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!

Exexpat,

Thanks for the valuable info, much needed! As far as religion is concerned we are not Christians so we don't follow the church's beliefs. We believe in One God and are Muslims. We believe in Jesus being a Messenger, son of Mary but not in the trinity. We don't mind it being an assembly every now and then about Just One God but if they start preaching about the trinity and from the bible, I rather have my kids withdraw from that class/assembly.

Thanks for your understand...hope there is clarity.
sk

It's a small village, without a whole lot else there. Also on the wrong side of Cambridge for things like St John's, and many university departments (be aware that there's no such thing as 'the university' - it's a collection of colleges, departments, and other buildings located in various parts of town, although mostly pretty central/west). Postgraduates need permission to have a car (though with a reason to have one, like a family, this would normally be granted, but you'd have to show that you could find somewhere to keep/park it). For many postgrads, there are also residence rules about how close to the centre of Cambridge you have to live, although again I suspect that with a family, exceptions can be made. St John's is generally very good about finding accommodation for students, including postgrads, and would likely have things like flats etc available - have you checked with them yet? They are often quite central, and much more affordable than private marking renting.

Village schools out that direction are often oversubscribed, so you might not be able to get any/all of the children in to the local school, and in that case, you might be sent to wherever the next nearest one with places is, which might be some distance (transport provided if it's far enough away). They might not all be at the same one, either. At least in the city, the possible schools would be closer - you still are at the mercy of finding one that has all the places that you need, but the alternatives might be closer to each other. Living in the catchments won't help you get a place intially, if there isn't one - if a place (or three) comes up at the schools you want, you can apply for it wherever you are living in the city. So you don't need to live near, eg., St Matthews, to get the places there. I imagine you'd be wanting to look at primaries that are at least two-form intake, or more, if you want to get all three children together.

The commute from the villages on the east would not be pleasant, and I doubt that 20 min is at all realistic at rush hour times, especially as you'd also be crossing the city. The A14 or the Newmarket Road, which you'd take, are often very congested, and the time taken to cross the city from there would add a lot to the journey. There is a park and ride on the newmarket road though, so your husband would possibly want to drive there and take the bus into town.

All the small villages will be seen as safe, I'm sure.

I think the C of E affiliated schools in the villages out that way are moderately religious, but I am not sure.

Other villages more to the west might be more convenient - Histon, Girton, Barton, Trumpington, etc etc. Even ones to south like Shelford, Sawston etc might be doable, though longer. Any commute time that you calculate based on distance you'd have to seriously extend, based on traffic!! And again, you'd be unlikely to want to be driving in every day, so looking at bus routes would be good.

Hi Silverkitty, there's a lot of good info here but if you'd like some more help re being a postgrad parent then feel free to send me a private message. I can't help with schools but with accommodation etc (For example, there are quite specific residency rules which your husband has to abide by and which may exclude living in the surrounding villages. And the whole car thing may need a rethink as cambridge just isnt made for driving). St John's is a fantastic place to live and work and you'll get plenty of support so dont worry but start doing your research about housing etc asap i'd say!

sorry, I should also have been clearer in my post above - if places come up at a school like St Matthew's, you can apply from anywhere in the city. But if there is more than one person after that place, then distance from the school (or other admission criteria) will be use as a tie-breaker. So in that situation, living near a desired school can help. But not in the same way that it matters for applying for initial admission to Reception in the usual admission round.

Hi OP, I grew up in Cambridge. Housing there within the city is very expensive for the size you get, I think you'll be taken aback coming from the states. Check out rightmove, zoopla.

Schools. You're OP says you don't want a state school (that's the American public school). There are a lot of private (fee paying) schools and none are bad as such. The best secondary is the Perse so you could contact them to ask about their feeder schools.

Areas to live in. Cambridge is safe and nice. To put this in perspective the area I lived in has one designated policeman for 8 villages and he has nothing to do. His update is always dog poo and speeding related. If you are quite nervous just avoid arbury which is actually fine and safe but is Cambridge's "rough" area - its not rough at all though.

