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Original poster

Schools in HARPENDEN/ST ALBANS?

85 replies

granarybeck · 12/07/2006 14:42

does anyone know about the schools in this area?

I have received loads of helpful advice on another thread about where to move to around london. We are thinking of harpenden or st albans and are going have a look round at the end of this week. Does anyone know anything about The Lea school in harpenden? any thoughts would be appreciated.

There seemed to be lots of excellent schools in the area but lots seem to be full (i know, pretty naive of me not to guess). Otherwise could be back to looking at other areas.

would be really grateful for any advice.

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desperate2bmum · 12/07/2006 15:00

we live just down the road from harpenden...its a gorgeous area to live and we are looking to move there in a few years time (when children are old enough for school)
property prices are very high.
my sil moved there purely to get her 2 girls into schools there and she highly recommends them. sorry if not much help

alibubbles · 12/07/2006 16:34

I've lived in St Albans for 20 years.Both my children have been through state and private schools.

I don't know much about the Lea, but could ask a Harpenden friend, who has three at Wood End and is loooking at secondaries this year for her eldest.

anorak · 12/07/2006 16:48

Hi granarybeck, I live on the other side of St Albans, the south side. Are you wanting to know about primary or secondary schools or both?

2ManyPimms · 12/07/2006 20:17

I am in the centre of St Albans and I can confirm that the primary schools within walking distance to my house are excellent (oh, well except for one). Secondary schools aren't too bad but I believe that Harpenden is better in that respect. Not terribly sure as DS is yonks away from that point in his life.

Good luck!

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 09:54

Thanks for advice. Need to think about primary and secondary really as dd will be going into year4 in september and ds into year 5, so secondaries not too far off.

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Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 09:58

had just thought might have had a choice in harpenden as there were quite a few but must just be lots of children. The Lea looks nice with v small class sizes but a bit different iykwim, just not sure if its good diferent or bad different! St albans seems daunting to pick right area and school as bigger and more schools.

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anorak · 13/07/2006 09:58

I live in a village on the south side of St Albans, it's called Bricket Wood.

We have a lovely primary school in the village. The secondaries around here are among the best in the country. My dds went to Parmiter's which is a mile away and often gets into the Times best schools lists. The girls next door go to STAGS (St Albans Girls) which is also highly placed and is in St Albans.

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:02

Oh i've looked at houses in bricket wood on rightmove. You do get a bit more house for your money there don't you, but still very nice place. I think i was just not sure about the commute for dh as he needs to get to farringdon so thames link would go straight there. How far is it to st albans? cyclable distance to station? If you don't mind me asking, is parmiters private? mixed? we are only really able to think about state schools at the moment.

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Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:03

sorry to bombard you with questions anorak, but how big is bricket wood?

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anorak · 13/07/2006 10:10

It's quite a big area geographically with a lot of woods and common land but there are only about 1500 homes here. We have two tiny parades of shops, 4 pubs, a good Indian restaurant and Chinese takeaway.

There are two churches, a doctor and a dentist, a couple of nurseries and the school. There's a sports centre, a riverside walk and picnic area and a playing field with swings and stuff. There's a large social club with lots of family orientated events. Also a community centre with various stuff like guides, scouts, a horticultural society.

The population is a mixture of mainly families and retired people. It's a quiet and low-crime place where people are friendly. You can get into St Albans or Watford very easily by bus or train, and there is a railway station here on a local line that runs between those two places. My dh gets to the city from here by using the local train to Watford and then getting the train to Euston from there. By car it's a ten minute journey into either place.

You are welcome to call in here if you need a base from which to explore the area. Don't want to buy my house do you? it's on the market at the moment!

anorak · 13/07/2006 10:13

Parmiter's is mixed and state. It is a foundation school so it has more money than most.

You can reach Farringdon very easily - I do it all the time for nights out in London. It's 4 miles to cycle or drive to Radlett station and then about half an hour on the Thameslink.

anorak · 13/07/2006 10:16

here's my house

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:18

Oh thank you anorak that is really useful info, i think we will have a look when we come down. I really like harpenden but our house up here is only worth about 250 even though has 5/6 beds. so we'd be having to have huge mortgage increase (which i've got used to idea of and know will need to downsize) but for a house we'll struggle to fit in. so really think we need to look at other areas too. I like the sound of friendly and low crime.

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southeastastra · 13/07/2006 10:20

ooh anorak you live near me! we go down school lane sometimes to freak ourselves out.

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:21

oh posts crossed! you're house is lovely! its that fourth bedroom that we really need for family coming to stay but are struggling to afford in other areas. Are you planning on staying in the area?

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southeastastra · 13/07/2006 10:23

you could try where i live wd6 there are quite a wide range of houses

anorak · 13/07/2006 10:25

I don't know yet - I'm waiting for DD2 to make her mind up if she is coming back to live with us or not

southeastastra where are you? Garston?

We also spook ourselves in Old School Lane .

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:30

sorry anorak, didn't mean to pry. will have a look southeastastra,do you like living there?

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anorak · 13/07/2006 10:31

Not prying, don't worry

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:32

Am thinking should be avoiding looking at houses at houses in old school lane then!

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southeastastra · 13/07/2006 10:34

no i live in lovely borehamwood! which is a completely mixed town. all house prices, all sorts of people. it's on the thameslink line. you have to have a look really, the surrounding areas of radlett, elstree, shenley are also worth a look.

what is that pub at the end of school lane anorak? we were going to go in but the locals gave us a look so we sped off!

anorak · 13/07/2006 10:38

It's the Old Fox. It used to be nice but some new people took it over about 3 years ago and decorated it in pastel wood chip and it lost all its character.

It's nice in winter though, you go for a long walk on a Sunday morning, end up there beside a huge log fire having a couple of reviving glasses of wine and a meal if you like before walking back to BW.

granarybeck it's actually lovely down there but a bit remote and a spooky walk at night. In the day it's gorgeous, we go down there spotting deer in the woods or picking sloes in the autumn.

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:40

sounds lovely, really like the idea of lots of countrty walks nearby. We do have some quite spooky lanes where we are in saddleworth.

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anorak · 13/07/2006 10:43

We also have a lovely walk along the river Ver. First we walk to the other side of the village, most of this is a beautiful country lane. Then we join the 3/4 mile long (off-road) river path and at the end of that is a 400 year old water mill that still works but is now a motel/pub/restaurant where you can have a meal and or drinks before setting off back again. They also have a kids playground there and a place where you can feed the swans/ducks/geese/carp. We love it.

Original poster
granarybeck · 13/07/2006 10:48

oh it sounds really lovely. We just really want to move somewhere we'll settle as we've already moved a few times. So thinks like countryside, schools and friendliness are all really important as its such a big move for us. I think we'll definitely com eand have a look. I appreciate your thoughts though as its so hard to tell what places are really like without hearing what people who live there think.

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