Relocating from Cyprus and moving to Oxfordshire! need help and advice!

[Alternativemum]

This is my 1st posting and can see that this is a fab website with lots of useful info. and so am wondering if could get some advice.

We are moving back to UK and have decided to move to oxfordshire as do not want to go back to london, so need some recommendation as to nice areas in oxford countryside. I have 2 girls ages 10 and 12, so will need good state primary and secondary. Want a nice area for young families which is semi rural and within 10 miles from Oxford, any ideas? as very difficult for us to visit all the areas from overseas. So any places to avoid would also be very helpful. We will be renting and then eventually buying max budget 350k?

Thanks a million

Hi Alternativemum. I live about 20 miles North West of Oxford, so probably a bit too far out for you but can recommend some places around here. We are blessed with some lovely large villages such as Deddington, Bloxham and Adderbury which have plenty going on for young families and are also easily accessible to Oxford and other larger towns (not too bad into London either). Bloxham has a very good secondary school, The Warriner and also a public school & a private girls' school. For £350k you could get a modern 3/4 bed house around here. You could rent something similar for less than £1k/month.

A couple of links for you:

4 bed house in Bloxham for sale

4 bed house for sale in Bloxham

3 bed house to rent in Deddington

Hope that helps

Thanks for those tips, I am happy to consider a little further afield, should the area and schools be good.

Alternativemum, I'm South of Oxford, and while there are some good primary schools, the state secondaries around here are pretty dire. The one I've heard best reports on is Didcot Girls. There are lots of nice villages around Didcot, plus it is a very convenient station for going into London etc..
The next county over, Buckinghamshire, still has a grammar school system; I know several people who have moved to High Wycombe or Buckingham recently as they think their children will meet the criteria for grammar school.
If you are moving from a European country then you will want to look into the European School in Culham, near Abingdon (6 miles south of oxford). Although parents have to pay fees, they have very low, as it is funded by EU. They have different language sections, and high standards amongst pupils as many Oxford dons children attend.

Sorry, just noticed you're moving from Cyprus! you may well want to look into European School in that case.

Hi AlternativeMum, I live down the road from Rindercella and we have some houses for rent in the village. There is an independent girls school not far from Bloxham which is v good apparently.

If you are looking for accommodation while you look at places, we actually have a flat we rent on a nightly basis quite cheaply! So get in touch if you find yourself on a last minute trip to rent.

When you say you want to be ten miles from Oxford, is that central Oxford or a particular area - there is a big difference you see - Kidlington, in North Oxford has a load of science parks etc. and lots of people work there, but that's a good five miles from the centre already, but if you work out Headington way there is no point in basing yourself in say Faringdon because of the ring road.

May I suggest you do what I did when I moved here (from London but I wasn't really in the country a lot) and that's book with two estate/letting agents to visit for a weekend and just view as many properties as possible. If you go for one of the biggest they'll run you round the properties as well (negating the need for a car!)

Get in touch if you need any more help

Where will you/DH be working? Would suggest looking at Eynsham/Witney and the surrounding villages, there's some lovely places round there.

hedgiemum - has DGS got good reports these days then? May be giving away my identity here but back when I was there they were having awful problems.

also, Didcot + surrounding area is massive commuterville these days. (well, has been for the last 15-20 years at least)

What kind of place/area/feeling are you going for?

Wolvercote???
You would be catchment for The Cherwell School then.

I second Eysnham/Witney

Wheatley also nice but secondary isnt that great compared to Bartolomew/Henry Box or Cherwell

Thanks for all the tips and advice. We went back to the UK in May and decided in the end on Witney area as secondary schools were very good in the area.

My eldest will go to Bartholomew and my youngest will go to the local primary in Cassington, just can't wait now, only 2 weeks go!