Move to London or Tunbridge Wells with 2 daughters?

[Hellenhellen]

Hi mums

I will be moving from Turkey to the UK with my two daughters, who are 8 and 12 years old.

I lived in London for 12 years before moving to Istanbul. I was single then, and life was good in London.
Now, with the kids, I need some advice.

My 12-year-old has some English, but 8 year old can’t speak much. I am considering state schools to start with and try for 11+ and 13+ exams for grammar for both kids. Possibly private education from year 10/11 year onwards.

I have a close friend who lives in Royal Tunbridge Wells, so I considered that area. There is Bennett Memorial - a Christian school with great GCSE and A-level results. However, we’re not Christian, so I’m worried about being left out even if they could get a place in the non-Christian category. There is also Skinner's Kent Academy, a non-religious state school, "good" by Ofstead.

I lived in Beckenham, Bromley, and Dulwich between 2002 and 2012, and I liked Bromley most.

My primary motivation for moving to the UK is education. However, I want to be in a nice society where I can have friends, play tennis, go for walks, and have some parks, maybe Riverside and a shopping center when it is cold and wet. With all this, I considered Kingston to be a good area, and good schools are in Ham and Twickenham. However, I don’t know this area as I don’t know Royal Tunbridge Wells.

I am a white-collar worker working from home on a contract, and I may need to work in the long term. I will be away from my husband, who will be staying in Turkey, and he will try to visit us as much as he can.

It is a tough decision; my initial question is, would you prefer London versus Royal Tunbridge Wells? I don’t want kids to feel singled out one day andn’t have their father around. Also, I want to be able to socialize. At the same time, living in London is more costly, meaning less housing quality. I plan to rent a flat, and my budget will be around £2500.- 3000 at the max.

I look forward to your opinions, Mom. Thank you so much in advance.

Given what you've said about their English levels, I'd pick London above TW. London schools are so much better set up to cope with kids from a range of backgrounds and countries than TW schools are, or at least wouldn't have been when I was a teen. For context, the extent of the diversity when I was at Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar was that one girl in my year, of over 100 girls, wasn't white. It's a very homogeneous town.
I think if they got in, and it's worth looking into quite how competitive the grammars are in that area, they could really struggle while they are still catching up with their English. When I was there TWGGS was in the top 10 state schools in the country and the intake were all considered to be in the top 10% academically. I know I'd have really struggled if it was all in a second language for me.
In many ways it's a great town and it could tick a lot of boxes for you but I think it could be hard on the kids school-wise, initially at least.

I'll be moving back to Richmond borough next year.
I think Richmond, twickenham, Kingston, teddington would fit you. It's an amazing community here. You have everything you will ever need and there is a big social life. Also a great Turkish community for familiarity for your children too!

I live in Tunbridge Wells and it has a very safe and lovely feel about it, the parks are really nice and it is pretty close to London.
My children went to Bennett and loved it there, it is a really great school and if you have any faith, not just Christian then you have a chance of getting in.
Also if your children pass the 11+ the Grammar schools are really good, TWGGS and Tonbridge Girls Grammar are particularly good for girls.

Which school did she go to @dizzydizzydizzy ?

By London, do you mean Bromley? Because that’s suburbia

Would you prefer a town or suburb?

Charles Darwin school in Biggin Hill

I would look at Bromley- we are in Beckenham so have the benefit of good transport into London, but lots of green space and good schools. We used to live in Turkey too (although we are not Turkish) and coming back were happy there was a big Turkish community in Beckenham, including several Turkish families on our road! Lots of Turkish restaurants and grocery shops too! It’s also close to Gatwick so easy to get to the airport by public transport (via East Croydon). Bromley has a shopping centre which is big enough for what we need.

Our kids go a girls’ comprehensive secondary school, but it’s very multicultural and lots of girls have English as a second language and enter after Y7. There are some grammar schools, but not as many as further out in Kent.

I’d definitely consider Bromley again, especially if you liked living here before 😊