St Albans / Harpenden primary schools

[sarshe]

Hi there,

We are a kiwi family relocating from NZ to St Albans or possibly Harpenden in March 2011. As part of my research for the move I've been exploring the school admissions systems over there and have become hopelessly confused!

Our DD turns 6 in May 2011 (in March 2011, she'll be part way through Year 1 in NZ). Our DS will turn 4 in January 2011.

We have called the Herts County Council, but have been advised that we can't apply for a school for our DD without a permanent UK address. So we called some schools to find out if they'll have places available, but were told they couldn't say until once an application is made.

So our dilemma is: how do we go about deciding where to rent. Do we just choose a school and rent as close as possible, or is it not that simple? Obviously we're keen for them to attend a decent school, especially on top of such a big move, so I'm a bit anxious about the whole thing. Having said that, most of the schools in these two towns look pretty good?

I understand that the popular primaries are heavily over-subscribed. Would it be right to assume that there would be little chance of an in-year admission to the very central schools or those ranked 'outstanding' by Ofsted? Could anyone suggest some good schools more likely to have space for an in-year Year 1 admission?

Work is in Welwyn G.C, so we'd prefer to be in a nice part of town handy for that drive (eg, in St Albans, possibly north of Hatfield Rd, east of Harpenden Rd - I've been looking at Fleetville, Bernards Heath, etc). However we?re completely open to any advice on where to live too! We really love character homes and being close to nice shops, restaurants, pubs, etc. We're obviously looking for somewhere family friendly - but from my research both these towns seem to be very much that way (?).

Anyway, I'm waffling on now. But any advice on this whole schools / where to live thing would be hugely and most gratefully appreciated. I'm in a right muddle about it all, and need to get a clue, fast! Sorry if I'm being totally ignorant!

Many thanks for reading

[WestHamGirl]

Hi there. Came across this thread as we are moving to the UK from Brisbane early next year. We are looking at St Albans as the commute would be perfect for my Hubby. I just wondered how those of you who were making the move got on? Any advice? We have 3 kids aged 6, 4 and 2.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jane

[knaveofhearts]

I was a pupil at the Lea, I started 31 years ago! So glad to hear it is still small, friendly and successful. I still talk about my primary school days incredibly fondly, especially now we are selecting a school for DD1.

[mostlychilledoutmum]

Hi Maggie6 - sounds like you would fit in beautifully at the Lea Primary and Nursery School! It's full of simple, friendly people like yourself who love being at a smaller, friendly, inclusive school with dedicated teachers who genuinely care about each child reaching their potential. I've had kids there for 8 years now, and I love it! If you are in the area, they are having open days on the 17th and the 29th of this month.

[maggie6]

Hi Sarshe
I was just reading your post and thinking you must now be over in the UK. Hope all's going well. I wanted to ask you how things have gone for you as I am looking at moving to the same area from France at Christmas. My husband works in London and for the moment I am in France with our children so we would like to get over to the UK by Christmas. I have four children so will have to find places in both primary and secondary schools. I like the look of the schools in Harpenden, but I'm a little worried we might not "fit in". We are simple, friendly people. Our children do very well at school and are encouraged, but we are not "pushy" and certainly do not have pots of money. We spent a couple of years on the east coast of the USA in a lovely town on the shoreline with excellent schools, but I was disappointed it was so superficial (maybe it was a little too "rich" for us) and don't want to choose our UK destination poorly and repeat the experience!

So, any advice would be greatly received. I am also worried about arriving mid-way through the school year and not having any choice about schools.

Thanks!

[Jamfly]

Hi Sarshe. Don't check this much and was just surfing. Great to hear you did manage the mammoth move (!) and also got into Bernards Heath! I do agree its a lovely school. If you see me in the chaos of pickup/dropoff do say hello. I'm probably the only mother who is pushing a buggy with a board on the back with two boys (and breaking my back in the process) + I'm chinese. That should make it quite obvious!

