Choosing a Borough to live in

[Polkapink]

Hello,

We will be in London end of March 2012. My 5 year old will be an in- year admit, and I am confused about choosing an area to live in as I hear that a lot depends on proximity to the school in which you want admission. We are looking at state schools only and from what I have heard/ researched , I have narrowed it down to the following ( in no particular order of preference)

1. Wimbledon
2. Harrow on the Hill
3. Richmond upon Thames
4. Clapham
5. Putney
6. Barnes
7. Wandsworth

Since we are moving in the middle of the year, I am certain that my child will not gain admission into any of the outstanding schools no matter how close we live to that school . Given that, would you recommend that I live in an area that has many good state schools around so that my chances of getting into any of them are better? We definitely want to avoid chances of getting into a below average school if it can be helped. Please let me know any thoughts and your 1st and 2nd choices from the above list. Thank you!

Richmond has some of the best primary schools in the country, but make sure if you're planning to stay until secondary education that you place yourself carefully as there are some good secondary schools, but some really awful ones.

Richmond and Barnet have the best state schools in London.

Look at Teddington and Hampton Hill, within Teddington secondary catchment. Loads of great primaries here.

Wandsworth also has some of the best primaries in the country, 5 of which are all very close to each other. My older children went to two of them, moved from one to the other only because we moved nearer the second one.

Thanks everyone! Do Richmond, Barnet, Teddington and Wandsworth have a larger number of good primaries when compared to Wimbledon? And how much importance do the Educational Authorities place on how close you live to the school? Sorry for the questions but its our first time in London and we cannot afford to make a mistake:) Thanks!!

All the primaries in Barnes are great - secondary is more of an issue at the moment, but my youngest is 5 and I have high hopes for the future. My eldest is 8, and so is a bit more of a concern (not keen on the local Indies for her, for various reasons).

How close you live to the school is very important for the over subscribed primaries - its all decided (after priorities for looked after children and siblings) by distance.

Elibean, thanks a ton. Please help me understand the meaning of over subscribed primaries..does this mean that my child will still get allotted to a school depending on which place we live in? For example does living 0.1 miles from an outstanding primary give us priority even if we are an in- year admission? Just FYI, my child will join reception as soon as we come to London in March.

Barnes is actually within the borough of Richmond on Thames, as are Teddington and Twickenham, all with some excellent primary schools (and some not so excellent as you'd expect in any district). There is also a huge selection of top flight independent schools, both selective and non-selective.

The problem is Richmond is that senior schools only go from 11-16 and the senior schools are variable. Many like and believe in Teddington senior school, Waldegrave (girls only) is a very high achieving girls only senior school.

For 6th form everyone heads to either the super sized Richmond College or if you are located in that direction, Esher College. There's also super selective grammars - Tiffin boys and girls in nearby Kingston. But, there are so many discussions going on about RuT senior schools - look at the Richmond forum in talk for much more detail.

Polka, I'm not sure about in-year admissions tbh - I think it will depend more on availability of places! 'Over subscribed' is just when more kids apply for places than there are places.

It might be worth ringing schools you are interested in, once you narrow it down to a few, to see if they have places in Reception. For instance, dds' school did have places at the start of the year, but are now full - it could change again, though, as we do get foreign nationals putting their kids in for a term or two, then moving off again. Not often though (dd1 recently had a Norwegian lad in her class for one term, for example).

I don't know much about schools in other parts of the Borough, I'm afraid, but if you want more primary info in Barnes I'll do what I can to help

ps Agapanthii is right - lots of discussion and potential change going on re 6th form provision in Richmond Borough. I know parents are pushing for schools to extend to 6th form, and personally I think they'll succeed in at least one or two cases.

I would ring the LAs you are interested in and ask which schools have spaces in R this year - they should know by now any places that weren't taken up in January. I'm afraid you will find it is slim pickings - there is a shortage of primary places in London and people gravitate towards popular schools.

Then go and look at a few - just because they aren't full doesn't mean they won't be what you are looking for.

On the plus side schools with vacancies in R now will be keen to fill them and should welcome you with open arms! You then have to hope they still have the place once you are moved and registered - you can't be offered a place anywhere until you are registered at an address.

Barnet has excellent state secondary schools, and also has some of the best grammars in the country - Henrietta Barnet, St Michael's, QE Boys. There are also some very good secondary schools - Dame Alice, QE Girls, Compton - and some rapidly improving ones, like Wren and FBS.

Primaries are largely fantastic.

Would Merton authorities be kind enough to let me know if admissions are available in any schools? Or does the policy not allow them to reveal that? Its very tough for me being in another country and having to look at everything based on what is available on property websites:( Also, do any of you have experience in having a child at a "satisfactory" school going by Ofsted reports? Please share your experience. Thank you all again for the response.

Polkapink, If you are considering Harrow, I would look at Pinner rather than Harrow-on-the-Hill -I know West Lodge is very popular, so maybe something in the catchment area of that. You could put your child on the waiting list, I think all school around there are fine-go to the BBC education page and compare.

Wandsworth has Graveney and some not bad state primaries nearby there. If you want dc to get into Graveney on location, you need to move incredibly close - the streets practically next door in Furzedown (Welham Road, Ribblesdale Road, etc). Penwortham and Furzedown Primaries are pretty good though def not perfect. I think the best Wandsworth primaries are in Earlsfield, but then you're not as well placed for secondaries which come round very quickly...

Thanks! Does Pinner have a large number of good primaries? Furzella, Thank You! I have emailed Wandsworth regarding my predicament of not being in the UK right now and having to finalize housing based simply on research on mumsnet and inputs from friends. What is your take on Chiswick?

Re: Merton you will need to live about 100m from the door of the 2 outstanding state schools and pay highly for it. The good schools - maybe 200m. It is horrible around here and a large number of people who do not get an outstanding school go private.

We moved last year to Richmond and had to do in year admission.

Honestly, short list some schools and visit them... you will soon get a feeling for the area/school you like.

We found the Boroughs were very helpful in telling which schools currently had places in the year group we were interested in - they can't allocate that place until you've moved into the area, but at least you can be hopeful that they is a place....

We chose Richmond, several excellent schools had places in year... some had 1 ofsted and others 2, but it depends on your feeling for the school as much as the ofsted.

Now it wasn't all smooth sailing for us in getting the in year placement - but we had 3 to try and fit into the sytem mid-year. But we've kind of got to an OK place with education...

It's hard, a big circle of which school, where to live, can't apply to school until you have a place to live, but can't be sure where you want to live until you have a school place! Sorry, flashbacks!

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful feedback. My husband is in London house- hunting and it is driving us crazy trying to figure out catchment area, which street to live in and whether or not there will be a place by the time I arrive. Jenny70, you hit the nail on the head!!!

So about HARROW: Which place in the Harrow Borough is the best to gamble on by way of getting admission into a good/ satisfactory school? Also, is it an absolute must to own a car if we live in Harrow to pick up and drop the child to/ from school?