moving to exeter area

[aligater]

hi lovely ladies, im hoping you can give us some advice....we are looking for a village with strong community, a shop (min) and within 30mins of exeter. We are relocating from Manchester and need advice on school for a 12 year old with ASD, a very bright yr 6 and an adorable yr 3. All are big personalities and have come from large school environments, we are also looking for views and are very outdoorsy as a family. We love the area between exeter and budleigh salterton...any help welcome we are beginning to go round in circles TIA

Bovey Tracey is nice, I live nearby, 10mins from moors and about 15-20mins from beaches, nice park and woods to walk through.
Has a few events on in the summer.
There is a school but dont have a school age child to be able to give you any more info.

I know it's not near budleigh but it very close to the dual carriageway so easy to get to exeter

Woodbury?
Lympstone?
Budleigh?

Budleigh is great - I grew up there and now live in Exeter although my family live in Budleigh and Exmouth. Budleigh is a small seaside town with plenty of shops, a number of parks for the kids/dog walkers and the beach obviously..... plenty of community vibes also. I absolutely adored growing up there. It has a local primary school which hosts all children ages 3-11 and then the secondary school in exmouth is a 10 min bus journey away. Exmouth is also full of community spirit! Budleigh is like a haven for young families because there's so much outdoor/countryside space and it is literally 30 mins from Exeter.

Other places to consider are Sidmouth, Woodbury, Lymsptone, Ottery St Mary.... all within a 30 min drive from Exeter and beautiful places. A family members child has ASD and goes to a school in Bovey Tracey which is a specialist school and newton abbot is just down the road. There so many places around exeter to live and despite what everyone says - living costs aren't too expensive either if you're in the right place! Exeter is great if you're a student/professional like me, but if you're a young family a place like Budleigh and Sidmouth/Exmouth are more preferable in my opinion :-) have a look around online I'm sure you'll find somewhere perfect. Good luck!

Forgot to add - the primary school in budleigh is like a tiny little village school so you'll get to know plenty of the teachers/parents and your kids will make friends quickly. The secondary school in exmouth is huge - something like 3rd largest in the U.K.!! So it's great for kids who are used to large communities and environments :-)