[sarshe]

Hi, just to let you know, we've been placed at Bernards Heath, which is fab, DD is one week in and loving it, and the kids and teachers (and grounds) are just lovely. Really happy. It's a bit of a trek from where we are, but not too bad at all. The head mentioned 'we have another NZ family'... that was probably you jamfly! Thanks again all for the help and advice.

[sarshe]

Thanks both - have faxed off in-year application today, so will see what comes!

[granarybeck]

Hi we moved to harpenden from the north of England a few years ago, so though not quite as far, had similar problems with not having a herts address. We found it very useful to email Heads at every school ahead of the move, we then managed to get an offer of places where two children were moving out of the area. The heads are v used to people moving into the area and were really helpful. Can't really go wrong with any schools in harpenden. as others have said I'd you want to avoid moving again I'd keep an eye on secondary catchment areas as it comes around quicker than you think.

[gottogetthekidstobed]

Fax No for Admissions in Hemel Hempstead Herts is 01442 453 126.

Good luck with the move..

[sarshe]

Thanks both - we have just signed a lease on a house over there, so am going to get the school application sent off tonight, thanks for the headsup. Will have to call the council for their fax number though as can't find it anywhere on the website!
Furniture is on the boat, car is sold, house here is rented, flights are booked... it's all coming together, fingers crossed! Very exciting. Fab to hear from others with LOs enjoying the city.

[gottogetthekidstobed]

Hi
We moved to St Albans and were lucky to get a Y4 place at BH for my daughter..it is an "outstanding" school. And we do not live any where near the catchment.
You can now apply for In Year Admissions even with you being in NZ..I did this as we came from abroad. I have the forms on the computer if you want them. You can fax to LEA Herts and they will begin the process. If there is a place...you'll get it no matter where you live. You can choose 3 schools and if there is a place you will get it.
We needed a Year 2 for my son and had to wait 6 long weeks.
My choices when we came back where Bernards Heath, Oakwood and Wheatfields. Maple and Garden Fields are really good too.
Good luck - it's such an ordeal I know !!

[Jamfly]

Hiya. We are settling in really well in St Albans. A really family orientated place with so much to do with your children. Our wee man has settled in really well and has made friends really easily. Preschool places are a little more difficult now to find as there is only another term of school before the end of the year. I've managed 1 1/2 days for no. 2, which is better than nothing. It doesn't matter where you end up living, its what you make of the situation I think so you will be fine whichever school your kids get into I am sure. Yep happy to catch up once you are here. Good luck with it all - its a massive move. I know myself that I never want to see another tea chest again!

[sarshe]

Hi Jamfly,

Wow - virtually the same scenario as us (except for the bub!). Hope you're enjoying life in St Albans! And how strange it must feel for you to be newly away from home over these past few crazy weeks.

Has your boy made friends and settled in easily enough at the school? Is it easy enough to find pre-school places? I haven't even thought about that yet - have been preoccupied with schools/homes. Actually, I could ask you a million questions... but will restrain myself!

I'm definitely a starter for a kiwi catch-up - will drop you a note once we're there and settled in!

[Jamfly]

Hi Sarshe. Was just surfing and happened upon this thread and have read it with great great interest ...

We moved here from Wellington a month ago. We have three boys. One is six, the other is turning 4 in mid July and a bubba. We were in the similar situation to you with regs to schooling for the older two. Our eldest was accepted into Bernards Heath Infants on an in year admission. It actually wasn't any of our top three preferences, but its a great school and walkable from where we are renting in Gurney Court Road. I'm happy with it so far and so is he (despite having been off school for near on 3 months!). Our soon to be 4 year old will have to apply through a late admission for this Septs intake but he will get priority as a sibling.

