Moving back to the UK...Reigate or Guildford

[Gardena]

Dear Surrey Mums,
I very much need your honest opinion. We are a British (my husband) - Polish (myself) family with 2 children both born in Italy, where we have lived for the last 8 years (lucky, I know :). They are going to be 7 and 5 in a couple of months. My husband is going to work in Redhill and we're just going through an agonizing process of deciding where to live and which schools to choose. We already know that we have no chance of getting a place for our children in any of the Ofsted 1/2 state schools so we decided to put them in one of the private schools. Now, in Italy the schooling system is not the same as in the UK as some of you might know. Children start school when they are 6+ and they go straight to year 1. What that means is that our daughter is currently in Year 1 learning to write and read whereas our son would still be in pre-school and not learning much reading or writing for the next year at least. So from the UK academic point of view they are 'behind' and will probably need some extra support to start.
Having said that both our children are trilingual...kind of an asset I would think. Our daughter can now read in Italian, but she's now started to read in English and Polish too and she speak all 3.
Ok, to the point. We are considering the following options: Reigate Micklefield (St Mary's hasn't currently got a place for Year 2) or Guildford Cranmore (West Horsely) for our son and St Teresa's or Tormead for our daughter. With Tormead we're not sure if we get a place because of the academic difference at this stage. She would need to sit an 'exam' to see if she would be capable of closing the gap.
So here's my question. Can you tell me about your experiences with these schools, what is good/not so good about them. We're (or at least I'm) not familiar with the idea of girls/boys schools - what's your view on that? What is important for us is that our children feel good at school, but also considering the fees we would like them to get a really good education. Which school do you think would be good for 'foreign' kids.

In terms of the location itself I have another question: 1/ we are coming from a vibrant Italian town (we live right in the old town),
2/we will be new to the area and won't know anybody - we will need to create our social network from scratch
3/I will need to look for a job
What is it like to live in Reigate (we know Guildford a bit more)?
I'll very much welcome your views on both or either of my questions. Thank you!

Have you visited any of these schools ? Any reason why not a mixed school for your dd ?Cranmore has a reputation for being an academic hothouse - use the Advanced search to find recent comments. I think you'd struggle getting one child to Guildford and the other to Reigate, socially awkward too. You'd be much more settled with them in one place. Turnover is fairly rapid in these areas and I'd be surprised if RSM didn't suddenly find a space. If you want a girls' school how about Dunottar in Reigate ?

Why do you assume you won't get your children into State schools? It is quite possible that you could, or certainly could by this autumn into schools in Guildford, even quite "good/desirable" schools in Guildford.

You can search for threads on Cranmore I have started one - mixed reports really, quite a few foreign boys too. St Teresa's I really liked good for a gentle girl, very very small class sizes. Didn't think it would suit my DD and she got into one of the academic schools. Has lots of school buses. Quite a few foreign kids as start boarding from 7. Tormead good too but much more academic but worth a go in terms of exams. Also look at St Cathrerine's Bramley, another academic school but quite a few foreign kids too.

Mummytime I have known two families that have moved to Guildford and have found it very difficult to find a local state school place.
Good luck.

Hi to all, thanks for such a quick response! Much appreciated!
Lizs, I probably did not explain myself well. We are EITHER going to live in Reigate and put BOTH of our kids in Micklefield OR live in Guildford and put DD in St Teresa's and DS in Cranmore. St Catherine's yes, I've heard about, but it would be quite a drive for my husband.
Yes, we've visited Tormead, Cranmore, St Teresa's, Micklefield, Rydes Hill (from the private group) and St Thomas, St Edmund's, Boxgrove and Holy Trinity (from the state group). And although we are catholic and could live next door to the school we're still about 5th if not 14th on the waiting list for the catholic schools!
I'm not that crazy about the girls/boys separation especially at this age, just seems weird to me....not sure.
It would be great to hear from someone who has children in MICKLEFIELD as we quite liked it.
Thanks again!

Hi Gardena,

Don't have experience personally of Micklefield (other than didn't like/choose it for my dd or ds!).

I have heard very mixed reports from Micklefield - a large number left last year from some of the early years, but those that I know who have children at the school seem very happy.

RSM is now the recognised (and advertised) feeder school for the Grammar School for seniors, hence why it is very limited spaces. Micklefield feeds there too, but is not part of the same set up.

Dunottar goes all the way through to 18 if that is what you are looking for your daughter in later years.

I know many parents that drop at Dunottar and then go to Mickelfield or RSM every morning.

Not sure that helps very much more

Thanks Bellie...that doesn't sound good..do you have any idea why so many left? Mine would be Reception and Year 2, so what you're saying very much concerns me...
So where did you decide to put your children in the end?

Never really understood the problem if I am honest but last year there seemed to be leavers in year 1.

DS in will start RSM and DD Dunottar.

sorry - to clarify - "loads" is about 4 or 5 but a significant level in year groups of 20/22.

In my experience you can have 1 or 2 leave for 'good' reasons e.g moving house etc but the number was quite high.

Could also be a product of the economic environment too.

was just about to link to an old thread about Micklefield v Dunottar but then saw that you have obviously read it!

Thank you Bellie! I think I'll give them a call and ask .

We very recently moved to Reigate(knowing no-one) and have found the people very friendly and the town a good place to live. I don't know Guildford that well (only visited it a few times) but, from memory, Guildford is busier, larger and has better shops etc. You may find Reigate itself a little quiet.

Property price wise I think you may get more for your money in Reigate.

Our DC attends the nursery at Micklefield but we haven't decided whether or not she will progress onto the main school (we do really like the local state options too). It is quite a traditional school and the children always seem to be beautifully behaved.