What you can afford will dictate where you live. Prepare to be surprised by how small houses are compared to the US.

Your kids might not get in your first choice school as privates have waiting lists as they have small class sizes. You might have to try a few places.

If your youngest is five between 1 Sept 12 and 31 Aug 13 he'll go to school. If not you can send him to a nursery if you want. Many privates have them attached.

Comberton has excellent schools but may be too far out for your liking.

Hth

St johns will be able to give you a lot of help with all of this.

I recommend you move to Newnham which is expensive but lovely and full of university folk. Newnham croft school is fine and very international. Getting all 3 kids into school at one go will be unlikely at any of the city schools, but you are very likely to get one of them in at least, and the other 2 will then go to the top of the waiting list as having a sibling at the school and living in catchment bumps you to the top of the list. Turnover of places is very high in most of the city schools as there are high numbers of universtiy kids. So it won't take long to get all 3 into the same school.

If you want all 3 kids to start at the same school immediately you should phone the local education authority for advice. You will almost definitely need to go for the least popular schools or a village school to achieve this.

Avoid St Pauls as although it is v international with lots of uni kids it is VERY christian and also not very good imo. St Matthews is indeed a good school but don't even think about driving to get there - utterly pointless. If you are used to driving in the US you will probably find driving in Cambridge horrific tbh and be grateful to cycle instead - the city is also known as "Cycle City" and is easy to navigate by bike. Queen Ediths school on the south side would be a particularly good choice for muslims according to my muslim parent friends and there is lots of nice housing around that part of town - cheaper than Newnham. The poorest part of Cambridge is the north - Arbury. Cheaper to live in and rougher - but only comparatively, it isn't exactly badlands.

Generally Cambridge and the villages within 10 miles of it are all very safe indeed and the schools are also good.

I am confused that you say you are not looking for "state" schools? All the advice on this thread relates to state schools. Are you actually looking for private ie fee paying schools?

Re what academic year will your children be in, there are no exceptions for any reasons - this will certainly be according to the date of the child's birthday.

I think the OP said she wasn't looking for church/state schools, and I took that to mean she didn't want church-affiliated state schools, ie Church of England or Catholic ones. Though in fact the more moderate CofE ones are virtually indistinguishable from non-church state schools, and some CofE schools have a majority of Muslim pupils (though I would guess not around Cambridge).

I would very much doubt that a PhD student could afford Perse prep fees for three children - that would be £40,000 or so a year, wouldn't it?

just regards CofE school near cambridge it has muslims, hindus and non believers - I don't think anyone withdraws their kids from assembley
pretty much ALL schools - state, Cof E and private are likely to have some christian componant to their assemblies

We shop and socialise in Cambridge but don't send DD there because of the hassle of getting her into the City - she'd have to go on the train and then walk which isn't for us.

My Brother in Law and his family live in Philadelphia and you will notice some huge differences. The three school terms are much longer over here (they get a month more in the Summer) but we get "half terms" which are a weeks holiday mid way through each term.

We don't usually have a bus system. People either walk, cycle or drive to school. The bigger the town/city the shorter the commute usually. We drive DD 15 mins to her school as we're rural.

I think you'll find a huge percentage of the population here lead a secular life. I don't know a single person who goes to church on a regular basis. DD does go to assembly three times a week but it is all pretty straight forward. She also does RE and studies all the main religions but mostly Christian based.

You'll find they do a lot more team sports and a lot earlier than in the states.

Compared to most parts of America (and I've been to dozens of your cities) Cambridge would be considered to be very safe. I do think you'll all have to learn to cycle though!

