relocating to Buckinghamshire

[dulwichcuckoo]

Hi all, this is the first time I have ever posted on a forum! I really need some advise, we are looking to move out of london to buckinghamshire,my husband is freelance but mainly works in uxbridge or at theBBC he mainly drives to work, we have 3 children 4,6 and 8 my middle child a boy has aspergers, but will be schooled in a mainstream school, any advise on a nice area to live with good schools? I would ideally not like to be too rural!

It depends on what your budget is really. Bucks is a gorgeous area, but can be extremely pricey.

Beaconsfield is really nice, as isGreat Missenden, Gerards Cross and parts of Amersham. High Wycombe is more affordable.

Bucks has grammar schools which may have an impact on your family later on - but maybe that's why you've chosen Bucks? Plus lots of it appears to have the prospect of being dug up for the HS2! Amersham, Chesham and Little Chalfont are on the tube which makes them feel a bit closer to London.

You couldn't find a nicer town than Buckingham, though it's a long commute from the Beeb. :)

My DH drives from Aylesbury to West London every day. The trainline is good and fast into London. There are sone lovely areas just outside the town, and some nice villages too.

Haddenham and Thame are well connected to the train and near the M40 too.

Thankyou for replying! I am planning a trip over there this week and will look at your suggestions! yes I am bit concerned about the grammer system not sure if our kids would pass an 11 plus! also it tends to be single sex and am not sure if I want this either, would love to hear your thoughts.

Haddenham and Thame are just into Oxfordshire, so no 11+. (I personally would avoid that (and all the fuss and nonsense that goes with it) like the plague if I had my time again!) Lord Williams in Thame has a really good reputation.

Haddenham is in Bucks, but has no secondary - lots of dc there go to Thame for secondary, and the excellent schools in Aylesbury. Do you want to be in a town or village?

If you are worried about the 11+ there is an excellent seconday modern in Waddesdon. The best by far for miles. You will need to live in catchment, though, or have a strong affiliation to a c of e church to get in.

If you are looking for good primaries Bedgrove infant and junior in Aylesbury are the dogs bollox.

If you want to avoid 11+ and single sex schools maybe look in Herts? Chorleywood or Rickmansworth have some good schools to choose from. Much easier commute.

Denham? 10 mins from uxbridge. Stoke Poges or Farnham common? Cheaper than Gerrards Cross or Beaconsfield. Iver/iver Heath? Buckinghamshire is a long thin county - you sound as though you need to be in South Bucks. The Beaconsfield School and Chalfonts Community College are good upper schools (ie for those who don't do/pass the 11 plus). In some other areas the upper schools are AWFUL.

My DS lives in Chorleywood which is just outside Bucks(inHerts) but has an excellent comp and some very good primary schools.

I second Chorleywood as a great place for commuters / families.

I am so grateful for all your replies! not sure if it has made it easier though! Ideally I would love a town/large village near good primary and good mixed comp , does this exsist in Bucks or is it only good grammer schools? will definately look at Chorleywood and Rickmansworth too, are they nice?

DH works v near Uxbridge, and friends work in the bbc, commuting to where we are in a village a few miles outside Marlow.

Marlow is a nice town, we have a v good grammar school but also I hear good things about the secondary modern.

There aren't mixed comps, it's grammar or non grammar.

Chorleywood is gorgeous though quite expensive. Rickmansworth isn't quite as nice but a bit cheaper. Clement Danes comp in Chorleywood is one of the best in the country and there is an 11+ option if you want to go down that road.

Thankyou so much pranma! I will check it out, I must say that my first experience of going on a forum has been wonderful! sorry to be daft but what is the difference between a comp and a secondary modern?

A comp caters to everyone.

A grammar creams off the top 15-20 percent, leaving the rest to go to secondary moderns (also known as a high school)

A comprehensive school is non selective and takes all eligible children for catchment area. They are in areas which do not have grammar schools as a main option. Secondary moderns don't really exist any more,in the old days they were fore dc who failed 11+ or didn't take up a grammar school place. That was in the days when all children sat an exam at eleven. Now grammar schools are an option in some areas. Children from Chorleywood can take 11+ for Herts with the two Watford grammars as possibilities they can also take the Bucks exam but would be right on the edge of the catchment ares and unlikely to get a place. Honestly if you look at Clement Danes website you will be impressed I am sure. There are also independent schools in the area.

If I was moving to Bucks I would definitely place myself in the catchment area for Waddesdon Secondary (Comprehensive not Grammar) - it is an excellent school and many children who pass the 11+ choose not to go to the Grammars but to go to Waddesdon instead. The head is lovely and the school, as far as I know has very good behaviour.

If you are in the catchment then you don't need to worry about the 11+ seeing as there is another good option. I would def avoid Oxfordshire, where the schools are not as good (eg. Wheatley).

Primaries - Waddesdon primary has mixed reports but some of the villages around are good - Quainton? but getting further from the M40 there. Haddenham? Not sure where the catchment is for waddesdon but would definitely look at it.

Thankyou so much!, I called Clement Danes and Waddesden on your recommendations and liked then both, I think Clement Danes would be an easier commute, if anyone has any experience of schools or an opinion of where to live please let me know.

pranma obviously doesn't live in Bucks. Those who don't pass the 11+ go to secondary schools for children who don't pass the 11+, which in times gone by would be called 'secondary moderns'. There are no comprehensive schools in S Bucks.
All children in Bucks take the 11+ unless their parents opt them out.

I work with people who live in Thame and Haddenham and their children all go to Lord William's in Thame. They're all very pleased with it (much more so than the rest of us who have had to go down the dreaded 11+ route).

Having noted what Mumblesmum said above (confusingly similar name there!), if your dc does get into Grammar, they will get a fantastic education.

DS goes to a grammar in Marlow where 11A*s at GCSE are not uncommon, 7 out of a cohort of 120 got those in ds's year, and certainly the norm is mostly A and B, with only a sprinkling of Cs at GCSE. It is highly pressured but that's what my ds needed to perform, he's naturally a bit on the lazy side. So if you think your dcs are likely to pass th 11 plus, they'll get a really high standard of education for free.

You are quite right I don't live in Bucks. My DS lives in Chorleywood and my dgd aged 11 is in yr 6 at primary school. She took 11+ for Herts and Bucks-failed Bucks one no results for Herts yet but decided to put Clement Danes as first choice. Her mum, my dd-i-l went there and was very happy and academically successful. I didn't know that Bucks was all selective.

Olney in Bucks there is a train to London from Wolverton which would make the commute about an hour and twenty mins door to door and half the price housewise of Missenden, Chalfonts, Alyesbury and the countryside is gorgeous.

Fab town - also try Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford and the surrounding villages.