American Coming to Brighton!

[sukieiup95]

Hello! My family and I are relocating in just a few weeks to the Brighton area. We will be there through August. We are currently looking to rent a house in Hove. Does anyone know if that's a good area for a mom with two small children (5 and 2)? I will not venture in a car since I'm so used to driving on the other side of a road so public transportation is a must.

Are there things to do there? What kind of school would my two-year-old go to? Would I be able to register my 5-year-old in a primary school?

I appreciate any advice. I feel very lost!

Hi Sukieiup95,

welcome to Brighton - it's a great place to live - especially with children. The public transport is pretty good, but try to find a house on a good frequent bus route if you won't have a car. The number 7 is a good route - every seven minutes. I think the 5 (or 5a?) might be one of the more frequent ones too. More info here www.buses.co.uk/

You will probably also want to be near central Hove if you're not driving. Go on Google maps and look up George St. I would want to be within 20 mins walk if I didn't have a car.

Schools are probably going to be your main problem. Call the Brighton and Hove Council Education dept as soon as you possibly can. The better state (public) schools are terribly oversubscribed, although as you are applying for an 'in year' place you might strike lucky (if for example, someone has recently left). Ask the council what is available for your 5 year old, and then look it up on Mumsnet! Then check it's on your bus route!

There are lots of private schools too - you will have more choice with those.

Ideally you would get the school place first and then find a house nearby, but I think that the council won't offer a school place until you have an address...so you may have to take the plunge and get that sorted first.

For your two-year old, there are dozens and dozens of nurseries around, and they are all reasonably good. I would worry about that after you have sorted a house and a school for your older child.

It must all feel very overwhelming, but hang in there - you'll have a great time when you get here :-)

Sorry - realise I didn't answer your question about Hove. Yes, it's a brilliant place to live with small children - lots and lots of other young families around, and tons of facilities/activities to suit them.

Thank you so much for the information! I will sharr it with my husband tonight. Is a nursery like a preschool?

*share

We do have preschools here, but they tend to start from 3 years of age. A 2-year old would go to a nursery, which is more childcare focussed. However, all nurseries will have a half an eye on educational stuff too -but it will be v informal - they won't be teaching them to read . I don't know of any bad nurseries - I think they're all pretty good - and are all regularly inspected by the government (look up 'OFSTED inspections' to find reports for all nurseries) and are shut down if they're bad! However, the one in Hove that gets the most rave reviews seems to be Blueberry nursery. Don't know it myself but several of my five-year old's school friends went there and apparently it was brilliant.

Thank you. I'm a former teacher and believe in developmental education so I'm more interested in social skills for my two-year-old. Academics come later. I'll check out that school.

I really appreciate your information.