Possible relocation to Southampton

[kando]

We are thinking of relocating to Southampton. Can anyone give me some advice on junior schools in the area? Also, would be grateful for any advice on areas to consider (or avoid?) living in. TIA

thornhill. i would avoid.
parts of shirley are ok, others not so.
on the whole i think it is a nice place. nice centre, shopping etc.
ocean village is greatly improved aswell.
sorry dont really no much about the juniour schools. just some nursarys if you need that.
all the best. x

avoid St Marys. Bevois Valley is (close to St marys) not that nice either

Some areas of St Marys, taxi drivers are even banned from and a friends BF (6ft lots, rugby player) was mugged by a prostitute!

The highfield area is very nice, with house prices that follow!

oh ye was gonna say there are nsome nice parts in shirley

Bitterne & Woolston are ok, as Nanny L sadi Highfield & bassett are ok too.
Where are relocating from?
I have a friend who's child goes to highfield school & another that goes to Woolston infants

What about areas nearer the New Forest?

Portswood and Highfield Juniors are the top ones, pricey area though so we are moving to Bitterne Park next month. Quiet and residential, by the river, 20min walk to Portswood or there are good schools there but you get so much more house for your money on the East side of the river.
Don't go as far East as Thornhill though, bit of a sink estate to say the least.

chjilly - we are living in Holland just now, and will be for wee while yet.

Seb1 - would love to live closer to New Forest, but prices way above our budget plus DH will be commuting to London so want to be close-ish to good links.

Thanks for the suggestions. We are visiting UK over Easter (inlaws live on Isle of Wight - would be my ideal place to live but too far for dh to travel to London) so may well have a drive round the areas you have already mentioned. More suggestions would be very welcome.

Any thoughts on the Townhill area?

Townhill is ok my MIL loves there but bitterne, west end or Midanbury are close by and seem to be a little better than townhill

Will ask dh when he gets in as he was brought up and his parents live in Hythe, about 9 miles I think from S'oton. Nice small town (Hythe)
As a visitor I love Lymington but not sure what it would be like to live in.
I really like the area and if we ever leave London thats where we'll head.

Hiya we moved to Bitterne 9 months ago knowing nothing about Southampton and I really like it. Thornhill is just out the other end of Bitterne and would say definately somewhere to avoid from what I've seen!!
DD is only about to start infant school this year but Beechwood juniors near us looks nice - there seems to be an awful lot of choice for schools.

meant to say MIL live there !

my sil lives in hedge end which is just east of soton,good schools there.

Go for Upper Shirley as shirley itself is a bit rough.

Bassett ,but not Basset Green and Chilworth(q. expensive)
Chandlers Ford has great schools.
Highfield and parts of West End.

I live in Ringwood area about 30 mins from soton.

hth

Shirley a bit rough?
(Guess where I live? )
Have a look on the schools tables \link{http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=schoolsearch&tab=primary&q=southampton&x=11&y=8\here} but you really need to visit the schools. Highfield and Portswood are the "best" in terms of results but aren't very inclusive IYSWIM. Shirley Juniors is quite good and Shirley is good for train station although you would have to live in Upper Shirley to get into to Shirley school.
Chandlers Ford is good and also nearer to london so commuting might be easier but you get less house for your money there.

some friends of ours live in New Milton (in New Forest) and she commutes to London - quite nice villagey atmosphere there.

I live in chandlers ford & it is so easy to get on to the M3 but it is very expensive (we are renting here at the mo :()
I used to live in Merry Oak near Bitterne and it wasn't the greatest area although the only trouble I saw was when I work in the local alldays!
To be honest I think a lot of the areas will have their good & bad parts anyway! and also when you live in an area it never seems as bad as people make out as we found out when we moved to Merry Oak! I ended up telling people I lived near Bitterne it was better to do that than have people take the P*@S!!

Lymington is great and you can drive to Brockenhurst to get train to London no problem-other than expense.
Basset is pretty nice from what I know if you need to be IN Southampton.

Lymington is fabbo. It's where I used to live. V. expensive though. What would be your budget?

It has some great schools and it really is a lovely coastal town.

Primary schools in Lymington are fine-"Priestlands" the secondary used to be a bit "iffy".However,times change and I ama bit out of touch but Lymington really is a lovely place-in fact so are all the villges around it such as Sway,Boldre,Tiptoe etc.

Bassett is nice as far as houses go but there aren't really any schools (or anything for that matter) within walking distance. It's also very expensive.
It really depends on what you are looking for and your needs are! I've lived in Southampton all my life bar a few years so I know most areas. also have lots of friends who are teachers (as I am) so know lots of schools too.

Thirtysix-
preistlands did have a dodgy rep when I was at school but now is excellent as is Arnewood a few miles away.

sorry tommy

I should have said parts of it are not that nice ,others are lovely

I'm probably thinking of the bits behind the General Hospital which I'm not sure are Shirley or not.Now they are rough ,please don't sya you live there now!

I'll shut up now

i ahev a friend that lives near that part - she is lovely but walking along there is a bit eyeopening!!!

I think they are Shirley Warren.
I live right at the opposite end of Shirley to that - nearer the Central train station. Junior school at our end not great but we're in the Catholic school system so a bit different

Megg-great news-would love to move back some day-really miss it......

Thirty six, mee too - I wish. What a fabulous place to raise a family.

I had a childhood full of swimming in the lido, walks in the New Forest,sailing in a dingy on the river in the summer, crabbing, fresh air, fresh air and fresh air!