NEED help with moving to Cambridge...lots of questions

[silverkitty]

Hello all,

I am currently in the states and my family and I will be moving to Cambridge this fall. My husband will be pursuing a doctorate at St. Johns. I have 3 kids, one rising 4th grader, 1st grade, and a 4 year old. I have been homeschooling up to this point but I am considering british schools. Also, I am not looking for any church/state schools.

1. Where is the best family area to live that is convenient to the university and for easy shopping?

1. I am looking at good primary schools....what are your recommendations? I heard St. Matthews is pretty good but which area is that? Do they teach religion? Can all my children attend this school?

1. Anything else I need to know about life in Cambridge.

Thanks!

Where to live in Cambridge will depend largely on your budget. As your husband is a postgrad, will the college or the university accommodation office be helping you find somewhere?

It's a long time since I was living in Cambridge, and that was as a student so before I had children, but I used to live around the Mill Rd area (not far from St Matthew's primary at one stage) and I think it would be quite a convenient area to live with children, and it is easy cycling distance to St John's and most of the university faculties. Chesterton, an area just to the north of the town centre, might also be worth looking at - but I expect some current residents of Cambridge might be able to give better advice.

As far as schools go, again I can't comment on specific Cambridge schools, but I was also in the position of moving to the UK with primary school aged children, and I can say that it will probably be no easy task finding places for all your children at one school to start in September.

It will depend on which schools have empty spaces at the time, and the chances of finding a good school with spaces in (I guess) year 5, year 2 and reception classes would be quite low (if you give us the year & month your children were born, we can tell you which school year they would be - it's not the same as theUS, which I presume is where you're from?)

Priority in waiting lists for school places usually depends on how close you live to the school, and also once you have one child there, siblings also get higher priority, so you might need to take a place for one child and continue home educating the other two until a place comes up.

There are strict limits on class sizes in reception, year one and year two, which makes it harder. I would guess that as Cambridge has quite a mobile population of academics, places do come up, but the reception classes are likely to be very full.

As far as religion is concerned, it is possible to avoid church-affiliated schools, but even non-religious state schools in the UK all cover the same religious education syllabus, which covers Christianity and the other main world religions, and they are all obliged to carry out a 'daily act of collective worship of a broadly Christian nature', which in most cases basically means singing some vaguely religious songs and maybe saying the odd prayer in daily assembly. The local vicar may sometimes come in to lead assemblies.

Most schools also pay some attention to the main festivals of other main religions, so they may light candles at Diwali or do something special for Eid etc. Parents have the right to withdraw children from assemblies and RE lessons if they wish, but very few bother (I'm an atheist, and I did not withdraw my children).

Hope that helps as a start, and I hope someone comes along who can be more helpful on Cambridge specifics.

Thank you exexpat.
As far as my children's ages. My daughter will be 9 in September. My son will be 6 in August and I have a 4 year old who might be young for reception. So does he go to nursery?

That's sad if I have no other option b/c of it being crowded. Things are quite different in the UK than in the states.

What places do you recommend for good housing...safety a plus and good schools?

THANKS

Hi
We lived in Cambridge in a similar situation to you as my DH was a post grad. It was a few years ago but it is a lovely place to live.

You mention you are arriving in the autumn. Will you be here for the start of the term which begins in the first week of September? You have to have an address before you can apply for state school place and be able to show proof you live there. You apply to the Local Authority and not directly to the school. If you want to look around the schools remember they finish about the 3rd week in July and don't ope until the beginning of September.

As your youngest is 4 already (before Aug 31st) he/she will start reception in September. Your then 6 year old will be in year 2 in September (one of the youngest) and your eldest will be in year 4 and one of the eldest in the year group. As a general rule DCs have to go into their correct year groups and you do not have an option to drop a year as work is differentiated.

My only other tip is that the traffic in Cambridge in the morning is awful. So what may look like a short distance on the map could take ages in the car. So do look at the villages around the city too as many have good schools - sorry I am not up to speed on which ones are the best at the moment.

Good luck with the move.

Bump for any daytime readers in Cambridge...

Most state primaries in Cambridge are absolutely fine. You'll just find it difficult (but not impossible) to find one that can take all three initially. There are a lot of families of academics, so you'll find there is a fair amount of movement in and out of schools as people move on, so if you're patient it won't be long until you're where you want to be.

It might be worth talking to the council about schools first before trying to find somewhere to live. The problem will be that Cambridge is in the middle of a baby boom, so lots of schools will be full for reception/Y1/Y2.

But as Scholes says, most of the state schools are absolutely fine - pretty good even. Also, most areas of Cambridge are fine to live in. Of course there are some that are nicer than others, but even the worst areas aren't all that bad.

Thank you all for your responses. I'm still confused
as to why they will not be able to take all three of my kids in?

My second question is my daughter will be placed in 4th grade
here if we were in the states which makes her age level fine but one of you said she will be the oldest in her grade? Can they place her in year 5 then? I'm not sure what the years mean, can you explain?
In the states we go by grade levels like kindergarten age 5, 1st grade age 6, 2nd grade age 7, 3rd grade age 8 and 4th grade age 9. Can you explain the British system?