Hi ladies, once again:)

Well after all that, I appreciate all your wonderful comments.
Here is the latest:

1. My husband looked into that house in Mill Hill but it is just too far from

St Johns. He and I might be coming to the UK in July for a few days to secure a place somewhere affordable and convenient for all us. I don't cycle and with three kids how can I? I do drive an SUV so I'm hoping to get some sort of car to help me run errands:) cycling with three kids ladies is NOT my idea of fun:)

1. I am looking for a good state school. Where is Newham Croft located? That might be a good school to consider. My daughter will be 9 in Sept so she's a rising 4th grader, son will be 6 and is a rising 1st grader and then I have a 4 year old who will enter Pre K or nursery is what you call it there?

I hope all of them can be placed in one school, it will be a one stop shop.

1. If worse comes to worse and every school is over populated can I just homeschool? Are there any good homeschooling networks there? Or do most moms work in Cambridge? I'll have a home based business doing something I love which is empowering people to take charge of their health by using powerful plant medicine called essential oils. I'll write about that later bc I could go on and on.
2. We can't get an apartment or flat bc of the kids. I heard the houses there are sometimes equivalent to the size of our clothes closet, that is small and us Americans are used to big open spaces with at least 2-3 bathrooms in the house. We are looking for a decent sized house with at least 2 bathrooms..

Now I'm getting nervous but I hope we can find something good to make us all happy. Btw, what is OP? I hope it's not some British secret code:)

Thanks again ladies! You guys are so informative!

I think there are homeschool networks in Cambridge and there is a homeschool section on mumnet who are very helpful - your youngest would be going into first year of school - reception or foundation
depends entirly on your budget and where you want to live what kind of house you get
examples - lovely houses - one in newham - but in my view pricy
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-34402729.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-23065917.html

www.cam.ac.uk/local/

this is the university's accomodation service

www.accommodation.cam.ac.uk/

An American sized house, even if you can find one will be extremely expensive. You are moving to a different culture and will have to adapt. I don't think any school will find it at all odd having Muslim pupils, but a small village one might ask you to go in and share your beliefs and special celebrations.

OP means Original Post/Original Poster - so that's you, and the message that started this thread.

I think you will have to adjust your expectations and get used to the fact that living in the UK is not going to be just the same as living in the US. Many people here would also love to live in large, open houses with two or three bathrooms, but because we are living on a small, crowded island, there is pressure on space, so houses and apartments are smaller and cost more.

Rents and house prices here are much higher than in most of the US, and Cambridge is one of the most expensive places in the country, nearly as bad as London. The rents on the two houses anothername linked to will give you some idea of what to expect for open-market rents in or near Cambridge, ie for the kind of house similar to what you might be used to in the US, you would have to pay rent of more than £2,000 a month (so more than $3,100 a month, nearly $38,000 a year). If you can find somewhere to live through the college, it may be cheaper. Has your husband asked the college about accommodation yet?

Also, everything to do with cars and driving is more expensive here. I have American friends who complain about the price of petrol (gas) in the US, but they are shocked when they hear how much it is in the UK. Currently the average price of petrol is about 135p a litre, which I think makes it £5.10 or $7.98 for a US gallon. Car purchase prices and insurance are also more expensive, and parking in Cambridge is hard to find and expensive (average around £2 an hour or anything up to £20 for a full a day). That is why most people in the UK drive small cars, and in Cambridge get around on foot or by bike or bus as much as possible.

I'm not trying to put you off, just giving you a realistic picture of why things are rather different here!