He was at a Montesorri preschool at home and until this Sept I will put him into Albany Montesorri which is not too far from here. My advice with schooling is try and get as close to the school of your preference and then cross your fingers but I think previous comments are right - you have a good chance of getting into a decent enough school in SA on the most part. I've also been told that with Ofsted reports (much like ERO reports), whilst they may give you a general indication of how outstanding (or not as the case may be) a school is, it may not always give you an indication of the schools culture, inclusiveness etc. You can only tell by speaking to others who have children at the school (which is difficult if you don't know anyone!). Anyway good luck with the move and maybe us Kiwis ought to get together sometime as SA seems a popular place for us all.

[sarshe]

Hi Mediocremum - your neighbourhood sounds lovely! We're still trying to work out where to live when we come back... If you see this could you let me know what you reckon the drive/walk time to mandaville and bernards heath schools would be from around where you are, and also how long it might take to get out to Welwyn Garden City at rush hour? Weird question I know, but just looking for a rough steer - wondering if we could live south of the hatfield road without having a horrendous time getting out of St A each day for the commute to work in WGC. Any advice greatly appreciated - I'll check out your blog too!

[Mediocremum]

Kiwi19....St Albans is a small place....someone mentioned you may be moving onto Leyland Ave. If you do, do get in touch. It is an incredibly friendly street, we have street parties, a few of us mums meet regularily for coffee and you won't find any yummy mummy's.

You are right that SP is difficult to get into, we're going through the same process now, but you can always go on the continued interest list. I work in education as an ICT consultant and know most of the schools and as someone says it's pretty hard to go wrong with schools in St. A.

Historically, Mandeville has a bad reputation but I have been in on numerous occasions for work and have been impressed with the staff, ofsted report etc. By far they have the highest value added and I have no problem (besides having to drive there) sending my daughter.

Good luck with everything and do say hello.

I blog at mediocremum.com

Cheers,

Chrissie

[sarshe]

Hi kiwi,

I just saw your post on the St Albans board and sent you a message! This is really interesting about the Montessori school, as DS will have just turned 4 when we arrive in April and I'll have missed all the cut-off dates for reception place applications. It seems we're moving at the most inconvenient time possible in terms of school applications.

We're in Auckland, have been enjoying NZ life for 4 years. Prior to that we were in Crouch End (north London) - but we're feeling very out of touch with the UK, and don't quite know what to expect when we get there. Plus we left when our DD was only 15 months old, so haven't experienced UK life with school age kids.

We're moving to St Albans because so many friends and family in the UK have recommended it to us (we loved Crouch End, but don't really want to be in London with the kids, and people say St A is quite similar - lovely vibe, family friendly, good schools, interesting people, great parks, shops, etc etc). DH is also familiar with St A and thinks it's a good option for us. We've had the Fishpool St / conservation area recommended by several people, but it looks like it's probably out of our price range and not so great for schools... at the moment I'm trying to work out which other areas we might enjoy (love the thought of being in walking distance of that big park, but also trying to get a feel for what Bernards Heath, Fleetville, and other neighbourhoods might be like) and cross-reference that with schools that might have in-year places available for DD in April. Eek.

How did you do it? Did you just get a short term lease then buy? I seem to remember the homebuying process taking a lot longer over there... but then it's been so long that might be my memory playing up!

All the best anyway, hope your offer is successful.

[kiwi19]

sarshe and others, I'd love your opinions...

The other option that may be an otion in sept, is the Albany Prschool, which is a Montessori preschool, is trying to set up a Primary state run school, I believe it is near Hatfield road, so that may be of interest to you. They are still trying to get it up and running, but we are going to look into it ourselves as well. Does anyone else have thoughts or know more about the potential of this school? Also, any thoughts on Mandeville?

We just did the same move in July from Wellington NZ after being there for 9 years! We moved to St. Albans because of family here, the good commute into London, and the feel of the town. We love it so far, but have been renting and are looking to buy a house now in time for teh sept 2011 allocations. I've been surprised at how close, close means when everyone says to buy close to a school. We are looking very close to the center for the station, so have accepted the realization that we will not get our first or even second school choices. But are hopeful as we have an offer on a house in Leyland Avenue which should hopefully be successful next week. We will only be .3miles from St. Peters, an excellent primary but have very little chance of getting in, so next choice is Mandeville. But we really like the area there as we are renting nearby and I've met some lovely families on the street. So just beware of how close you need to be to get into the schools. herts school guru is a great site to help with seeing what schools alloted what areas to check out.