If your husband is going to be working in Redhill then Reigate will be much more convenient than Guildford. When we had the recent snow and all the trains stopped and the roads were dangerous, my DP could walk into Redhill.

I've come across a few people with dc at Micklefield. It is small so opportunities for interschool competitive sport are more limited than in larger preps around the area (which also feed RGS, Caterham, Whitgift/Trinity, outer London grammar schools). However there are good clubs locally for rugby (Old Reigatians, Chipstead)and football which take kids from about 6 or 7. Also it is very much geared towards kids moving at 11 and spends a lot of the earlier part of the final year on 11+ practice papers for the various possibilities - unnecessary if you plan to go on to a local comp. If you are practising RC then your dc would have a chance to get into St Bedes (good state secondary) in Redhill at 11, assuming you lived that end of Reigate. There is a decent RC state primary in Redhill - St Joseph's - which it might be worth enquiring of.

Thanks to both. It looks like nobody's too enthusiastic about Micklefield. What about RSM?

I would n't say that, it is horses for courses really. Smaller suits some better and M is constantly in the local paper for the special activities it does like drama. RSM is a recognised route to the (private) Grammar. However if your dc were to turn out to be less academic or you want to consider other secondaries (or even 13+ entry) it may not work so well. Not sure what their mix of boys to girls is now - you may want to ask for the particular year groups. Girls were only accepted from about 10 years ago and it has been a slow cultural shift.

Okay two facts, you are not allowed to be put onto a state school waiting list until you are resident, then you move to the position you would be on grounds of entry criteria. So if you live next to St Thomas's and are Catholic, unless there are siblings you would go straight to the top.

Secondly there is a surprising amount of movement in Guildford. Even Holy Trinity had places at the beginning of this year.

If you child goes into year 3 or above it is worth appealing, as the class size is no longer limited (admittedly this means that Holy Trinity usually has classes bigger than 30). I wouldn't go for Boxgrove unless you knew someone was leaving as they are very full. But Bushy Hill and Sandfield are also worth looking at (as is St Nicholas for infants).

I do also know 7 year olds who catch the bus to St Thereseas, and I believe there is also a bus for Cranmore.

Another option for your youngest might be to look at Glensk in East Horsley. There is also Long Acre in Shamley Green as a nice mixed prep school near Guildford.

Mummytime, very true about the waiting list, we just asked theoretically, should we move right next to the school where would that put us on the waiting list and that was the answer (St Thomas had other 4 catholic families, all would depend on linear distance from school).

Still, good to know about the movement, gives some hope. Yes, we've also heard about the class size in Y3, but at least at St Thomas they said that this only means max 31-32 kids. And I have to say 32 kids in a class seems a lot....
Yes, there is a bus to both Cranmore and St Theresa's.
Thanks for the tip about Shamley Green, will check.
So probably the best thing to do would be to move into the catchment area, start with private and when a place becomes available move them to state...lot cheaper

Or if you can bear it homeschool them for a bit. There are lots of people who home school in the area. [bgrin]

A friend had her children in Micklefield, but took them out 18 months ago. They now go to state schools.

My children go to state schools in Dorking. Some very good state schools here - both primary and secondary.

My daughter is in Year 4 at Holy Trinity (and the youngest in Reception at Pewley) and her class size has not been more than 32 so far. They also have TA's and get taught different things by various different teachers - i.e. French, cooking, dance, art, drama and sport. They are also divided into smaller ability groups for Group Maths. So I don't feel that she does not get the attention she needs. In Pewley in Reception they had a teacher, 2 TA's and a SN teacher in my daughter's class until December. From January they only have one TA but still the SN teacher for one to one support but the other kids also benefit from the attention!
Also they had a few spaces in Year 3 for the 2010/2011 intake.

They have good learning support for both kids that struggle and gifted and talented.

People do move about a lot and if you live near the school you want (even if just renting for a few months) you should get in.

Bushy Hill Junior recently added another Year 3 class and Merrow infants always has spaces and they are both good schools.

Oh forgot to say that its quite easy to make friends in Guildford - its multi-cultural in a nice sort of way and if you get involved with the school you are sure to make friends.

I was just thinking the other day about how many different backgrounds the kids in school are from - french, italian, japanese, south african (like me), dutch, indian, german...

Just to add there is a sizable Polish community now too (judging by the number of Polish girls in my DDs class).

Schilke, hi, did your friend take her kids out of Micklefield for a reason or just because she got places in state schools?
Sibella1, yes, that's what my impression was too about Guildford. Probably less so in Reigate simply because it's smaller, no?

She moved them to micklefield from state schools. I think they were there for a couple of years and then she moved them back.

She was not as happy with the school as she thought she'd be. I think her son got in to trouble with some annoying school rules....such as his hair growing over the collar of his shirt! Her daughter was happier there than her son.

My dh teaches in a few private schools, including Dunottar and RSM. He thinks they are both great schools. Personally I wouldn't want a single sex school, especially at primary age, so would prefer RSM. He teaches at RGS and quite a few children move straight over from RSM.

Guildford is certainly larger and busier than Reigate, so may suit you better.

My dd is at Tormead and we have been very pleased with the school, she loves it there. My ds is at Lanesborough, which is next door and he is very happy there.

There is Rydes Hill in Guildford which takes boys to 7 and girls to 11. My dd went to nursery there and it is wonderful. Plus there are quite a few Italian families at the school.

There's a mix of nationalities at Tormead too, I'd personally recommend all 3 schools. They all have thriving PTA's, Rydes Hill is probably the friendliest school as it is quite small.

Good luck!

Wray Common is a lovely school in Reigate. Don't move to Redhill though, its a right dump.