Moving to Hale, Manchester - advice please!

[chaiselongues]

Hello mumsnetters, advice needed please!

My husband is likely to be offered a job in Trafford and we need to decide whether to move there as a family with 2 primary aged and 1 nursery aged boys. We’re looking at Hale primarily (but happy to be told somewhere else is better!) because it has a grammar school and looks nice!

I lived in Manchester (more centrally) 20 years ago and loved it, but it’s a while later and I’ve got a family now so I’d love some input. I’m from London (husband European), but we’re currently living in Dublin in a lovely, safe, calm but also fairly dull seaside suburb. All my family is south of uk but we do have a few northern friends.

I will be able to work from Manchester (or most places in the uk).

The kids are happy and settled here in Ireland but it’s much harder for me to work here (far less childcare), prices are high, and we have no family help (which would be similar in Manc tbh). They’re at a lovely school which is private (we can’t afford private in the uk, it’s much much cheaper here).

so my questions are:
is Hale (or elsewhere) a good place to live as a family?
what are the primary schools like?
anyone know anything about Altrincham Grammar school for boys (and nearly non grammars - kids seem to be doing well at school but that’s no guarantee) - is it a happy place? Any bullying? Hard to get into?

help!!

thank you hive mind!

It's a lovely area and the grammar schools are fantastic but really competitive.

Both my boys are there and it's fantastic but it's getting harder and harder to get in. We sent them to private primary which did a lot of prep with them. If they're in state primary you will need to tutor.

If you're in hale you likely want to be on the side that puts you within half a mile of Wellington school as that probably the best non grammar in Trafford but the catchment is tiny.

A lot of people send their kids to private round here if they don't pass for alti grammar.

Hope that helps !

Thanks so much that’s really helpful - could I ask the names of any particularly good/successful private preps? Would you recommend the ones you used? I’d be relying partly on making friends (for me!) at the school gates, through the gym, kids activities etc - is that likely to be hard to do? Sorry for all the questions!

Bumping!

Hey! Sorry just seen you replied to this. APS (Altrincham Preparatory school) where mine went is a boys prep and Bowdon Prep has recently become co-ed.. both great schools with lovely communities. I still see the mum friends I made and my eldest is 17 now!

the Trafford grammar schools are becoming increasingly hard to get into due to the way they’ve changed their entry requirements. It used to be that everyone say the 11+ across Trafford and those who passed when to their local grammar. Now they all set their own entry requirements they operate more like private schools and kids come from all over the place with less from the local area.
hale is nice, premium price for houses. Check the airport flight path. Downside for me, particularly if commuting into Manchester, would be that it’s not on the tram line.

Hi I live in Altrincham which has much better transport links and the market area is great. Hale is nice I’ve lived there we prefer Altrincham but everyone is different. Bowdon is also lovely. Regarding the grammars I have done the entrance exams 4 times with mine now. It is hard and your best bet is definitely one of the preps to stand a better chance of getting in and be prepared for tuition fees in top of school fees. The state schools are massively oversubscribed so you probably wouldn’t get a spot in the school you would want anyway, it would be worth checking availability at Bowden prep, APS and Hale prep. I think you would probably be ok.
There are loads of families in the area and sometimes it can be hard to get place on extra curricular activities and are often waiting lists for things like swimming/brownies etc…
Other than that I can’t think of any other negatives really. We have lived here for 18 years, the kids are happy, they all love/ loved their schools and have all said they are glad they took the entrance exams and it was worth all the hard work which I’m glad about as it was pretty brutal!!

That’s so helpful, thank you all! I hadn’t realised we’d need to go private really for prep - what percentage of your kids’ yeargroups got in do you know? Has anyone tried via the state route (with tutors!). They are in private here in Ireland but it’s much cheaper here!

Optimistic bump…

Sorry didn't have notifications on. 40-50% at prep get in nowadays. Remember the prep isn't selective at entry. It's just getting more and more competitive. When my older son was there it was more like 60%.