Also, what areas should I be looking at then in terms of housing? I thought St Matthews seemed to be a good school. Any suggestions of good diverse schools where all three of my kids can be placed?

We really don't have an address yet which I'm getting anxious about bc it will be difficult come fall to find placements for them.
We will be arriving there mid August.

Thank you!

hi have a look on the Cambridge bit of mumsnet - a lots of threads about primary schools and where to live
Ring Cambridgeshire LA and ask which schools have places - you may have to ask do such and such school have places
loads of cambridge schools are church of england - and all primary schools teach some religionof some kind
do you or DH cycle at all as its very common in Cambridge and really helps with the commuting
if at all possible I would move in August - you need an address to get school places - then you can start the school year at start of September
agree most primary schools are very good -
and in general its a lovely city and very family friendly - and also as quite a lot of people coming and going its easy to meet people

What school year your daughter will be in depends on her date of birth. The UK school year runs from 1st September to 31st August, so if her 9th birthday fell, for example, between 1st September 2012 and 31st August 2013 she would be in Year 4. She would be very unlikely to be put "up" into Year 5 unless she was academically unusually strong.
In many schools there is a mix of years in each class (e.g. a combined Y3 and Y4 class) and within that there is setting for some subjects so, years are further mixed by ability.
What combination of mixing you get varies from school to school and year to year, so you need to check with your chosen/allocated school.

As to why a school won't be able to take a child in -

Foir the first 3 years of school in England (called Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 - in September 2012, Reception will contain children born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008, Year 1 those between 1st Sept 2006 and 31st Aug 2007, Year 2 those between 1st Sept 2005 and 31st August 2006) there is a legal limit to class size of 30. A school cannot admit a 31st child if there are already 30 children in the class.

Equally, higher up the school, class sizes can only be larger than 30 if the prejudice to the new pupil from not being admitted is much greater than the prejudice to the school if an extra pupil is admitted. If you are applying for a 31st child, you will usually need to go to an appeal to prove this prejudice argument, and what happens will depend a lot on the. school, the size of its classrooms etc etc.

So, say, you apply to a school with 28 in the year your eldest wants to enter - that's fine, place for her. However, if your younger 2 are entering classes which already have 30 children in them, no places will be offered to them in that school. The local authority controls admissions,and they will instead allocate them to other schools which do have places .... but where your first chold may not have a place.

If there is a space for your eldest in a school, then your younger children may well get sibling priority which will not give them a place qutomatically but may well put them very high up the waiting list, so they will get places if a child leaves.

The only reason a primary school would not be able to take all three of your children is if it is full, and unfortunately most good schools in cities are full most of the time.

I have a feeling I have heard that elementary schools in the US have to accept all children moving into their area, even if they are overcrowded - they just expand to accommodate them, is that right? But in the UK schools have a limited number of places in each year group, and they are not allowed to accept any children over that limit, except in very exceptional circumstances (usually to do with special educational needs).

So if you move to a new home in the UK, whether a school will accept your child depends on: whether they have a space in the appropriate year group, where you live (how close to the school), and whether anyone with a higher priority (living closer, with a sibling already at the school, or with some kind of registered special education need) is already on the waiting list for a place.

When you arrive in the UK and have a permanent address, I think the local council is obliged to find you school places for your children, but they are not obliged to offer them places at the school you choose, or the closest school, or even all in the same school (which can make life very difficult in the mornings and afternoons if you are expected to be in two or three places at once). They will usually allocate you places at the closest school which has empty places, which may not be the one you would choose (it may for example be a church-affiliated school). You can refuse the places you are allocated, and remain on the waiting list for schools you prefer, but having turned down one school does not increase your chances of getting a place at another.

So you may very well find yourself with children on the waiting lists at two or three schools, and then once one of them has a place at a school you are happy with, you may have to homeschool one or two of them while you wait for a place at the same school to become free. Or you temporarily enrol them at a school you are not happy with, but then you have the logistical issues with drop-off and pick-up times.

It is not a great system, and it also affects people who move within the UK.

Woah!! Uk is different! I think we are spoiled here in the states.
We just put our kissing the school that is closest to us and they have a bus system.

I never cycled in my life so cycling is out of the question. Can't picture myself on a cycle with 3 other bodies anyways.
I think a car would be most appropriate.

Ok which areas do you all recommend I live that's not all the hustle
and bustle of city life but at the same time convenient for my family
to get around by walking to do grocery shopping or things of that nature?

Also what homes are close to St Matthews? I heard that is s pretty
Good international school.

Thanks for all of your sincere help and recommendations. I'm so glad to be connecting with all of you.

"I think a car would be most appropriate."

Don't drive in central Cambridge. Just don't. It wasn't built for cars and the traffic is horrendous! It is truly different from the US in that way too...

However, it is a compact city and you may well be able to live within walking distance of a school. The other option would be to live out in the surrounding villages - Milton, Chesterton, Great Shelford - or somewhere that is more like a suburb e.g. Cherry Hinton. A car would be easier to get around in a little further out, and you could drive in to the Park and Ride car parks and bus into the city if you need to go in for shopping etc.

