Moving to Bristol

[Myriamsoleil]

Hello everyone
We are a French family relocating from Central Asia to Bristol (for work).
I am hoping my 3 years old daughter will be able to go to the Ecole Franaise de Bristol (recently relocated from Henbury to Southmead). As my work is located in Bradley Stoke, I applied for a place in reception class for my 4 years old son and I have just received a letter confirming a place in the Coniston Primary School (based in Patchway).
Can you please let me know whether Bradley Stoke / Patchways are nice areas? I don't know Bristol at all and am trying to avoid rough / dodgy areas (as everyone else I guess).
Anybody knows the Coniston Primary School?
I am getting a bit paranoid with all these ofsted reports I read about everywhere.
Also is it easy to find an after school nanny?
Thanks ever so much for your answers!
Myriam

Bradley Stoke is a suburban area of mostly new housing - it's not rough or dodgy but not particularly exciting either.

I don't know much about Patchway but it doesn't have a particularly bad reputation. Coniston looks like a good, improving school - it's academically average although a large number of children come from deprived backgrounds so are making good progress.

There is a shortage of school places in Bristol, and good schools are particularly oversubscribed.

What kind of budget do you have for housing? You might want to look at Almondsbury for a more villagey feel, or Westbury on Trym for a nice (expensive) bit of Bristol.

Bradley Stoke is not posh, but it's family focussed and has quite a nice atmosphere. People are snobby about it because the houses are all newish and look the same. A lot of young couples/families I work with live in Bradley Stoke because it's affordable. Stoke Gifford is a 'nicer' bit.
I don't know much about Patchway but I get the impression it's not as nice as Bradley Stoke. Still not a 'bad' area though I think.

Thank you for your answers, they are very useful.
Budget wise I have planned to spend between 950 and 1300 / month for a 3 or 4 bedroom house (max). I did have a look at Almondsbury and it seems very nice. We like quiet places so that would be perfect.
But as it is quite small, there aren't much houses to rent in this area.
Westbury seems nice as well.
I have to say that I read that the north Bristol area is quite congested which is why I was thinking about trying to live as close as possible to work as I will have to go every day from home to Southmead to drop my girl off then from Southmead to Patchway (for the moment) to drop my son off and then from Patchway to Bradley Stoke to go to work.
I was thinking too of the Filton area but that seems like on the major road axe from Central to North Bristol.
We lived in London for 10 years before going abroad 7 years ago and we tried to avoid going back to London because of the traffic / length of time to go from one point to another (we work for a construction company so our jobs are not always at the same place). Therefore we were very happy to have been offered a job in Bristol. It seems like such a nice city!
Any idea how long it might take from Southmead to Bradley Stoke in the morning (around 8)? Is the traffic as bad as some say?
Thanks again for your help!

If the traffic is flowing then Southmead to Bradley Stoke should not take long at all. However when it all chokes up the route can become a nightmare, but there are many people doing it on a daily basis so it is manageable!

You know this already, but there's no substitute for coming and spending time here before you choose where to live. But as you rent, if you can make the budget for a second move, I'd be inclined to live as near to work as possible and go from there... except for the school situation as it's harder to move once you've got the little people settled.

As a previous poster said, the Patchway area is perfectly nice but it's all new build housing estates. I don't personally like the 'stacked' living of townhouses with a different room on each floor but some people love it. I don't like the houses being packed together but, again, some people love it.

The great thing about where you're going is there are lots of different options nearby. Patchway is great if you like modern housing estates, the villages a little further out are great if you like quiet and country, and there are plenty of suburban middle-ground options in between.

Lots of people will tell you there are rough/safe areas, but the truth is - having lived in London for 20 years - that Bristol doesn't have a ghetto! There are nicer bits and rougher bits in all parts. If you want to stay north (and I think that's a great idea as the horrid traffic tends to centre on people trying to get into Bristol or out via the M32/M5, so if you stay away from these routes it'll be ok!) then why not find some places on Google and 'drop the little man thing' on the local high street and school so you can see the street view: I think you can tell a lot about the area from it's high street and school gates!

Bradley stoke to southmead takes about 20 mins outside of peak times so you will be doing quite a journey every morning. Southmead road itself is known for being terrible traffic wise too.

I would say bradley stoke is nicer than patchway. Patchway could do with some an injection of cash to re-invent it but it's not 'rough' particularly. Bradley stoke is one massive housing estate but is very family friendly.