Moving to Cambridge.. Where to begin?

[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!

Hello. Just wanted to start the ball rolling although I can't be very helpful with actual living areas because I don't know Cambridge (live in a small town 20 minutes drive a way, but there's a world of difference) but will try with the school bit.

All the primary admissions have already been allocated now, so if there are any spaces in the schools, Cambridge Local Authority who are actually responsible for admissions www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/info/20059/schools_and_learning/363/apply_for_a_school_place will have a list of available spaces. From there you can try and do your research on which schools to 'look' at, and therefore which area to go for.

Just remember that the schools break up for summer approx 23rd July so I dont think you'll have a chance to visit any when you get here.

My boys go to a C of E primary school. I think they all differ - they have a morning assembly where I guess they do some praise - they say grace at lunch - and they go to church services now and again, but I wouldn't say its overtly religious because many/most of the children that attend are there because the school is in catchment and not for religious reasons. I actually as a non-religious person don't mind the religious aspect as long as the lessons they teach along with the 'stories' give good messages. God is not mentioned every half hour, put it that way.

I should also say that you mentioned finding somewhere in outlying villages -always a good option, but be careful. I turned a job down in Cambridge based on the fact that I'd have to use the A14 which is a notoriously awful road. (I live in Godmanchester which is north of Cambridge) It should take 20 minutes to drive, but in rush hour, add on a LOT of time to that. There are towns on the 'guided bus route' which are in the Cambridge proximity - I have no clue if the bus route goes to Newmarket Road though - again someone more Cambridgey may be able to help you with that. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent.html Right Move is probably the best place to start when figuring out prices. (I haven't rented for years so I have no clue)

You could take a look at Ely, north of Cambs. Very good train connections (20 mins to Cambs, 1 hour to King's Cross, everywhere!), excellent schools and everything you need in a compact place. Is cheaper than Cambridge, bigger houses with great gardens... Maybe is worth a visit. :D

Hi there! If your DH is willing to commute by bicycle, that could widen your scope regarding either areas of Cambridge (all of it) or villages. You could try a site like rightmove.co.uk to see what's around housing-wise, then investigate the local schools. Agree with cocorita that you could also look along the train line; a new station is due for Chesterton in 2016.

I would watch out looking at places like Ely and basing it on getting a train as Newmarket road is a bit of a pain to get to from the station (Ely -> Cambridge probably not too bad a drive at rush hour but not ideal).

Just had a look at renting prices and it looks like you might get somewhere in Cambridge itself for that price, though not really being familiar with the rental market I am not sure if the things that are coming up would be grotty or not. E.g. I see a 3 bed off Mill Road for 1K a month but that sounds cheap to me so you might find it was a bit run down.

Guided bus probably (I think) goes to the edge of Newmarket road but not out along Newmarket road, so it depends where on Newmarket road he will work on whether that is useful.

I live in Fulbourn which is cheaper than town (and probably within budget for renting), but very easy to get to Newmarket road from (probably easier than most places in town if driving). It is also a very easy cycle ride too (20 mins or less depending on where on Newmarket road). I would have thought Fulbourn primary has spaces (I think officially it doesn't but that's because they haven't factored in that they are providing 2 new classes this year into the figures).

You could also look at Cherry Hinton - also good for Newmarket Road, and quite cheap by Cambridge standards. Not sure about the school spaces.

Similarly for convenient villages there is Teversham/Wilbraham/Balsham. Or Quy/Lode/Swaffhams. These should all be a decent travel time to your husbands work.

Oh and I agree about the C of E schools. I know plenty of non religious people who send their children to a C of E school, and I don't think they are what would be described as very religious or conservative over here.

Cycling would also open up Chesterton and Milton. Don't just see roads when you look at the map - look at cycle routes too www.camcycle.org.uk/ has useful mapping.

Personally I would stick to living in either in Cambridge itself, or just on the outskirts, like Cherry Hinton, Trumpington, Milton etc.

