information on 4 primary schools

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Hi,
We are moving to Lancaster this summer. I have found that four primary schools have openings for my children. (They will be in Years 4 and 6 in the Fall.)

Bowerham Primary
Dallas Road Primary
Ridge Primary
Willow Lane Primary

If you have a moment to send me either good or bad opinions on these schools, I'd be appreciative. It is kind of hard to feel out a school when you are currently living in another country.

Thanks.

I'd recommend Bowerham miles above the others
Willow Lane doesn't have a great reputation although the attached children's centre/preschool is lovely
Dallas Road has a lot of resources and is in a high bme area so English is a second language for a lot of pupils
Ridge also doesn't have a great reputation and struggles a lot managing behaviour of pupils from what I've seen

If you need to ask more/specific questions, feel free to PM

Dallas Road or Bowerham.

Willow lane and Ridge, while good schools are both in quite deprived areas. Ridge more above willow lane.

ESL is high at both Bowerham and Dallas Road, but Bowerham has much more outside space than Dallas Road.

If you can travel, look at schools slightly outside of Lancaster.

Great Wood in Bare and Torrisholme are v good schools as is quernmore and Ellel St Johns.

I'm new to the area but yes Bowerham has the best reputation.

It may worth keeping in touch with the other schools as dc do move. We got offered places at Christchurch and Moorside last minute last year.

The traffic around Lancaster is quite busy for doing school drop offs by car - do you know where you'll be living yet?

Bowerham and Dallas Road are both good.... but Dallas Rd strung me along and then backed out at the last minute, so make sure you have a firm offer letter in your hand. Christchurch is also really good. My DD went there until we moved through to Morecambe, and I really wish she hadn't had to move!

Oh also don't believe what the LEA says about have spaces speak to the individual schools, wish we had known that!!! LEA were useless.

Thanks for all the replies. These are quite helpful. We aren't planning on purchasing a car, so we will be using public transportation and walking as much as possible.

We do have an appointment to see Bowerham when we arrive. The person who responded to my email seemed nice. I am going to check out the village schools when we get there. Unfortunately, we arrive on July 15th, which doesn't give us much time to investigate schools while they are in session.

Is there a place around that sells used uniforms? I am sure wherever we end up, we will need a uniform. Do these sells happen in August or at the end of the school year?

Thanks again!

AddlestoneReVampPlease - we are living on Balmorel Road. At least - that is the current plan. I think Bowerham is about an 8 minute walk from there.

The individual schools sell their own 2nd hand uniform but it tends to be only the sweatshirts that you need from there everything else can be bought inexpensively from Sainsbury or Asda.

Please remember it's very hilly, if you check on googlemap uk it will give you the walking time it takes between 2 destinations. Not sure how you'd get to any of the village schools without a car... You'd have to walk into to town to catch a bus as I don't think there are that many bus routes that pass close to that road?

When you arrive phone up all the nearest local schools again and check which have places. If it's a school that would work for you/you'd like then take it and start the dc straight away. If there isn't one it would be worth checking at the very end of term to see what spaces are available then and then again at the beginning of the new term.

My understanding is that they will not keep spaces open for you if someone else comes along (they're not allowed to) and also until a child actually leaves they don't have one to offer IYSWIM. They may know of children that are moving away in the summer but until the parents confirm that they are 100% not returning in Sept. they can't offer it to you.

So don't be disheartened if you don't get places at a school you're happy with in July something else may crop up at the start of the new term. Certainly at Moorside there were at least 2 places that came up in Sept in year 4 that I know of that weren't there in the July.