Epsom vs Raynes park schools

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Hi All,
We currently live in Raynes park and have a 2 year old. We are looking at the schools around and all seem to have Good ofsted rating.

We then started researching and stumbled upon Epsom and schools like Southfield park primary school. We are unable to get your to any schools and so wanted to check with all of you. Are schools in Epsom better than Raynes park? Would it be wiser to rather move to Epsom for the schools?

Thanks!

I don’t know Raynes Park but Epsom is a lovely place to live. A strong community, lots of parks and green areas (the common, the downs, hogs mill) and all the schools are really good. Southfield Park is a great school and the headteacher is amazing. They were one of the schools that responded best to homeschooling during the pandemic and the children had full timetabled lessons from day one.

The other benefit of Epsom is that it has great secondary schools. Glyn and Rosebery are both outstanding state schools (they are single sex Rosebery for girls and Glyn for boys). Epsom is also only ten minutes from Sutton on the train so lots of children take the 11 plus and go to the Sutton Grammar schools.

The main thing to be careful of in Epsom is the distance from the school when you are choosing where to live. Estate Agents aren’t always completely honest about the realistic chances of getting into a school. The council publishes the furthest distance from previous year’s intakes so you can check that. St Joseph’s is a Catholic school so it has different rules and Southfield Park has a set catchment area. Stamford Green is a lovely school with a lot of outdoor space.

OP I'm near you. All I will say is don't plan too far ahead. When I moved into the area the chosen primary was Good and the local Secondary Required Improvement. I thought that I was definitely going to have to move before my DS got to Secondary. In that time the primary moved to Outstanding (while he was there) and the Secondary went from Required Improvement to Good (before he started) and then Outstanding (while he was there).

My point is that it's a moving target and you're looking quite far ahead. Lots of things can impact a school rating (in our case a brilliant new head teacher for the Secondary).

@ILiveInEpsom we are now looking around Albert road as the council website says Wallace infant school is close to it. Could you please confirm which council website you are talking about.
@MumofPsuedoAdult we are still trying to understand what is the difference between good and outstanding school. We like both areas and frankly thought of Epsom with the current situation of more remote working.

This booklet has all the details on distance and catchment for Epsom and Ewell schools for last year’s admissions.

www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/205008/FINAL-EPSOM-AND-EWELL-Primary-Information-2021-22-V1.pdf

This website will tell you the exact distance from an address to the school.

www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions/about-map/find-a-school

[quote Pute]@ILiveInEpsom we are now looking around Albert road as the council website says Wallace infant school is close to it. Could you please confirm which council website you are talking about.
@MumofPsuedoAdult we are still trying to understand what is the difference between good and outstanding school. We like both areas and frankly thought of Epsom with the current situation of more remote working.[/quote]
It's tricky and I always went on gut feel rather than just Ofted rating (which can be manipulated). My son was a cynic all through school and he used to roll his eyes and tell me about all the things the teachers would do when they knew Ofted was due (which they didn't do normally). Going to actually visit the schools and talking to some of the pupils is the best way to get a feel for it. We visited all the secondaries in the borough (for comparison) and some looked good on paper but just didn't 'feel' good.