My favourite is Trumpington though. It's a straight road into city centre and it has a waitrose. Lots of green areas and the hospital is on your door step.

Having said that, almost anywhere in Cambridge would be lovely! Honestly it is just such a lovely city with just as lovely people :)

We paid £1000 PCM for a 2 and 1/2 bedroom house in Trumpington, but it was right in the edge of it, so very close to city centre. We were very lucky though.

I found that if you wanted a nice place you probably would need to increase budget a little. But you just never know, and it also depends on how fussy you are.

Am assuming you're American, right?

Good luck--it's quite an adventure! Ds was 2.5 when we moved from the States and has settled well. (we're deep in the East Anglian trenches in Norfolk)

Since you mentioned your Dd will be 5, she'll be starting Year 1 in September...and unfortunately that is a bit non-negotiable. But hopefully whatever school she is placed at will be sensitive to her needs as a "newbie" as well as a summer born. You won't be able to formally apply for school places until you have an established address, so make housing priority. You can compare quality of schools by checking out their Ofsted reports online (Google it) and go from there.

Lastly, have you checked out the UK Yankee forums yet...?

Thank you GMCLaydee for the link to schools which still have openings - I hadn't found that info yet.

So grateful for the cycling link ChestertonCharley! He is definitely willing to commute by bicycle, it's just hard to figure out good/safe routes from afar so that will be a big help.

I'm a bit concerned at how many schools (and of course so many good ones it seems) are already full. What do folks that are moving in after the application period do? As in, should we look for a place in the catchment area of a school we really want in hopes of getting in next year even if we can't this year? And if you move into a catchment area of a full school, do you apply anyway in hope of getting on a waitlist, even if it's not on the list of schools with open spaces?

Yankeespice, yes American, and no I haven't seen the UK Yankee site but will google it.. This has come up kind of quickly, so I am still trying to find resources! :)

Hi there! I agree that there's no point in looking at villages at this stage especially if you want to rent. You might as well enjoy being in town and easy for yourDH to get to work.
The area around Newmarket Road is not particularly expensive so I would start from there. The primary school is Abbey Meadows and I believe there are spaces still available. It's been discussed in another thread

Hello, which end of Newmarket Rd will he be working on? It can make a difference, I work on one end of it. Your daughter would be going into Year 1 in the school system, so I think you just need to ring Cambridgeshire County council and talk to them.

I would consider Histon/ Impington, especially if he is the City end of Newmarket Rd, I think there are spaces in going into Y1 in the infants (it certainly wasn't full when they all entered reception this time) school it's about a 30 minute cycle to newmarket Rd depending on which way you go, driving its 15 minutes outside rush house, up to 30 mins in rush hour, I go through Histon on my drive home, and it seems to be the point where driving and cycling take the same amount of time on a bad day. Cottenham would add about another 15 minutes to the bike ride, and certainly in reception this year the primary was full. Some of that advice won't apply if he is the airport end of Newmarket Rd, but you could consider Horningsea or even Waterbeach if he fancied a long, but mainly traffic free bike ride along the river.

I moved to Cambridge about 2 years ago and have a daughter your age, feel free to PM me if you want to chat further. Once you move here, come to one of our MN nights out

Thanks for the replies. We're leaning toward the villages at this point due to cost and because we generally prefer more rural locations.

I called Cambridgeshire County council (thanks for the suggestion Newto Cambridge) and they told me that it's unlikely our daughter will be able to start school on time.. I guess we will try to move into the catchment area of a school we'd like to go to, get in where we can for now, and hope for next year.

I've posted on your other thread too :)

In case you need any public transport info:

Buses www.stagecoachbus.com/routemaps-cambridge.aspx

Buses and trains www.travelineeastanglia.co.uk/ea/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15

Yes, the A14 can be problematic for commuting. My DH uses it. It's fine nearly every day, but every once in a while there can be a big delay or accident.