Job transfer to Cambridge - help with the mountain of decisions!

[Betty24]

Hello ladies, My husband's job has been transferred from London to Cambridge and we have decided to take the opportunity to move to a new city. We have family in the area and it will be great to be closer to them.

We are in a flurry of relocation madness and trying to make a mountain of decisions. We are currently tackling the school in year admission process for our daughter and information on schools would be much appreciated! Just wondered if anyone had any information on St Matthews/Ridgefield/Chesterton schools as they have spaces in year 4 at the moment.

Also grateful for any suggestions of ways to find rental properties other than rightmove as not much coming up on there at all. We are looking for a 2/3 bed house from late June/July onwards. Thanks so much! Deep breath and reaches for the rose....

I know St Matthew's a bit through my work. No uniform. Nice atmosphere. Lovely new buildings. Parents recently set up protests against budget cuts which are hitting many schools.

St Mathews is considered to be a very excellent school. Amazed that it has a space and no one waiting on the waiting list. No uniform and the follow on school is Parkside, although catchment will factor in fir places at Parkside.

Ridgefield is a school on the up at the mo and feeds into Coleridge. Coleridge I’d thought to be doing ok at the mo and is in the same academy trust as Parkside.

Chesterton - as in Chesterton Primary? If so this is either a free school or academy (quite unusual at primary level here). Situated in the charming site of the old Shirley Infant School.

It would have Chesterton Community College as next school. Very highly regarded. Or North Cambridge Academy, not so highly regarded.

Thanks ladies, super helpful. I'm putting down the school choices as per the current availability on school admission website but they could change quite quickly. Next problem is finding somewhere to live, if anyone has any recommendations for good letting agents that would be great. We are on rightmove but not much coming up at the moment.

Another vote for St Matthews, although our children didn't go there we know quite a few people who did and were very happy with it.
If you want to expand your search and are planning to stay, there are other good primary schools which have places in Y4 and feed into good secondaries.

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/schools-&-learning/apply-for-a-school-place/in-year-admissions/choosing-a-school/

Cambridge seems to be all flats, flats, flats and not many houses available to rent unfortunately.

Do you actually need to live in the city? Where is your husband working? Milton would be easy cycling distance of the science parks/ Chesterton area.

His job will be by the station and he needs to commute to London for first 3 months as a handover. We considered Histon first but were told it could take 40 mins to get into town if not cycling. We will try and cycle where possible tho. I'm looking at Chesterton but don't know much about the area. We live in Walthamstow at the mo and like having pubs/cafes about. I'm lazy and like food a lot! Not sure what that area is like, its next on our list to visit. In terms of secondaries which ones are smaller/friendlier and have good art/drama options? Is Parkside super academic and competitive?

Thanks so much for the replies, its a maze of decisions!

If you are commuting, Romsey Town or Petersfield are good options. St Matthew’s is in Petersfield. Basically, it’s as near to being both in the centre of town and near the Rail Station as you will get.

Chesterton has Cambridge North Rail Station down near the Science Park. Foot and cycle access only from the Fen Rd and regular access from opposite Science Park

Thats fantastic, thanks so much for the information. We are concentrating the search around Chesterton and St Matts schools at the moment, fingers crossed!

So we've found a house in Newnham and really like the area. Unfortunately there are no spaces at Newnham Croft and a super long waiting list. I could apply for Barton, Morley, St Matthews or Mayfield. Just wondering which of these would be easiest to get too? I'm not confident on roads on a bike so looking for the quietest route or one where a car may be possible, even if it takes an hour to go 2 miles - eek. Are there any other (state) schools near that area that I've missed?

I’m quite close to Morley, would not recommend trying to drive there from Newnham but it would be a doable cycle ride of about 20 mins mainly on off road cycle routes. St Matthews is along a lot of busy roads, and Mayfield is really a long way. If church schools are possible, there’s St Pauls which is probably the next closest after Newnham Croft.

There are plenty of quiet-ish routes through central Cambridge by bike from Newnham, I reckon you could do almost all on back streets/commons from Newnham to st Matthews. Doing that journey by car at morning school run time is a horrifying prospect!

Remember also that length of waiting list isn't really relevant, your place on it is determined by admissions criteria not when you join the list. If you happened to move into a house next to the school gate you'd jump to no.1 on the waiting list (assuming there are no in catchment siblings waiting for a place!)

It could be quicker to walk than drive!

Cambridge Cycle campaign has a route planner cambridge.cyclestreets.net/ and you can select a quiet route. Outspoken cycles offer training which would boost your confidence www.outspokentraining.co.uk/, and would also offer route advice.

Thank you all so much - that has given me hope that I can get back in the saddle! Although pootling about on a bike with my daughter is acceptable on the way to school I had better get professional training so I don't look like a complete idiot weaving all over the roads on the way back! Thanks Blue Champagne - that map is brilliant.

Happy to help