Help! Moving to London with 5 year old

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Hello everybody,

We will be moving in Jan 2012 to London. My son will be 5 years in Jan 2012 and i am interested in putting him in state primary school. As of now I have shortlisted a few areas purely with what I have read online. Areas being Wimbledon, Wansted, Richmond on thames. Please can anyone help with the following questions

1. Are the above mentioned areas good for state schools? I know I have a bleak chance into getting into outstanding schools as per ofsted report but how bleak is bleak? :)
2. I am also wondering if I can possibly put him into a Montessori or independent school just for the remainder of the reception year and by then hopefully gain admission for year 1 into one of the very good schools. Are there any good independent schools that are below 2500 per term in fees?

1. My husband will be commuting into central London everyday so please let me know any boroughs that are safe, family oriented, rent not more than 1500 per month and with not more than a 40min ride into the city. Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to reading your responses.

Polka, Sheen Mount has the smallest catchment area currently. But they are preparing for a two form entry.
East Sheen and Barnes overlap slightly, and there is an RC primary in Mortlake, which also admits local residents of whatever faith. There is yet another rc primary in Barnes, but this is outstanding and heavily oversubscribed. Cowley house is a mansion block of flats in catchment of both Barnes and East Sheen.

6 months in the reception of a "good" or even "satisfactory" state school will be very unlikely to do your DS any harm, or you could home ed if you're not working. I'd move close to a large school you like and hope for a vacancy in September 2012. Even the most popular schools do have gaps opening up as people move.

Where's your DH going to be working? Richmond is a fine commute to the west, but it's less fun into the City (although lots of people do do it). Check the TfL journey planner, it will give you door to door travel plans and time if you enter two postcodes or a postcode and a station.

As someone said above, Lowther School in Barnes is an excellent and up-and-coming school. Because it has recently gone two-form entry should have a tiny amount of availability in Jan. I would be amazed if you got a place in the other Richmond Schools mentioned. A lovely area to live, and affordable rental accommodation. Please private message me if you want more info

Polka can I suggest you look at Epsom Ewell Stoneleigh it is a little longer out but there are plenty of good schools and if you do get a school you dont like there are a couple of junior schools so in 2 years time you have another chance.

Trains are every 15 mins into London Waterloo and it is a family friendly area.

Depends where you are in Greenwich - there are more dubious areas but I don't think it's that bad . Tbh even in Richmond you can have bad moments (we were delayed a month or so back coming back from cinema as they had shut the street due to a stabbing). None of the areas mentioned seem unreasonable to me given that if you live in a metropolitan area there is always some crime risk . That said I can't say it's ever defined how I live etc either when I lived here or in greenwich area.

Completely agree with other posters who say find an area/lflat that suits you and is hopefully near good schools then apply.

Thanks all!!! In about a month's time I will be contacting real estate agents and in the meantime, I will do the distance calculator so that I have a good idea about what exactly I want. Home- schooling has crossed my mind and I will not hesitate to do that until Sep 2012 if things get way too stressful. Are there specific school materials that will be available anywhere for this purpose? On the other hand, what do they teach at reception level in London? Is it a lot of theory work or more like free play? Have a wonderful, happy weekend!

Cant help re home Ed but there is a thread on it so they can probably offer some good advice

Don't want to confuse things but also try looking in to around Turnham Green (chiswick) It's a bit better connected with tube and buses and basically all the schools are good, no matter which one you get in to! For example William Hogarth has had bad reports in the past but now is really on the up with new head and I think will be a really good school, so it's not as highly sought after as some of the local schools but I think undeservedly so. You can rent a two bed flat for 1500 per month - just don't expect the same value for money as other parts of the UK!

Thanks. I will look for threads on home schooling:) I have a list of options now and chiswick is one more..May I ask why the locals felt that William Hogarth was not a very good school before? What do they largely base their opinions on? I would love for my child to be in a mixed culture school because then he will learn to be open minded and respect other cultures too- which is more important than any other kind of intellectual knowledge IMHO:) Also, I have been looking at the tube map for Wimbledon and I see more than one station listed- South Wimbledon and Wimbledon Green? My husband would have to travel to Central London on an everyday basis so which is more commute- friendly? Say less than 40 mins into Central?:) Thanks again!

Well, very 'middle class' area, William Hogarth has more of a mixed intake (which I think is one of the good things), and had a bad ofsted report some years ago. I went to look round and also see the reception playground from my dd's surestart centre and I always see lovely playing going on.

I'd be very happy to send my child there but didn't end up in that catchment area.