Many parents cycle with several children here. The oldest two will be on their own bikes, and the youngest could be on a trailer-bike with yours. That is quite normal, and you will see many families doing the school-run that way. You will not be driving an SUV here, guaranteed. You will, at most, have a smallish people-carrier type car (minivan), but the smaller the better. There will be nowhere to park at schools. You will not be driving in the centre of Cambridge, as it's pedestrian/cycle only in most places. If you are living near the college/centre of town, even things like supermarkets are not accessible by car. Further away from the centre, they are - there are several larger ones that have car parks etc that you can drive to. But not in the centre. Also the centre is where all the main shops are. There are car parks there, but they will cost a lot. You can drive into town and park there and then walk from shop to shop, but it will cost. If you are commuting from a village, the ones on the east will be a nightmare commute, as well as anything that requires the A14 road (you can tell from a map if you'd need that). From the nearby villages, people will often cycle in, and there are good park and ride bus systems that are alternatives. Permission must be obtained to have a car - you need to show good reason, and that you have somewhere to park it where you live. Clearly, a family would be a good enough reason, but your husband probably still wouldn't be allowed to park it anywhere on college or university departments.

Two bathrooms would be a luxury, as would a lot of garden space. Many many houses in Cambridge are terraces (i.e., houses attached together), and yes, they are small. Many families also live in flats, so don't discount that. The college will probably find some sort of accommodation - St John's is very good about that, and it's often subsidised compared to the open market. You must look into residence requirements for postgraduates - normally students must live a certain distance (3 miiles?) from a certain point in town, according to university rules. I expect there is exemption for families, but you need to find out for sure, or your husband will end up having to spend a certain number of nights near college/in college owned accommodation, while you and the children are elsewhere, which would probably not be what you want. Colleges are used to foreign postgraduates, some with families, and they will have an idea of family accommodation that you could have. It might well be a flat though.

Newnham Croft has had a mixed reputation. I believe there has been repeated changeover of headteachers. There are lots of threads about specific Cambridge schools on the local board. But generally they are all reasonable. You will need to find out what year the children are in, with UK terminology, and then find out what schools have places for those years - they won't know the American grades system, so you need to be specific about which year groups you want. (people here can give you advice on the year group - it is entirely based on date of birth, with no flexibility whatsoever).

As has been said before, schools that can fit all three children in in the first instance are likely to be undersubscribed/less popular schools. You might end up home-schooling one or more of them while you wait for places to come available, or you might have a short period of time with more than one in a school. Or you might be lucky, and find one that does have places. If the residence requirements for St John's allow you to live in a village, you could look at villages that have quite large schools, as well as looking at the city schools that are at least 2-form entry (a few are three). Those will have a higher turnover of pupils.

Just for the record, I am not underestimating british lifestyles and people. I know there are advantages to both and disadvantages. I am quite aware and to beware of a culture shock b/c it is a different world and a different society and one must become accustomed to this and adapt the environment one is placed. Yes I am aware of that, thank you for at least understanding my perspective.

Have a nice day

Sorry if I sounded harsh, it might help if you think ofthe whole UK like living in NYC but with the advantage of being closer to countryside, and much much safer (at least Cambridge certainly is).
Do really talk to college about accommodation, I was at the other place and accommodation was one of the best perks. It was great to have a low rent and to be able to live pretty centrally. There should be staff at college just to help graduate students, and possibly even just to help foreign students. When I went to Chicago I found the similar department was incredibly helpful.

Ah I misunderstood about the state school thing.

Over here nursery isn't compulsory (dunno about the states) so many state primaries don't have nurseries attached. I know undergrads are required to live within 3 miles as the crow flies if St marys church. No idea if that applies to post grads. If it doesn't you could try bar hill, modern village to the south 20 mins on bus to St John's, good primary and feeder school for outstanding secondary (if you're here longer term). In the villages you'd also be well able to have a car, in fact I'd say you need one. Bar hill is a bit cheaper as it's too far out for undergrads and doesn't have period properties. I think it's very nice but some ppl are sniffy as it's modern. Bar hill has three playgroups/pre-schools.

You can certainly home school if you wish. Contact the local authority as they'll have to verify you're teaching your kids (they just come see you every so often - not scary).

On the car thing - really, don't underestimate how absolutely car-unfriendly Cambridge is.