Yes kids do get in with tutors it's just a lot harder work.. for the parents as much as anything! state schools vary but usually a handful per year would get in from what I know.. definitely not impossible but harder because they don't do any prep in school. Maybe 3-10 a year but depends on school.

Having said all that I believe they are changing the exam so all this could change!

My DNs went to the local primary and had 1 hr of relaxed tuition a week in year 5/6 term time only, less than 30 mins homework a week, and both passed in top group and went to Alt Grammar. It is not at all necessary to go to a fee paying primary.
My Nephew on the other side was told by BPS not to do the 11plus and focus Private schools as he wouldn't pass , they got the same tutor as us and he passed and has thrived at the school.
There are also some great comprehensives in the area.
DM me if you want any more info.

They are changing the exam from this year to make it much harder to tutor to so that it’s fairer for the kids whose parents can’t afford private school or tutoring. No one knows what this means for how many from the local schools will get in but hopefully it will mean much more do. I live near a Trafford grammar with a 150 intake and they take kids from 90 schools which really sucks for local kids.

My advice would be not to assume your kids will get into grammar and be comfortable with the other options. One of mine will get in, one likely won’t, and it’s causing us some issues.

if you’re catholic you have more options as there are also two Catholic grammars and BTH is supposed to be ok.

That’ really interesting thank you!

I’d love to DM you @faithfultoGeorgeMichaelbut for some reason I can’t/don’t know how to? So sorry!!

Are there any state primaries known as good feeder schools? Also, any opinions on Sale Grammar vs altrincham grammar? And any opinions on the various prep schools (BPS/APS/HPS or Forest or any others!)

thank you so much all

In recent years I know kids who’ve been AGGS, ABGS, sale grammar, wellington, BTH and flixton girls. All except the one at wellington have enjoyed school and I’d say met their full potential (and I don’t think that was entirely the fault of the school in that case!). Those who wanted to have gone to top universities and got careers in their chosen fields. Another is pursuing another route with excellent opportunities.
all went to their local primary school, some were tutored for 11+ but not all got in.

That’s really reassuring @MiddleAgedDread! What is BTH? Am I right to think the final 3 schools Im your list are non selective?

I’m so envious. I grew up in this area and moved away not quite realising how lovely south Manchester/ North Cheshire are.
Hale/Bowden are nice.
Knutsford is nicer (less brassy).
Wilmslow is nice (less superficial than Hale).

BTH = blessed Thomas holford, the catholic high school in Altrincham. Yes, the later are non-selective.

thanks @LittleMissEnraged! Do you know which/if the schools on knutsford and wilmslow would be best? Ive also heard Lymm is nice?

@chaiselongues I have dm you, let me know if you cannot see it :)

Argh @faithfultoGeorgeMichaelI can see you’ve sent me a DM but when I click on it it takes me to an invalid link thingy page. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! So sorry!

Would you be ok naming good (state) school primary and secondary options on this thread instead?

Bowden Church school is supposed to be good in the state sector. One of the Y6 classes had about half pass for the grammar school this year.

But in the state sector almost everyone tutors

Thanks so much for you comments so far. We’re in Manc now having a look at schools and we’re impressed with forest prep school - any red/green flags we should know about?! The head seemed good.

also potentially looking at urmston grammar and abbortford prep if anyone knows anything about these pr rhe area in comparison to the others mentioned here? Thanks so much all!

I can’t comment on any of the preps because we didn’t choose that route. Both of my DC went to Altrincham Grammars from a local state school. Roughly half of their Y6 classes went to one of the Grammar Schools - Altrincham, Sale, St Ambrose or Loreto. Most had tutors during Year 5 but that is it.

If I was moving here now, I’d choose to live in Timperley, close to Wellington School. It is very well regarded and has a tight catchment area. There are some nice houses there and it is between Altrincham and Sale for both Grammar schools. You also get a bit more for your money than in Hale.

Cheadle and Didsbury are nice