Where to look at in Sussex - anyone able to help?

[whereishome]

Hi there,

Well, after lots of wonderful help we have decided to start our search off in Sussex. May well change but we have to start somewhere. We have to move in August from overseas so it is going to be a challenge.

I am homing in on Chichester and Horsham but it is so difficult trying to get a feel for the places from abroad - stating the obvious

Could anyone in the know tell me whether Horsham or Chichester is the nicer area and do any of these areas have any outstanding primary or secondary schools?

I would really appreciate any pointers! Thank you so much!

Both are lovely. Horsham is more sensible for commuting to London, but otherwise I, personally, would marginally favour Chichester. I think housing is slightly more expensive in Horsham - there are certainly cheaper places to live in Sussex. What are you actually looking for in particular, besides somewhere near private schools you could teach in and a train route to London for your dh? Arts and cultural activities within the town itself? Ease and speed of getting to bigger, more cosmopolitan places, like Brighton or London? Proximity to the coast? Lack of tractors or caravans on narrow roads that you can't get past for miles?! Easy reach of beautiful countryside? Accessibility to motorways and fast roads? Ease of getting to other parts of the country in particular in order to visit relatives?

Obviously, in any event, I would advise you add East Grinstead to your list!!!

Thank you for posting! But disappointed about the schools not being so great. I think that is one of the deciding factors for us. We have boys and girls and they are all very academic. They are in private at the moment and my son is doing really well. Can't afford private once we return so am looking for really excellent schools, not necessarily outstanding but 'up there'. And as he is now 7, I guess we need to start thinking about secondary education although primaries are as important given our track record for moving. Ideally, I would love somewhere where we can walk to the shops and to school and not have to rely on the car all the time. And we are looking for the more polished of the towns - not snobby but a nice up-market place. Which would this be - East Grinstead, Horsham or East Grinstead? Access to a good town is also important - within a 15/20 minute drive. Hmm - think we might have hit a barrier as I am desperately trying to find excellent, highly-regarded schools. Hope I don't sound snobby - not meaning to. We have been living in Guildford and I guess we are looking for similar, but cheaper.

Thank you for posting! But disappointed about the schools not being so great. I think that is one of the deciding factors for us. We have boys and girls and they are all very academic. They are in private at the moment and my son is doing really well. Can't afford private once we return so am looking for really excellent schools, not necessarily outstanding but 'up there'. And as he is now 7, I guess we need to start thinking about secondary education although primaries are as important given our track record for moving. Ideally, I would love somewhere where we can walk to the shops and to school and not have to rely on the car all the time. And we are looking for the more polished of the towns - not snobby but a nice up-market place. Which would this be - East Grinstead, Horsham or East Grinstead? Access to a good town is also important - within a 15/20 minute drive. Hmm - think we might have hit a barrier as I am desperately trying to find excellent, highly-regarded schools. Hope I don't sound snobby - not meaning to. We have been living in Guildford and I guess we are looking for similar, but cheaper.

Oops, meant East Grinstead, Horsham or Chichester.

Hmm - not so good at posting from the iPhone!

Was just thinking - am I correct in thinking that there are some Grammar schools in/near Sussex. Wondering if that should be a consideration. Thanks everyone for any pointers!

There are grammar schools in Kent near the Sussex border in Tunbridge Wells and Cranbrook, but you would need to live in catchment in Kent for either of them I think. Cranbrook takes boarders from out of catchment.

Dont think you could consider East Grinstead as "polished". Brighton or Lewes, or Haywards Heath or Chichester? but you need T Wells for grammar schools.

Guildford very good for schools.

We live right on the West Sussex/Hampshire/Surrey border. Good for commuting to London and just about ok to think about Guildford for schools.

Chichester is a nice town to visit but I lived there for about a year in total and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I would avoid south of the A27.

Other than the tesco there being crap don't know much about Horsham!

whereishome I have sent you a pm

Tunbridge Wells is upmarket - produces a very nice class of person!

Much harder to get in to TWGGS and Skinners now, though, I believe, than in my day, when they let in all sorts of riff-raff like me

Really, boots? I knew the catchment had shrunk but that close in? Dozens of us got in from Broadwater Down/Frant Road and way further out too, without any hassle. My schoolfriends lived in Pembury, Langton, Speldhurst, Bidborough etc.. No debate. If you passed the 11+, that's where you went.

What I like about East Grinstead is that I can walk my children to school and they will be able to walk to secondary school; I can walk into town if I walk in one direction and into the countryside if I walk in the other (sometimes feels a bit like having the advantages of a village at the same time as having the advantages of a small town); it is on the edge of the Weald, very close to Ashdown Forest and not far from the South Downs, so the countryside around it is beautiful (not to mention beautiful villages) and there are lots of disused railway lines to walk and cycle along, too, courtesy of Lord Beeching of East Grinstead in the 1960s; it is well stocked with green space and playgrounds; the High Street is very attractive and the town's history is fascinating; it is just under an hour into London, about 45 minutes drive into Brighton, 20 minutes drive from Crawley and about 25 minutes from Tunbridge Wells; it is a leafy, safe and pleasant place in which to bring up children; it doesn't take long to get to Gatwick or Heathrow (not too far from the M23 and M25) but doesn't suffer from aeroplane noise; all the schools are perfectly good, so people mainly send their children to the nearest school, which means we walk to school in the morning with friends and neighbours; and for a town of its size it has very good facilities. It cannot be compared with Guildford, because it is far smaller. My children's education is important to me (I went to Oxford for university) and I haven't been scared off by the schools here, as yet. I tend to think bright, academic children from a supportive, academic family, are going to do extremely well in a good school in a pleasant community and would rather that than live in less pleasant surroundings in a more cramped house in the stressed-out hope of getting into a highly oversubscribed, super-school. I have lived, amongst other places, in Central London, Surrey and Oxford and feel more at home here than anywhere else I have ever lived since I left my parents' home many years ago. I'm sure it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm happy here! I suspect Horsham would be closer to whereishome's cup of tea, though, as it is a bit bigger.

Have a look at Lewes. It's an interesting town - 1hour 5 mins from London (whereas Haywards Heath is dull but only 40 mins x 3 times an hour from London) with a couple of reasonably good primary schools and The Priory is a reasonable comprehensive - friends with v. bright children have gone there. There's also a very 'cheap' (1/4 the cost of other private schools) grammar school which was/is? very old fashioned and had some extremely good teachers. For 6th form, Brighton has good 6th Form Colleges and lots of people from Lewes go on to these.
It's 8 years since I left Lewes so am not up to date.

Horsham is really on the up with lots of very good restaurants opening up and the schools are very good. The park and leisure centre are amazing and the council seems to really try to make it a good place to live. Some of the surrounding villages have ofsted outstanding primary schools. Also the Weald school in billingshurst nearby is supposed to be very very good - you would probably want tolive in a nearby village though.