This www.flickr.com/photos/jennyannethorpe/4543453849/ is a failrly major road through the middle of Cambridge, to give you an idea. This picture must have been taken on a Sunday morning, given the lack of traffic. The centre of the city is completely closed to cars. Just look at a map of Cambridge, and google for pictures of any of the road names you find - you will soon get a picture of the fact the place really ISN'T built even for normal UK cars (look at pics of a Ford Focus - that's a medium sized family car over here) let alone the size and type of car you are used to.

You WILL need to learn to cycle, and so will your children. The youngest can ride on a carrier at the back, or in a pull-along trainer, the other two should ride ahead of you on their own bikes

actually that road now has rising bollards to block it to normal traffic much of the day anyway - taxis, buses, and cycles can pass through, and at times of the day so can cars/lorries, but not often.

But absolutely on the cycling front. Or walking everywhere. One of the best things about the central colleges is that they do offer such great chances to live very centrally, in places that would be otherwise unaffordable to students. You can walk everywhere you want if you live centrally, without even cycling.

And St John's is a very major landholder in the city. Admittedly, much of that is commercial property, but they also own a large number of residential places that are let out to postgraduates, either allocated rooms in large houses (for single students), or flats/houses (for groups of students or families). These are often very central, and much cheaper than you'd get otherwise. Definitely check it out - they usually expect to provide accommodation for students!

Apologies - shows how long it is since I was last there. Where is the other end of the bollards - Trumpington Street somewhere?

The consistent advice here is that you should get over your cycling angst. You'll have so many more options open to you on the accommodation front if you learn to cycle. Your kids will love it too and it is the best, easiest and most reliable way of getting around. You'll soon know exactly how much time to get from A to B.

If you want a house with a big garden, you should consider a 1930s semi, which will usually have a long garden with it. These are available in the north and the south of the city.

is a good video showing Cambridge's bike culture...there must be more than anywhere else outside China!

Great city, I'm going for the weekend soon...looking forward to it!

There isn't an other end of the bollards in this case - they just block through traffic. At certain times of the day, traffic into town is blocked, and at other times, traffic leaving town is blocked. I just avoid it at all times in the car!!

That video does make the cycling look a lot scarier than it really is though. I don't much like cycling, and only do it if I can't walk somewhere, but it really is very common, and there are loads of cycle paths and cycle lanes, and lots of places that will sell second hand bikes, children's bikes, bike trailers, tag-a-long bikes (where the child is on a bike attached to yours), etc.

I prefer walking everywhere I can, to be honest, once I'm in the centre, and certainly living centrally as a student meant that was possible, though of course I had a bike, too (pretty much all students get one in the first week).

I had a friend who took a photo of a bike rack in town when it was a really quiet time of day. I asked her why she was taking a photo of an empty bike rack, and she looked a bit stunned and said she'd never seen so many bikes in one place before.

A photo of cycle park at the station www.flickr.com/photos/artfromcornwall/7294037478/

Main thing I'd say is be very wary of 'advice' about particular schools from other parents, including some on this thread, as it's so often wrong and out of date. For instance, the furthest distance admitted for St Matthews reception this year was 1.5 miles, so WELL out of catchment, and it has had spaces available for out of catchment children for a good number of years now. And as people above mentioned, some Cambridge schools with shocking reputations are actually now very good schools, just victims of out of date gossip.

Also, what you want from a school is not necessarily what others want. From my cohort of close friends, we have all chosen different schools for our DCs, because we are all looking for different things! All are equally 'good' in the generic sense, but we got very different vibes from them according to our particular feeling for what we wanted for our DC's school. You need to actually visit schools (they are only too happy to show prospective parents round) to get a feeling for what YOU think they are like. Really, don't go on local gossip - I'm actually amazed by how confidently people assert totally inaccurate information; I've heard some real shockers this year!

It could be worth your while looking into the idea of your dh travelling into Cambridge by train, places like Ely are on the train line and you will get much more for your money the further from central Cambridge you are.
Worth thinking about and trying to have a look when you visit.