Yorkshire mums please help :)

[Jolene93]

I’m currently living in the South but have made the decision to move to Yorkshire, but I’m honestly clueless about the process of getting my son enrolled in a school up there changing schools and everything? Can you please help 🥺

Also any other general pointers about the area I’d be really grateful for, I want to move but just an idea and nothing in place yet - TIA x

Where in Yorkshire? Its four counties and multiple education authorities. Some of which have fixed catchment areas...

Yeah, you're going to have to narrow it down a little

It's the largest county in the country and very diverse in every way imaginable.

Do you have a workplace or other location you want to be near to, or did you just decide to come because you found out how great it is here?

It’s a big place, where are you moving to?

Could you share why you are moving? Like what are you trying to get away from or move too? City life, countryside? Faster or slower pace? Do you need good transport connections to visit people where you currently live?

Yes, which part of Yorkshire (North, South, East, West) and are you thinking of city, town, or village life? By the coast or in the dales or moors? It’s a big place! Some areas (the cities) are very diverse, others are not. Do you have a job already or will you be job, house, and school-hunting at the same time?

Regarding schools, some areas do have fixed catchment areas, which is likely to affect where you want to live. You can find information on applying to schools on the relevant council websites, but you need to know where you will be, of course.

@PuttingDownRoots @Hoppinggreen @Hillrunning @BarbaraofSeville Sorry ladies! My company office is based in Wath so not too far from there ideally I’d be looking to move to x

Watch on Dearne in South Yorkshire? I think there's another Wath in North Yorkshire.

If it's south Yorkshire Wath then have a look at the small villages around Barnsley, or think about living in Sheffield and commuting.

Autocorrect fail. Wath on Dearne not watch

So Sheffield, Rotherham Doncaster sort of area? How old is your child?

I'm in Doncaster, chosen in a large part for access to the A1 and M1. This is one of the areas with Fixed catchment areas, so we chose a Secondary school then looked for houses (I wouldn't recommend where I live for Wath though).

There is a Watersports club in Manvers that is highly recommended.

Wath-upon-Dearne?

So South Yorks?
Not the best one but you’ll be reet

There's also a Wath in the Ripon area

Shurrup.

My company’s office is based in Wath Upon Dearne yes :)

It's a n area you really need to go look around, there are nice bits and not so nice, sometimes very close together.

Wots tha sayin bout South Yorkshire? Nowt wrong wi it lass.

Some help with the language barrier for you-

Arr lass - wife/girlfriend
Coit - coat
Tha - you
A ya - are you ...
Nate - night
A up - Hello
Rate good - very enjoyable

Also we remove the end consonant from most words. Good luck.

My part of (rural) South Yorkshire is rather nice with outstanding primary schools and good secondary schools I'll have you know. Like other parts of the country there are nice and not so nice parts.

@Jolene93 If you are looking at South Yorkshire and needing to commute to Wath-upon-Dearne I would look towards the nicer parts of Barnsley and to the north of Sheffield. Rotherham has recently been described as one of the unhappiest places to live. Barnsley town centre has had a recent facelift and a lot of investment and is on the up.

The secondary schools near Wath-upon-Dearne aren't great, but Barnsley has three ofsted Good secondary schools. I can't comment about Doncaster as I don't know it.

@RampantIvy Hi, that’s really helpful thank you :) when you say the nicer parts of Barnsley can you please specify which areas these are so I can start searching to look for a place and also where the schools you mentioned are located please? Feel free to DM me privately if you wish with said info :)

Can't help with school thing but we moved from the South to between Worksop and Rotherham and it's without a doubt the best thing I ever did.

South Yorkshire stole my heart.

@theemmadilemma Would it be ok if I sent you a private message to ask some more questions please? :)

Yes of course OP!

I live locally to Wath Upon Dearne. The Manvers estate is lovely, the lake and RSPB reserves are beautiful. The area is nice. I commute to Sheffield a couple of times a week fairly easily, it's a kind of semi rural area but also urban isn't far. Wath town centre is pretty ropey but you have a decent sized retail ppark just up the road, in fact 2 in different directions.

Schools wise my dd finished at wath academy last year. She's at Durham now so did pretty well. Ds is at a local primary, the c of e school. Rated good with ofsted and its a lovely school.

Like any area it has nice bits and not soo nice bits. I would be very selective about living in Wath itself but manvers is nice. But it's quite expensive to buy here and if I didn't have dcs I wouldn't pay the premium for being on this particular estate.

Wombwell is just up the road, and is apparently nice in some bits. Swinton and Kilnhurst the other way. Elsecar and Wentworth and Harley all close by and very villagey types of places.

It depends like many things on your budget.

You could spend 80k for a 3 bed up the road, or 300k for a 3 bed on Manvers and still end up at the same school.

@Jolene93 if you can and do drive, look at Penistone and villages around it. You'll need to invest in a big coat mind.