Moving to Bristol with family - What's St George and nearby like?

[dimmu]

Hello everyone,

I hope you don’t mind if I bring this topic up again, I know it’s been discussed before..

We’re a family of four, our kids are 7 and 1, and are currently considering the move away from London. Our neighbourhood in Central London has gone downhill lately, and we would like to move our family somewhere safer and nicer. Bristol seems to be the most popular choice for people in our situation…

We’re a mixed-race family and are looking for somewhere slightly more urban than village-like, with shops, cafes and decent schools nearby. We would also prefer not having to drive everywhere, it would be good if the city centre would be within a cycling distance. We would probably rent to begin with but would like to eventually buy a 3-4 bed house with a garden for up to £400k. I have already done a lot of research and know that with our budget and preferences we wouldn’t get much in North Bristol in the likes of Clifton, St Andrews, Bishopston etc. where most of the nice schools seems to be.

My question is therefore, what are places like St George/Redfield and surrounding areas like? I know there are some decent primaries there, but are they in the catchment for any good secondaries? What’s the “vibe” of the area like, is it quite suburban? I initially thought Southville might be a good option for us, but sounds like the housing market is a bit tricky there, and the same with the school situation, especially secondaries as faith schools are not an option for us. And also hoping we’d get more for our money further out..

How about Fishponds, would that be an option?

Or I was also considering south of the river, areas such as Brislington, but not sure about schools there?
Also, are most schools oversubscribed? My eldest would be key stage 2 by the time we move, would it be hard to get her a place in a good primary?1

Sorry about all the questions, any help would be much appreciated. We’re planning to come and visit Bristol in the summer to see for ourselves but would be good if we could narrow down the areas in advance.

Many thanks!!

Hi dimmu,

I'm sure some other mums with more experience will be able to tell you more but I'm also moving to Bristol (over Easter) and thought I'd share what I've learnt.

I think that primaries are generally better and easier to get a place at than secondaries, which means you'll probably be fine in the short-term. I am having an absolute nightmare with secondaries at the moment though. We are moving to Horfield and have called all 22 schools in Bristol - only 2 have space: 1 is 8 miles away and 'inadequate' OFSTED rated, the other has just come out of special measures.

I've heard good things about St George but you might want to make sure you're close to catchment for Brunel or Bristol Metropolitan as they are both on the up I believe. City Academy is not far from there though and is the one that has been in special measures for years.

The best state schools are around Clifton / Redland (Redland Green, Cotham), Colston's Girls operates a lottery system so everyone accross the city stands an equal chance there (they also have language scholars). Bristol Catherdral Choir School admits some on musical aptitude. Fairfield (near Horfield) is rapidly improving. Apart from the Outstanding schools (Colston's, Redland Green, Cotham), I get the impression that the others change all the time. Fairfield, I think used to be in special measures and now seems to be well regarded.

The Council website has a map with catchment areas on I think.

In terms of areas - Fishponds is supposed to be great for families and is close to the cycle track. We chose Horfield as it's close-ish to the Uni (where I work) but still just about affordable for us. It's close to the shops and cafes on Gloucester Rd. We liked Southville too but decided against it as too expensive for us. Ashton Park secondary school is close by and supposed to be good I think?

Good luck with the move! I love Bristol - I've been studying there for 3 years and have been desperate to move there for a while.

Hi Mumofhorfield,

thank you so much for sharing your insights, that's very useful! I found the catchment area maps on the council website, thanks for that as well. Hopefully if we stay outside the priority catchment area of City Academy we should be ok... Of course gonna have to visit Bristol and St George and other areas first to see how we like it, but looking at the house prices it sounds almost too good to be true in comparison to London.

Thanks again!

For the vibe you seem to be after I would also look at Totterdown. Lovely area near to temple meads station. You would also be in the catchment for some good primary schools and Ashton Park comp (a decent school), or St Mary Redcliffe (if you are regular church attendees) or a school bus to St Katherine's in Pill, a nice school out of Bristol in the countryside

Rudi44, thanks for your suggestion. I will add Totterdown to our list of places to consider. I has initially excluded it and areas nearby as I thought the secondary school situation was quite poor (faith schools are not an option for us), but sounds like it could be worthwhile after all.

Nice areas that are still affordable (relatively) are St George, Fishponds, Totterdown (ish), Southville is a bit more pricey but definitely great area if you can afford it, Brislington (Sandy Park) and Knowle are good (but avoid Knowle West - having said that they are putting lots of money into the schools down there!). Definitely a good idea to visit and drive around the different areas.

Thank you Stellarfox. I've put all those areas on my list of places to research and visit. Southville and nearby looks lovely on Google maps but the houses seem quite small. Would be nice to have a decent garden and a bit more room. Guess we will eventually have to make a choice between a livelier area close to the city centre and bigger house somewhere quieter. It is such a daunting task but hopefully we'll get there in the end!

Hi, thank you for posting this!
I’m also thinking of moving to Bristol. I have 3 kids, and my eldest is in year 4. So need to be thinking about primary and secondary schools. I was born and bred in London so it would be a massive thing to do.

Redfield has lots of streets of Victorian terraces. Parking can be a bit of a nightmare. Church Road can be very congested with traffic in the mornings.

Some of the areas you may look at aren't technically Bristol (which is a local authority as well as a city ( Eg Kingswood is in South Gloucestershire.

