Moving from London advice for primaries and secondaries selly oak and bournville

[Cinnamonlily06]

Hello
We are considering moving to Birmingham selly oak and bournville areas
What primaries ( reception ) and junior ( as my daughter is in year 6) would you reccommend ?

We will rent first then buy ...so the choice of the house would purely be based on that so pretty flexible ( kings Heath and Mosley or accepting other suggestions ) Many thanks

You will ultimately be bound by where you can get a place. And your situation on waiting lists will depend on where you rent. I think you have also just missed the date for applying for secondary schools.

Schools in Bournville, Selly Oak and surrounding are hugely popular.

But, those issues aside I would recommend looking at Bournville Infants, Cotteridge Primary, Raddlebarn School and maybe St Mary’s as somewhere more likely to have places. At secondary, I assume you will not consider grammar at this late stage, so would suggest Kings Norton Girls.

I’m not so up on Moseley and Kings Heath areas but suspect the places will be just as tricky.

Oh, and there’s the University school which people seem to prefer to Dame Elizabeth.

Hello what grammars ? I think deadline is the 31th of October

Birmingham has King Edward school grammars.

Are you looking at BVT housing? I don’t recommend Green Meadow. There may be space at Northfield Manor or St Mary’s if you’re the right side, St Mary’s often has space.

The house I'm looking at is in Gibbings road
How's sant Mary ? What's BVT housing ?
My daughter is really into art and d&t so an art secondary or science would be our preferred choice ...😊

Gibbons Rd? You’d be right by St Mary’s and pretty close to Northfield Manor. Lots of friends have children at St Mary’s and rate it highly. You’re also close to St Rose of Lima Catholic School. I probably wouldn’t choose this but you may have to as it won’t be full
BVT - Bourneville Village Trust housing.

I can’t help with schools but as a student I used to live on Gibbons road (the big one on the corner of Lodge Hill Road). The road had more locals than students when I was there (2000s) but be aware you might have students living close by.

Gibbins rd is mainly families now. I would swerve Northfield Manor though! Heard good things about Green Meadow, but it was a while ago. If your DD is Y6, grammar is out of the question- the test was the first weekend in September.
If you want Moseley/Kings Heath though, you'd need to be living there to get those schools- applications are done from wherever you're resident, and almost every school in Birmingham does it on straight line from your front door to theirs.
Bournville infants has actual catchment streets; Gibbins Rd is not one of those. From there, I'd look at watermill ji- it's one form intake, and was very nice, like a big family when I was involved with the school.
You could probably get UoB school from Gibbins Rd, possibly Kings Norton Girls', depends how many apply in that cohort, would possibly be on the waiting list. Bournville and DECS you'd probably get a place.

Green Meadow just got RI in its ofsted and lots of families have moved to Northfield Manor from there. I forgot about Watermill, that’s pretty close. Paganel is nearby but I don’t know much about it. Avoid Princethorpe and Jervoise.

Kings Norton Girls is good, and Shenley Academy is now v popular.

Thank you so much girls ! A god send 🙌🏻
The university of Birmingham secondary has no ofsted report.
And many have very olds reports

UoB is a new free school.
I know people with children there, and I know staff that work there... and I wouldn't send my child there. There are others on here that say it's ok though. No-one has sat any GCSEs yet though...
Oh dear about Green Meadow!
Is Moseley/KH not on the radar?

Norton Girls' School Looks good I think I ll put it as first choice

Bournville ofsted is quite bad
What about technology for girls ?

I hear alright things about Selly Park Girls School - that’s the one you’re referring to I think. No direct knowledge though.

Keep distance in mind when you apply for schools, KNGS has a catchment radius of about 1km I think. It’s very popular.

Selly Park has a lot of Asian girls. I know some white girls who have found that hard as they felt it was cliquey. It seems to be very middle of the road. Maybe Lordswood isn’t too far?

Yes, Selly Park is about 95% Asian, so if you aren't Asian, your DD may feel isolated. I don't think you've any chance of getting in from Gibbins Rd in any case!
I don't think you'd get into Lordswood girls' either from there.

So called few primaries and no spaces
One primary suggested bournville school ( the new one ) do you know it ? Tx

I only know it’s very new, and the secondary isn’t doing well.

I don’t know anyone who sends their children there. I definitely don’t know anyone who would consider it for secondary.

What if we don't get into Kings Norton Girls? 😰

Have Shenley as a back up. You might be able to sit the 11+ and enter mid year when a space comes up but I’m not sure how that works.

King Edward camp hill for girls ?

That’s closest but even five ways isn’t that far.

To be honest, if you are on Gibbons Road I suspect you may not get into Kings Norton Girls. So I would take a good look at some of the other options like Shenley as well as pursuing grammar if you think your DD is up to it.

I think we will be set back until July as there are no spaces in year 6 at all .... could apply for secondaries from my friend address tough 😑