of a hat, especially when school catchments fluctuate, as they do quite a lot.

Hi
For pre schools the school nurseries at Hampton Wick and Collis are both highly regarded and oversubscribed . The list for 2014 entry closes in January at some point so you still have chance there if you live close enough !
There is also St Mary and St Peter pre school,Sacred Heart kindergarten ,Stanley primary nursery /playwam/the pavillion/building blocks

They all work on distance to school and siblings have priority . Sacred heart is on a first come first served basis as is the pavillion and playwam
Hope that is helpful
Good luck

Thanks for the responses both. Looking at the catchment map, we should be well within ithe catchment for hampton wick infants so fingers crossed for that. Now I just need to find a pre-school place for my eldest until next September which is proving rather more challenging!

If your big one is 2.5 they should be able to go to hampton wick nursery in sept 2014 . We got in a few years back but were 650 metres away and were offered an afternoon place . But I still snapped it up.
If you need something between now and next September yes things will be tricky you are likely to only get a place at the chain nurseries eg asquith but I don't think that is what you are looking for .