Are you sure South Wimbledon and Wimbledon Green are tube stations and not overland train stations? They don't ring a bell with me!

oh and by the way you will get much better value for money in wimbledon in terms of your flat/house, imo, but a slightly longer commute.

Thanks! I am very geographically challenged wrt London tube as I am trying to understand the maze of how it works right now:) So I have been at rightmove.com (thanks again to all who recommended that) and am trying to look as close to Wimbledon tube as possible.

I have one more question for all of you..sorry to add to the headache:) So all the council websites mention that Jan 15th 2012 is the deadline for the September 2012 intake. We will not be in London towards the end of Jaunary 2012 only. And it looks like they need a council tax proof as well as a lease agreement. Is it going to be necessary for me to move before Jan 15th and get an apartment before that? That is going to be very very difficult as we are planning to stay at a hotel for about a week and then look at the places we have short listed so that we make an informed decision..Please let me know what is done in case some students arrive from outside the country after the deadline dates..how is that dealt with? Very confused...

We moved back to London from living abroad in July and only applied for a school place in July (for September start!) so very very late.
You have to be able to justify why you are applying so late, so a letter from your employers explaining where you've been living and that you are now moving helps. You won't be able to apply online so you'll have to do it by post, including the accompanying letter.
There is so much movement in London school places change right up to September. We were first put on a waiting list, then allocated a school that wasn't one of my choices (which I accepted as there was nothing else), but the council said don't worry things always move along, and then, on the day before school was about to start I got a call from the admissions lady to say we got a place in the school nearest to us!!! Good job I put off buying uniform just in case! Cue mad rush to M&S the afternoon before 1st day.

I found the council admissios team really helpful, they are rigid but at the end of the day they have to follow the guidelines and they need to be fair to everyone. I badgered constantly finding out where we were on the list, (in my borough the waiting list is based on distance to the school, not how long you've been on it) so once she was number 1 on the waiting list I knew there was a good chance. They did get to know me but I think as long as you stay polite they are used to badgering parents!

When you say Central London commute you have to be more specific. Look up the postcode of his new office, does it begin with WC1/2? EC1/2/3/4? Wimbledon Park tube is on a completely different line to South Wimbledon, one is a good commute to the City, one is dreadful for the City but fine if he's working in Mayfair. Ditto Chiswick, lovely but a horrible commute to EC2.

London borough of Harrow has some excellent state primaries And is an easy commute into both the City and West End. You could get something nice in your budget in Pinner which is a lovely town, v pretty with lots of young families and 20 minutes to Baker Street or about 35 minutes into the City.

Hello Everybody,
I am back after a short break:) trying to get the move to London sorted through. So, here is my list of places that I will be looking at for 1. Schools and 2. Good commute into Central London once I get there: Wimbledon, Richmond, Ilford( Gants Hill), Harrow and Greenwich. Please rate these places in order of what you would choose as a very good state school borough. A commute of less than 45mins one way would be good:) Thank You!

You have to be more specific as to where in London you are commuting into - and whether your 45mins is door to door (which will tend to limit you - I live in Shepherd's Bush, considerably closer in than the places you are looking at and even with a fast tube connection i was 40 minutes into Covent Garden)

You will be applying for a Y1 place and the popular schools all fill up in Reception so unless you live literally on top of the school and go to the top of the waiting list for that school you will struggle to get a place - even in the scenario above you are waiting for a child to leave.

I would find an area with a commute you can live with and then see what schools have vacancies this year - that will give you something to start with. Can you visit the schools before you get here?

Do consider places outside London, we lived in tonbridge, kent and I commuted, on fast trains it was 35 min to central london, trains also go to cannon st for the city. Most of the schools are good, there are state grammar schools and good private schools around. Rent/ house prices are considerably less. There is lots of countryside on your doorstep, good links to the coast, dover, M25 etc. Also look in hertfordshire too. The population density is less, obviously still competition for places, but you don't need to live next door to primary +secondary to get a place.

Thanks sinclair. My DH's commute would be into St.Pauls on an everyday basis. Is there something the Borough's Admission Commitee would do in case of an in-year admission, which is what my DS would be? I would not be able to visit before mid of January. We are planning to finalize a flat within 2 weeks of landing..hopefully that gives us ample time to visit some schools in areas of choice. Please do rate these areas in your order of pref:
Wimbledon, Richmond,Ilford(GantsHill), Harrow and Greenwich. I am also open to looking at any other boroughs. Thanks!

Thanks 3duracellbunnies: My DH would be commuting into St.Pauls. Are Tonbridge and Hertfordshire less than a 45 min door to door commute? Please also let me know the names of the schools that you have referred to in your post. Thanks again!