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Original poster

Anyone know anything about Liverpool?

34 replies

angharad · 02/08/2002 09:10

DH has been headhunted for a job in liverpool, he's miserable at work so it's tempting. We've been to the uni and city centre which seemed pretty grim so where is it nice to live? Which schools are good? Thanks!

OP posts:
leander · 02/08/2002 09:42

I live in Liverpool and must say i Love it.
Nice places to live are Childwall, Woolton, Calderstones, West Derby, there are good and bad in most areas but i'll help all i can with opinions on areas and schools if you can tell me any specific areas you're looing at there is also another mumsnetter from Liverpool Jendy so between us we should be able to help.
leanderxx

Tinker · 02/08/2002 10:24

Hey, I'm from Liverpool. Grim indeed????? I know the north bits of the city so let us know what/where you have in mind!

leander · 02/08/2002 10:57

Sorry Tinker i didn't know you were from Liverpool too.

carogee · 02/08/2002 12:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

emsiewill · 02/08/2002 13:40

I was just going to say what about Southport. I visit frequently, but haven't lived there for about 15 years, so am not sure how it is seen as a place for families (as opposed to the pensioners).

sjs · 03/08/2002 07:43

I grew up on the Wirral and my parents commuted into Liverpool. It was 30 mins on the train or 30 minute drive through tunnel. Lots of lovely places - West Kirby, Heswall, Caldy, Hoylake and lots of places further down towards Chester which have beautiful rural village atmosphere - would depend where your husband's work was whether the distance is managable. Don't know the area well now, but 15 years ago there were lots of good state and private schools at primary and secondary level. The Wirral still had grammar schools in those days, but don't know if that is still the case. And it also had a mix of good and bad comprehensive schools. Like everywhere you would need to research it to make sure you were in the right catchment area.

Jendy · 05/08/2002 17:10

Hi angharad
I'm not from Liverpool but studied and worked here for longer than I can remember. If you're used to London it will probably be be much quieter. I personally like living here like most places have good and bad ares considered nice include childwall, aigburth, woolton, mossley hill, calderstones. Most areas even 'bad' ones have nice spots. Great for accessing Wales, cheshire, penines and lakes. As a city it's small enough to be friendly but large enough to have most facilities. If you would rather you can commute from Sefton (north of city Southport, crosby, freshfields, birkdale) or from Wirral or Knowsley, but all areas have their good and bad, good luck, let us know how you get on or if you need more info.

helenmh · 06/08/2002 09:20

I came from merseyside originally and my family still live on the wirral. We lived in woolton about 8 years ago ( on the liverpool side). Things may have changed but when we looked at houses we were advised that Woolton and Childwall were good for schools. There were some nice suburbs on the south side near parks etc. Apart from the areas I mentioned Allerton seemed nice. Theres lots of nice areas on the wirral side and its easy to commute. My sister lives in upton which I understand Has a good primary school ( st Josephs which is catholic). There are lots of nice areas eg greasby, heswall, west kirby, bebington. I understand that some parts of the wirral still have an 11 plus system. It might be worth a look at ofsted website for information on individual schools.
Good luck
helen

Joe1 · 06/08/2002 09:31

The only thing I know about Liverpool is the bloomin football team

leander · 06/08/2002 18:45

And what a great team it is.

Original poster
angharad · 07/08/2002 08:21

Thanks for your tips, DH has been offered a head of dept job at the uni so I think we'll need to be in liverpool rather than further out, so looking on the map I guess childwall, West Derby seem the best options. Only DD is at school at the moment and we would hope to keep her in a Catholic school so any recommendations/ones to avoid would be welcomed. Have read that there are no catchment areas, is this true?

Thanks again!

OP posts:
leander · 07/08/2002 10:07

angharad, how old is your daughter? I live in Childwall and also know west Derby quite well so as i said I'll help all i can.

Original poster
angharad · 07/08/2002 10:40

DD has just finished Y2 and will be going into Y3 in Sept. DS1 starts R in Sept. I've looked at schools on the web and it looks as if there are lots of good primaries but that the secondaries are rocky. Is the no catchment thing true? Also day care? Thanks so much!