You seem very fixated on St Matthews, OP. I'm sure it's a good school, but that doesn't mean that your kids won't thrive anywhere else. As it happens, mine go to one of the schools in Cambridge that is never recommended on MN, Abbey Meadows, and they are very happy and making excellent progress, and we really love the school.

I cannot recommend enough visiting schools that you apply for once you get here (or that you are offered places at) and seeing for yourself what they are like. As I have found with Abbey Meadows, 'what everyone says' is a toxic mixture of prejudice and misinformation.

If you want to live near St Matthews you are committing yourself to live in one of the more expensive areas of the city. Depending on your income you will find the east and north of the city cheaper, the centre, Newnham, the south and west of the city pretty astronomical. Villages are cheaper, depending on the village (Shelford, for example, is really only for millionaires.)

Finally, Cambridge really is a pretty safe place, and pretty small. You'll be ok wherever you live, be able to walk to the shops wherever you live, and your children will go to a good school wherever you live.

Even the schools that people say negative things about really aren't bad at all. Abbey Meadows used to have a bad reputation but as niminypiminy says, it is a good school. Arbury used to be the pits but has had so much money and support thrown at it, it was oversubscribed this year! DS is at Mayfield which has quite a few international families but lots of schools have a pretty good mix of children.

Cambridge is basically a small village with a prestigious university stuck in the middle. You don't want to even think about using a car in the centre of Cambridge (narrow roads, one-way system and lots of tourists and cyclists) but having one is useful if you are at the edge of town. I'm nearly on the north edge of the city and it still only takes me 30 mins to walk into the centre of town.

St Johns should be able to help you out with schools, or at least put you in touch with other people who are in a similar position. useful page here if you put in St Johns postcode it says that park street is the catchment school. I've heard really good things about that one.

Thanks ladies!
I'm going to look into the St Johns system to get a better
idea of housing nearby. What sites do you all look at for houses for rent or let as they say?
Here in the states we use Craigslist.org mainly which is quite
user friendly.

I think after I read everyone's suggestions, it's probably better for my family and I to search for something in the outskirts where it's not too too far of a distance to the College but at the same time easy for the kids and I to run errands and get to school. I would like to look into a suburban type of an area. Hopefully it will all work out!

Thanks again ladies. I appreciate everyone's feedback and support! Can't wait to start life in Cambridge:)

university has an accommedation service which should help - and had lots of private landlords that may not advertise elsewhere
if you live on the outskirts the school will also be on the outskirts

rightmove will give an idea of rents

Hi Kitty

My sister had to move to the Cambridge area from York about 10 years ago. She did a lot of research and picked Linton; a pretty village about 10 miles outside the centre, with separate infant, junior and secondary schools (village college-very well regarded system)
Linton is close to the M11, and close to one of the Park and Ride termini. She spends quite a bit of time at the UL and finds the trip into town very easy. Her son is now at Hills Road sixth form college, so goes by bus into Cambridge every day.

One for your list I'd say.

St Matthews is a good school but not necessarily better than many of the other schools. Disadvantage of St Matthews is that it is quite close to the city centre, and awful for dropping off by car. Walking or cycling there is your best, or realistically, only option. St Matthews is an oversubscribed school and if you don't live in the catchment area, you will have no chance of getting places there, which means you'd need to live near the city centre and pay through the nose for accommodation.

Have a look at the local educational authority's website: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/education/primaryeducation/

If you're going to move to Cambridge, you really need to learn to cycle.

Okay my husband who is currently in the UK found a house 20 minutes away from the college in a rural setting. Here is the address:
Mill Hill, Swaffham Prior It is still in Cambridgeshire but a little far from the city. What schools would be nearby this place?

Thanks again ladies

Here is info on the village

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaffham_Prior

The village school

www.swaffhamprior.cambs.sch.uk/

And near by schools

www.bottisham.cambs.sch.uk/

www.burwellvillage.cambs.sch.uk/site

What do you think about the area? Is it pretty good and safe?

Well, from a quick google, there seems to be a village primary school - Swaffham Prior Primary School, which presumably would be within walking distance of anywhere you lived in the village. There is a link to a recent Ofsted school inspection report on the website, and lots of other information.

But it is officially a Church of England school, as are probably the majority of village schools - however that doesn't mean there will necessarily be any more of a religious element in school life than at standard British primary schools, as they are all obliged to do RE and religious assemblies. Could you give us an idea of what concerns you about the religious aspect of schools, and we may be able to offer some suggestions? Eg, do you not want your children exposed to religion at school because you have no religion, or because you are very religious yourself and don't want your children being taught about different beliefs?

I don't think anywhere in Cambridge or the surrounds would be seen as unsafe for young families. You might want to avoid some parts of town centres late night at weekends because of a certain amount of drunkenness ( same for most parts of the UK) but I don't think there is anywhere with a particularly high crime rate.

Transport might be more of a worry - you'd need to check on buses into Cambridge for your husband, as I very much doubt the college or faculty have parking spaces for post-grads, and it would cost a huge amount to pay for ordinary car parks every day.