Sticks- when are you thinking of moving and what kind of area are you looking for? Do you know anyone in Bristol at all? It's such a daunting thing to do, I'm petrified of potentially making the wrong decision but at the same time really excited as well. But think it's best to go for it before the eldest is secondary school age to give them a chance to settle and find new friends. Also worried that the house prices will continue increasing and more areas become too expensive for us.

MrsMoastyToasty - Thanks for your input! I quite like the sound and look of Redfield (been looking around on Google streetview) but quite worried about the secondary school situation there, it seems to be within the catchment of the dreaded City Academy!

I'm also relocating from London, and am looking for a 4+ bed house. It needs to be near a good infant/primary school, and I have a larger budget. All advice gratefully received!

Hi Dimmu, I totally get what you mean. I want to leave London but I’m so scared to actually do it, so worried I’ll make the wrong decision and never get back. I have one friend who moved to Bristol a few years ago and is happy there but she has family there and already knew the area.

We went to see a house in St.George yesterday and liked the area. Secondary schools don’t seem very good in Bristol overall. We are church goers but not sure if we’d stand a chance of getting into St.Mary Redcliffe and Temple from there? Does anybody know?

Sticks - how exciting that you went to visit St George and liked it! Are you looking to buy or rent? There seems to be plenty of good primaries in St George but it's such a worry with secondary schools, I do wonder what local people tend to do as it seems like a very family friendly area. We are going to spend a weekend in Bristol next month, will visit St George then. Will also take a look at Fishponds, I think that's within the first catchment of Bristol Met Academy and I've read some good things about that school.

Everyone I've mentioned that We're thinking of moving to Bristol seems to know someone who has done exactly that and they all seem to love it there, haven't heard anything negative at all. But you definitely have to make the right choice the first time, there's no coming back. Even renting out our place for a year to see if we liked it in Bristol isn't an option as we'd lose the school place, the main thing keeping us here! I'm so scared of making the wrong choice for our DD, she's so happy and settled in her current school and has a great circle of friends.

sticks have sent you a pm.

This is totally relevant to our current situation - two kids and looking to move from Brixton London to around St George Bristol early next year - but very concerned about secondary school situation. Is there any updated advice?

@Drazzywazzy perhaps look at the priority catchments for Bristol Metropolitan and Fairfield High School, they're both doing well and you could get a house for prices similar to St George

Thanks chubby cat! How is Brunel school doing?

No idea - don't know anyone whose kids go there. And most people I know who live that way send their kids to Bristol met, or fairfield if more that way. Think the area around Lodge Causeway can be a bit rough in places so perhaps best to avoid or at least do your research very well.

@ChubbyCat

No idea - don't know anyone whose kids go there. And most people I know who live that way send their kids to Bristol met, or fairfield if more that way. Think the area around Lodge Causeway can be a bit rough in places so perhaps best to avoid or at least do your research very well.

House prices in lodge causeway even hillfeilds are silly money yes some trouble but no more or less than any other surrounding areas. A lot from South East seem to favour bs5 or bs6/7 postcodes .

Bristol metropolitan is oversubscribed with small catchment i know lots of people with kids there and are happy its got a very sporty reputation with basketball team and even cheerleading.

I don't know anyone directly who gos to brunel but freinds of freinds say its a very strict good school possibly slightly better results than the met although catchment they take from is very mixed as most of the big housing estates nearby feed into this school.
I have visited the school for extra curricular and the building and facilities are impressive as new build was only rebuilt around 10 years ago now I think.
Although lots St George love brunel as most people less keen on city academy which is in Lawrence Hill which can be rough.
There was meant to be new school near temple meads which is delayed so Cabot learning federation have agreed to extend intake at brunel and Cabot and open a new Cabot learning federation 6th form in speedwell next to brunel near St George/ Whitehall.
Whitehall has an outstanding primary and close to st George Park so highly sought after.
There is nearby staple hill bs16 and Kingswood but parts of that are south glos and in my opinion south gkos secondary in that catchment are not as good.

John Cabot is another doable school from he Bristol Council side of bs16 which is parts Kingswood / Lodge causeway and bs5 parts of st George Kingswood end near troopers Hill and parts speedwell bs5 is short walk to John Cabot academy on the outskirts of Kingswood.

Nearly all of the local bs15/ 15 schools near fishponds/ Kingswood/ st George and lodge causeway are all run by the Cabot learning federation and they rub quite a few primaries also in the area.

The only exceptions are sometimes Bristol kids can get Mangotsfield as its a under subscribed senior school within south glos Council area and run by Castle learning trust.
Or Fairfield which is just off m32 by tesco Eastgate and ikea and thats run by excaliber academy's and most takes from Stapleton/ horfeild/ lockleaze/, Eastville and odd few from fishponds Eastville Park end where there's area called thingwall Park which is very popular with londoners big expensive victoriana houses.
Certain areas greater fishponds have a buzzy on the up feel to them even house prices in the 2 big estate hillfeilds and Oldbury Court have risen a lot.

Good luck in not native Bristol in Welsh and live living here.
Fishponds has so many lovley parks and green spaces.
Fantastic children centre. Half decent high street but not many independent or posh restaurants.
Decent greek/ italian/ coffee shops and few nice pubs plus loads of supermarkets.

My older 2 kids go school City centre and its a fab bus route.
Easton and st George is nearer train station local network .