OP posts:
Jendy · 07/08/2002 15:01

Angharad, my dh is currently working at Liv uni, which one is your dh at? I'm not sure about the catchment rule but most poeple I know have advised me to think ahead and seem to believe that the 2nd school with take 1st schools in to account even if they shouldn't.

Although I'm not originally from Liverpool please note not just 1 footy team - 2 or 3 if you count tranmere, Beatles (plus lots of other bands), 2 cathedrals, the oldest China Town and biggest Chinese gate in Europe, at least eight Museums just in the city centre etc. I'm off my soap box now!

Original poster
angharad · 08/08/2002 09:43

If he takes the post he'll be at the uni rather than john Moore. Didn't mean to offend anyone but we went up last week and there was torrential rain, driving in past burnt out pubs and a city centre that looked as if the recession was still on (does have a Zara though!)

We'd quite like to stick with state schools but are a bit worried about secondaries and that there seem to be quite a few single sex schools.
Do you know if the uni daycare is any good?

OP posts:
leander · 08/08/2002 09:56

Angarad I hope next time you visit Liverpool you get a better impression of it. I cant help about childcare but to let you know the better secondary schools do seem to be single sex schools would be able to advise better when you have considered an area to which you would like to live.HTH
leanderxx

Original poster
angharad · 08/08/2002 11:01

Cheers Leander. We were thinking that we'd need to choose where to live based on schools. I've done a bit of digging on the net and St Edward's looks a good option for secondary but chances of getting in seem slim, I'm guessing that even thought we're RC there are other hoops to jump through...Still don't quite understand the catchment situation, are there catchments for primaries?

OP posts:
Jendy · 08/08/2002 16:18

Angharad My dh is also at Uni of Liv so we looked at the uni daycare and weren't sure but I think it might have just been one of those days. I know other people who've got kids there and they say it's fine. At the moment I'm looking at nurseries again because the one ds is at is great but too far the opposite way for work. I might look at the uni one again. The so called 'top of the range' nurseries are generally quoted as being Monkton & Kelton both of which are in Mossley Hill and have huge waiting lists. I can't advise on the catchment rule for primaries if there is one but it just when talking generally to other parents with older sproggs they seem to think there can be advantages in choosing carefully.

Original poster
angharad · 09/08/2002 09:45

Thanks everyone, just need Dh to make up his mind!

OP posts:
Original poster
angharad · 09/08/2002 09:57

Oh and how much is daycare in liverpool? The uni is very cheap but I guess private nurseries will be more. at the moment we pay £27 per day but Cardiff prices tend to be £25-35. Are we going to be stung for a lot more?

OP posts:
leander · 09/08/2002 10:45

I dont actually use daycare but im quite sure its a lot cheaper than that my cousins dd isin a nursery so ill ask her and get a better idea for you. hth

Jendy · 12/08/2002 14:08

When we looked at the uni it was probably the cheapest - if you're a uni employee it's subsidised. I can't quite remember but I think we pay about £450. The nurseries we looked at went up to about £520 a week. I think there's a lot of variation not just in price but also in style. I friend of mine pays only £250 a month, the nursery is very small and seems more like a childminders, which is another option.

leander · 13/08/2002 22:56

Angharad my Dh attended St Edwards College and I think it is a fee paying school although there are some assisted places available he also had to sit a very extensive exam programme.
My cousin actually uses a childminder and she is very happy with her she pays approx £18 per day, hth.

Original poster
angharad · 19/08/2002 11:25

Sorry not to have been back but been on hols! Basically childcare sounds as if it's going to be at least a £100 per month cheaper- hurray!

Not happy about childminder as too many friends have had probs. Is it true that in england nurseries etc are allowed to smack? This is banned in Wales and as i'm so anti-smacking I'm a bit worried.

OP posts:
Bozza · 20/08/2002 10:56

Don't know about this but I would be very surprised if any nursery allowed smacking. Not sure about whether it is legal or not but I know that my Local Authority ban it and I'm certain the nursery wouldn't anyway they are so busy covering themselves for one thing or another.