Moving to Cambridge area and feeling overwhelmed

[BalconyBirdie]

Hi there!

We're relocating from the US to the Cambridge area in 4 weeks. We're really excited, as it looks lovely, but also a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out the living/schooling options. I have so many questions and am not sure the best place to turn, so hoping some patient moms might have some advice/suggestions.

I guess our two big points of concern are housing and schools. We'd ideally like to find something to rent with 2 bedrooms, at least a small garden, and plenty of parks/green space close by, but don't know if that's at all reasonable in the area on our estimated budget of £1,000 pcm or so (and even that is kind of a guess since we don't know what food, utilities, etc. average). Since we don't have a point of comparison for cost of living, we don't know how affordable Cambridge is itself, or whether we should basically rule that out and look just at the outlying villages, etc. DH's job is off Newmarket Road, so we don't want to be like hours away from that.

Our daughter turns 5 at the end of July and this will be her first year in the UK school system. Until now, she has done part-time preschool, but I haven't been able to find a list of skills or anything that is expected for children in her age bracket to see if she will be behind or not. We'd like to find a school that is very good (obviously), but also nurturing, given that she'll be very much the outsider and possibly a bit behind too.

Does anyone have thoughts/suggestions on good places to start looking? (Or areas that we definitely shouldn't look in?)

Other questions I have:
*If the school in your catchment area is oversubscribed, how is it determined what school you wind up going to? Do you have to apply? Do you just get assigned to another school? (How do schools become oversubscribed?)

Here, church-run schools are usually very* religious (and politically very conservative). It seems a lot of the primary schools are listed as Church of England schools -- how big a role is religion in these schools, or does it vary widely from school to school?

I have many more questions, but don't want to write a book here. Any advice is appreciated since I'm starting from scratch, know almost nothing, and have just 4 weeks to figure it out. :)

Thanks in advance!

No advice on schooling, sorry, my dd is only 6 months old so we're a way off that yet!
But your house budget sounds good, have a look on rightmove.co.uk for rentals, most of the larger agents use it as well as smaller, local firms.
Best of luck with your move.

Hi,

I just posted your question on Mumsnet Cambridgeshire social media

For keeping an eye on what on & competitions you might want to like our Mumsnet Cambs Page www.facebook.com/MumsnetCambridgeshire

There is also a dedicated Mumsnet Cambridge site that you should post your question on local.mumsnet.com/Talk/cambridge/local-active

There's a very active Facebook mums group here www.facebook.com/groups/293571960798759/

Some local newspapers which might give you an idea of the property prices

cambridge-news.ezadspro.co.uk/
www.cambstimes.co.uk/home/property

You were quick off the mark Mogz

Thank you for the suggestions! I just cross-posted to the Cambridge forum and will check out the Facebook group.

That's great I'll see you on there

Hi BalconyBirdie
Hows the planning going?

hi there,
if everything goes as planned, I'll be moving to Cambridge, too, soon, from the US. Wish me luck in scoring the job. Likewise, I am nervous. I know this is what I want, yet it is difficult to grasp.
I have 2 kids myself, but until I am settling down, they will be staying with dad in the States. They are 12 yrs old boy and 8 yrs old girl. I am just going to bring my cat over, because if I leave him, he'll make the whole house couldn't sleep.

Thanks for the link, too. I will be trying to find a room to rent or apartment, which allow me to bring my cat. I hope one day we could meet. Wish me luck with everything.

I would recommend moving to the mill road/romsey town area as there is loads of stuff going on and you'll find it easy to make friends there. Your budget sounds about right i think although you may be looking at up to 1200 pcm - be aware though its all terraced housing round there (2-3 beds) so may feel very small compared to what you are used to. Other advantages are you can walk everywhere. However housing is cheaper nearer Newmarket road but not sure what the sense of community is like there.

Re church schools - mostly they are overly religious especially at primary level here but that is just a generalisation.
If you go on the school's website you should be able to follow a link to the admissions criteria (usually on that website or occasionally from the local authorities) which is worth looking at - but basically factors usually considered include siblings already at the school, distance from the school (can vary how they measure that though - straight line or by roads), and for church schools how closely affiliated you are with the local churches (normally letter from the priest).

With a few exceptions, Church Primary Schools are no more/less religious than other schools. It's a quirk of how they were set up originally, and some have passed over to LA control.

My dc have attended 2 primaries in Cambridgeshire. One was not a church school, however the head was a committed Christian and there were quite a few religious elements to the school. We then moved and the local school happened to be CofE. No one ever asked our religious affiliation. The head at the Church school was an atheist, and there was no particular religious bent to the school. All primaries have to hold a Christian assembly every day, whether or not they are church schools.

It's different for some of the Catholic Primaries in the city, and at secondary level St Bede's does ask for evidence of your Christian commitment.

Bruiny -- good luck with your job! I'd love to meet up some time.

Thank you for the info Jules and MrsGrow. The daily church assembly is so different than here.. but then again, so is pretty much your whole system.

Just one week until we fly out -- it's so hard to figure out what areas might be good just from poking around online.

Have you made any decisions?

Some of the nearby villages will definitely be cheaper, (and you may get more living space for your money) but it depends what sort of place you want to live in.

I suppose with your daughter, moving once you get here or staying somewhere temporary would be too difficult.

Newmarket is easily accessible for Newmarket road (15 minutes, may be worse at busy times), and there are other villages nearby. Rent would be cheaper here, but it's not always easy finding a house with its own parking and you may not like every estate.

Newmarket (for example) has the basic shops, eating places, leisure/sports centre etc you would need, but there's more choice and more big names in Cambridge, and a wider mix of people/cultures/activities. The bus service is also better in Cambridge. (Though one does run between the 2, Mon-Sat, twice hourly to hourly.) With a car you'd still easily be able to get to shops/cinema in Cambridge or another town eg. Bury St Edmunds.

I don't know about schools, sorry.

Hope I was some sort of help. Good luck!