Good luck with your move, where are you moving from, what part of NZ?

[sarshe]

Cheers Swedes2, I'll get in touch with that agency. I read your post to DH and he said 'hmm, what if we've no brains and no money?' :)

mellicauli, when we phoned the schools they said it's all done centrally. So as far as I can tell we need to get an address before we can apply for anything, but we will be able to call those schools likely to have places (closer to the time), sound them out about places and visit them. All this info is great, as it'll save us time with that process. I'm loving mumsnet right now.

[mellicauli]

I think all the middle of the year entries are now dealt with centrally now rather than by individual schools. The Herts Direct website will give you info. I tried to check for you but it looks like it's down.

Also worth checking Herts Shool guru nearer the time for news of school vacancies:

www.schoolguruhertfordshire.co.uk

[edam]

Roundwood's got one vacancy in Year 3 that I know about if that's any use...

[Swedes2]

Sarshe - You'll be arriving outside of the normal admissions time for your daughter and so the normal admissions rules won't actually apply to you in the same way. I think some schools are consitutionally compelled to apply LEA admissions rules even for occasional admissions outside of the normal times. But others aren't. You'll have to phone the schools directly to see if they have a place for your daughter. It's my guess they won't be able to be terribly helpful UNTIL you have an address. And you will also be arriving after the closing date for the normal admissions for your son too. So again you'll be dealing directly with the schools.

Applecroft School and Templewood School in WGC are incredibly good schools. I am particularly impressed with Applecroft.

In general intellectuals live in WGC and Harpenden people are pretty shallow but wealthy (I live in H so I am allowed to say that ) My sons go to school in St A and the traffic is horrendous.

If I was going to live in St A, I would choose to live near the Abbey conservation area so as to be near to the Abbey and Verulamium Park (and Abbey School) and a short stroll from the shops. Or St Michaels. If you are going to live in St A defintely live within walking distance of the station and town centre because of the traffic problems.

www.classicsovereign.co.uk are very good for rentals in Harpenden. You could send them an email and ask them what people do about schools in circumstances such as yours. They do a lot of relocations from overseas and so they likely have some good experience of how it might work out.

Best of luck.

[sarshe]

(meant Wheathamstead, not Wheatfields)... you Brits with your fabulous place names... so much cooler than 'the north shore'.

[sarshe]

So... have I got this right? In a nutshell...

• St A schools (north of Hatfield Rd) that might have space: BH or possibly Fleetville. Others likely to have places are in south of St A.
  
  
• Harpenden schools that are more likely to have places: Grove?? Lea??
  
  
• Sandridge and other villages between St A and Harpenden more likely to have space though not Wheatfields.
  
  
• Important to ask schools about their approach/attitude toward academic achievement... some may be overly invested / put disproportionate emphasis on this.

[sarshe]

Wow, so much info, it's great. Will save me lots of time when we touch down.

Hiyamaya, thanks - BH school is on the northern side of town, so will ask there (and probably Fleetville) first as we were hoping to stay north for the work commute. Also thanks for heads-up on premium on Clarence Park.

Swedes2, re: WGC, no reason other than utterly subjective preference on the part of DH (who's been to both towns). Go figure. Friends have also recommended St Albans or Harpenden as areas they think we'd enjoy.

Hobgoblin, mellicauli, thanks - will add Sandridge to the list of places to check out and we're already looking at Fleetville. Can you walk to a cafe in Sandridge, or is it super rural?

EA - wow, really? That's so full on! Scary!

Edam - thanks heaps for your useful advice... just maybe seems like your info on the lea is a bit out of date is all.

Thanks again everyone, so helpful.