moving to reading

[babyjohn]

please help have to move to reading from ireland for dh's job and my ds is due to start primary school in one month. really worried because i still want him to start in september but i dont have a clue about which are the best schools or which ones he would have best chance of getting into. we dont have somewhere to live yet because we wanted to find school then house near school - please help

please help moving to reading and need a primary school have no clue where to even start

Hi
I can't specifically help, but I guess you really mean Reading - with a capital R, the town in the M4 corridor (as they call it) near Slough?

From memory I think it's in Berkshire, so if you look on-line for that, and Primary Schools,
Reading Council, etc I think you will find things.

I dare say some MN users will know the are, so can help you properly. (I'll keep an eye on this thread over weekend, see how you getting on, and if you still need help I'll see what I can find for you.)

Hope the house, job, school etc all work out OK for you.

Cheers

I would also repost with a title which is clearer that you mean the place reading rather than the subject of reading and writing. Something like 'moving to the Reading area, looking at possible schools'.

Are you planning to live in Reading itself or one of the surrounding areas? Have you worked out where you can afford to live? Whereabouts is your dh's job?

You may have already done this but why don't you post on the local to Reading Mumsnet bit www.mumsnet.com/Talk/local_reading as anyone on there will presumably know lots about the area and schools etc. I live about 20 minutes from Reading and only go there for shopping or the hospital etc so ahve no advice to offer about schools etc. Good luck.

Whereabouts in the Reading area are you looking at moving to? I'm from Reading and still live there and have a bit of knowledge about the schools in the area, but it depends on whereabouts you're moving to as its a big place.

Hi babyjohn,

We live in the Reading area and schools are quite mixed in Reading borough council. Caversham is a nice area with good schools, nice houses etc but is the higher end of prices. Just outside Reading is Wokingham, Earley, Twyford which are all nice areas. Also parts of west Reading like Calcot, Aldermaston, Thatchem are nice. It will depend on your budget but do check out schools ofsted reports as like most major towns there are good and bad.

Hope this helps.

How close to Reading do you need to be? We used to live in Bradfield (just west of Reading) and the primary school there is a gem. Pangbourne is lovely and has a nice school too. I used to work peripatetically across many of the primary schools in West Berkshire and my favorite by far was Streatley- it was idyllic and the children there seemed so happy. It's quite a way out from Reading though and property prices in West Berkshire are sky high. Theale is a nice village and a bit cheaper but I have never been to the school.

I also used to work in Reading LEA. Avoid the Oxford Road schools!

hi thanks for the replies - we have got it down to the Tilehurst or Wokingham areas - my biggest challenge is still schools, anyone know what the chance of getting ds in in late sept. early oct. and any other advice/ help welcome thanks

I'd 100% go for Wokingham. It's a nicer place to live and it's a very high performing LEA- the majority of the schools are really good. I used to work in the lowest performing one (ha- it must be starting to sound like I've taught in every school in Berkshire!) and it was still great. Really caring and creative.

Don't know as much about Tilehurst but I think the area and the schools are more of a mixed bag.

I think you'll get a place somewhere without much of a problem either way. Good luck.

thanks EBDteacher it is looking more and more like Wokingham. When we narrow it down I might run some schools past you if that ok, thanks again

Yeah no worries. PM me and then I can give more details!

babyjohn, i have just moved to Wokingham, have done loads of research on areas to live and schools. We had a real problem trying to get our DS a year 1 place, all the good schools are full with waiting lists, we would have to live right on the doorstep of our preferred school to get DS in (to become anywhere near the top of the waiting list). The school we we offered by the LEA was 3 miles (Woodley area)away from where we are renting and pretty dire, so we have opted for a private school. If you are applying for September then apply now, you don't need to be living there to apply and your DS will not be classed as an in year transfer so that may help your position. Also be aware that the schools in the Reading area - Earley, Woodley etc are infact under Wokingham LEA, but you have to apply via Reading LEA if you live in that area.

Loads of the villages around Reading are nice, with good primaries, but we are not village people so have discounted them, you may have a better chance of getting DS into a village school. The LEA may let you know which school has vacancies.
Wokingham is a lovely area, but expensive, if you do get a school in that area specifically they are all good. The secondary schools are all excellent.
We are looking to buy in either Wokingham or Earley, i prefer the latter as i would prefer to be a little closer to the amenities of Reading. Tilehurst is very mixed, the area known as Little Heath is nice and the school good. There is a forum that you can google on Reading - ReadingForum or something like that, look at the council websites as well and get your DH to ask his colleagues about areas and schools.
Good luck with everything.

Sadly, but understandably, the most desirable schools will be near impossible to get into "in-year", and even if you apply now they will already be full with waiting lists. And those with siblings will outrank you every time.

Reading, Wokingham and West Berks Councils have information and contact numbers on their websites.

For a very good school, but which apparently has lots of movement i.e. chance of spaces, I can only think of St Dominic's in Woodley (Wokingham Borough).

The "best " schools include:
Reading: Caversham Primary; Redlands; Park Lane (might be W Berks); St John's, All Saints
Wokingham: Radstock, Aldryngton; Farley Hill; St Theresa's, St Nicholas Hurst

West Berks: Not my area, but people speak highly of Bradfield C of E & lots of the village schools

and several excellent private ones......

Rather late responding to this, but just wanted to comment on the above in case anybody searching in the future comes across this thread for info - Farley Hill Primary School used to have a very good reputation in Wokingham but has gone massively downhill in recent years.

Just going on SAT's results alone it used to be the 5th best primary school in the area (out of 40), but in 2011 was down at 36th out of 40. A dramatic decline in results plus much loved teachers leaving have led to it no longer having the reputation it once did.

No idea on the other schools, but just wanted to share my experience of Farley Hill.

:)

Thanks for sharing all the infromation about Wokingham and Reading areas.

Need help in deciding between Aldryngton and Radstock Primary School.

Moving to rental property in Aldryngton catchment will cost us £6000 more as compared to property in Radstock catchment.

Is it worth to spend this amount? DH can afford easily, but I am just thinking if it is really worth?

Thanks

Hmmmmm childrenanddogs ? not really supporting your post too much. I assume your children either go to Farley Hill School or you know someone who does judging by your familiarity. We live in the village and both our children go there. In my first-hand experience it really is an excellent school; I believe your comments are way off mark and do not paint a true picture at all.
You say the school has ??gone massively downhill in recent years ?? We are in fact talking about one year?s SATs result here which if looked at in isolation is extremely misleading. Farley Hill has in fact had excellent SATs results for many years now which is why Cavermum has sited it as one of the top school in the area, with 2011 being the only exception. I have personally gone to great lengths to find out why they were so poor that year and to hear what the school staff and governors have had to say about it. Have you done to the same? If so you clearly do not believe the reasons given, which is puzzling as the LEA and Ofsted do; I know - I?ve done my homework on this. If you haven?t then your comments are unfounded. Either way your comments do not match my experience by some distance.
Further, your comments regarding ??much loved teachers leaving?? would also appear to be without foundation as I can only recall a couple of teachers leaving in the last four years since we have been involved with the school and I am sure this is well within acceptable levels.
Just thought it was important to defend a good school and set the record straight

Fair enough bobbingforapples, just different opinions, I think it's far from an 'excellent school' personally.

Yes, I have 3 children at the school, although we're considering pulling them out and educating them privately tbh as we personally feel that the school is nowhere near as good as it used to be. 5 children alone in my DD's class have left to go private in the past year for the same reason.

We're going to see how things go with the new head and then make a decision in the new year.