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Original poster

Relocating to Milton Keynes!!

42 replies

Missemma1 · 21/07/2016 10:44

Hi everyone,

We are moving to Milton Keynes from Scotland and need some help on areas!! I am looking at the new build homes by David Wilson on the Brooklands development..are any of you familiar with this area? Is it nice/good for schools? I have three children aged 10, 8 and 2.

We have sold our home and are about to move into the mother in laws for a few months to allow us to buy without a chain..I know this is a problem in england?!

We live in a really nice area at the moment with the best schoolign in Scotland so this is the main thing coupled with cost of course!! Pease Help! xx

OP posts:
bigchangesabound · 21/07/2016 18:17

We've very recently done the opposite, moved from MK (or just outside) back to Scotland! Personally we didn't like MK- a souless new town with no character, however it is useful as it has all the amenities you could need, including an ikea and John Lewis! We lived in a lovely village 15mins outside of MK called Stoke Hammond. If you're looking for areas in MK the Shenleys are supposed to be good and a really good primary school is Two Mile Ash.
Hope that is of some help.

BlackandGold · 21/07/2016 22:23

It depends on what you want. Brooklands is a new build area, still under construction, but likely to have a lot of young families.
If you want a traditional small town with good schools then look at Newport Pagnell or Olney, which is a bit further out. Stony Stratford is also good but avoid Bletchley!

sillybillywilly · 21/07/2016 22:56

I live on the Western flank of MK so am not so familiar with the East. Schools are very oversubscribed so I'd ask the LEA which primaries have spaces. Your oldest is moving up to secondary in September 2017 so I'd check the historical data of which secondaries that people from your development got into to check if it's a good estate to go for or not.

Being chain free is not a problem but your MIL's address will be used for school admissions purposes so could disadvantage you if you're not in your new property by 31 Oct 2016 (deadline for secondary school applications)

MKEastSide · 22/07/2016 08:00

Have pm'd you.

redskyinMK · 22/07/2016 19:35

There is a new secondary being built in Brooklands (well actually a second campus for the well established Walton high School). it's taking in its first children this September (2016). So would be handy for your 10 year old! Obviously has no history as a new school (well new campus) but Walton High is very well regarded

FYZT1816 · 09/12/2016 11:57

Hello MKeastside which areas on the east side are good for schools ?

redskyinMK · 09/12/2016 14:43

The area that's commonly considered to be "east side" (from Middleton southwards and to the east of the V10) is all in catchment for either Oakgrove or Walton High. Both fine.

Can't think of a bad primary school either in this area. But depends what you are looking for.

MKEastSide · 09/12/2016 18:12

Yes would agree. Middleton, Broughton, Brooklands all walking distance to v good primaries. Think Monkston good as well. Not sure about Kents Hill. Both secondaries

MKEastSide · 09/12/2016 18:14

very well regarded and a new campus for Walton High has just opened for Broughton and Brooklands as pp mentioned.

snowmummy · 09/12/2016 19:14

With the age of your eldest two, its not just about moving into a good area with good school but also about checking whether those schools have spaces for your children. In England there is no requirement for a school that is full to take additional children regardless of whether they live in the catchment area or not.

FYZT1816 · 20/12/2016 14:18

Does anyone know about newton longville

zipzapmk · 21/12/2016 01:17

There's a very nice pub that serves good food in NL but no idea about it as a village beyond that!

My DC used to go to a nursery a few miles along the road from the turnoff for NL and if it was bad weather it could seem a much longer distance than it actually was. Guessing that effect would be doubled for NL as the last bit of road is suddenly very rural.

FYZT1816 · 29/12/2016 00:54

Can anyone tell me anything about these areas ,wolverton,fenny Stratford Or Kingston ?

Zizigulu · 06/01/2017 18:21

Hello everybody,
We are moving to Milton Keynes from London in one month.
I have a son in year one, and our priority in choosing a property is an area with good schools.
I know that we should apply online and put down our priorities, but at the end of the day this is council's decision and mostly they look at the distance (of course if there is space).
Could you please name some areas in which all the primary schools up to some miles around are good.
We are struggling choosing where to rent the property 😫

sillybillywilly · 06/01/2017 20:43

When I moved to MK (my youngest had just finished Reception), School Admissions were very helpful. They couldn't guarantee a space but they openly admitted which schools had spaces. I didn't get him a spot at the nearest school but got him into another excellent school so was very lucky.

Zizigulu · 06/01/2017 21:10

By school admission you mean a section in council?
I called the council about school but they said we should first have a property rented and the post code to be able to apply online.

Zizigulu · 06/01/2017 21:11

Shall I just call them again and ask for the list of schools with spaces available?

redskyinMK · 07/01/2017 13:10

I would. There may well be whole swathes of the town hat may have no places at all anywhere close by in Year 1.

Zizigulu · 07/01/2017 13:30

Oh my GodShock
Then what happens if there will be no space??

MKEastSide · 07/01/2017 13:51

From memory, on the school admissions website section of the council website, it goes through every school, the admissions criteria for each, and whether or not they were oversubscribed.

Not sure if you have ruled out Brooklands, but I know a family with kids there, and there is a second campus for the primary which I believe has spaces as most peopel want the original campus due to siblings already being there.

MKEastSide · 07/01/2017 13:52

Oh sorry. Just realised you are not OP so you hadn't mentioned Brooklands.

Zizigulu · 07/01/2017 15:38

Thanks for all the helpful guidelines Smile
What is OP by the way? (Sorry, I'm new to mumsnet and not very familiar with many things 😅

Jedimindreader · 07/01/2017 16:00

Zizigulu. Have you looked at Oakgrove Primary? Only opened in Sept but also took transfers into yr1-4 so probably still has space. It's part of the Oakgrove senior school which has a good reputation and if your child already attends the primary you don't have to apply for transfer in yr7 as their place is guaranteed. The primary is also next to Waitrose 😄

Zizigulu · 07/01/2017 18:29

Thank you very much Jedimindreader and others.
I'll consider the guidelines you all kindly shared.
I'm so happy to see Milton Keynes got such helpful lovely mums 😇

zipzapmk · 07/01/2017 18:41

Shenley Church End, Loughton, Great Holm and Two Mile Ash all have good infant schools in - and all feed into good junior schools (TMA which is massive but excellent or Loughton which is much better than it was now it has a new head) and both feed into Denbigh which is usually rated as the best senior school in in MK (would put Oakgrove second).

There's also a new primary in Whitehouse which opened last term. It's got the head of TMA (outstanding ofsted, wins all sorts of awards and winner of/involved in all sorts of schemes) as its executive head so it can benefit from the resources of a big school while it's starting up.

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