St Albans Primary Schools

[Gingie]

Hi there,

We are moving to St Albans this year in the hope that we will get our 3 yr old into a good primary school and we have found a place to rent on Ramsbury Road however now I am worried about the schools we would get in to from that location.

Does anyone know about the St Albans & St Stephens Catholic school? Also St Peters school? Would we get in from Ramsbury Road location? I checked School GUru and they suggest that based on last year we would get in to St Peters, but everyone says it is such a small catchment area, also if we are catholics and go to church will we get in to St Albans & St Stephens for sure being in that location or is it very over subscribed as well?

I really worry that we would end up in Mandeville school which having spoken to the current tennant of the property whose boy goes there she recommends we avoid that school.

Any help on this would be really really appreciated as we have the flexability to rent near a good school we dont want to pick the wrong area.

Hello, like many people on here, we are very keen to move to St.Albans from our 1&1/2 bed first floor flat in central London with a 3 year old and 16 months, yes it is currently at aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So, we really need help in knowing where to move to. As we need to apply for our sons place at primary school it would make sense to try and move to a place with a school in mind.

I will be trawling through Ofsted, visiting schools etc but it would be very helpful to know from parents who live in St Albans what schools and areas are good/ you'd recommend.

All advice/ suggestions welcome, thanks

Hi Abbi

Same things apply to what we said to the op! All the primaries are great but they are very popular with lots of families doing exactly the same as you. You need to move very close to increase your chances and still no guarantee though things are improving with two new primary schools in recent years. The Free School is the one to watch as seems to be very good. At St P which is near to the town centre, there were 26 siblings one year for 30 places which meant the nearest new place went to a child who lived about 40 metres away.

And then when youve got your head around the primaries, all the secondaries are on the outskirts of town!

@AbbiBon

I am just about to do the same move from London and also have a 3 year old. I am really struggling to find a nursery place in a private nursery for him. Any tips / recommendations?

Is there a reason why the nurseries don't seem to want to take on 3 year olds? He will be in there full-time so I would have thought it worth their while!

Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks

Hi,
I have a 3.5 year old and live near Sopwell House. I had ST Peters as my first choice and did not get in, even though I live .8 miles away. I did get offered Albans City School (3rd choice, Cunningham was second choice) on the second round of offers....
We have a place reserved at Manor Lodge, and have a week to decide if we go state or choose private. Thought this info might help. I know I was thinking of buying a house on Mentmore (right next to the nunnery), and when I called St Peters, they said it would still be difficult for me to get in. Sometimes you buy a house in the area, and you still don't get a place. We moved from Maple catchment area, as we were told we probably wouldn't get in even though we were in catchment. I knew a woman who said she lived across the street from Aboyne Lodge, and still didn't get in. So don't be shocked if you move next to the school and don't get in!
My advice is to call the school and ask what the radius was last year, and what your chances were. They can't tell you a yes or a no, but they can tell you if you even have a slight chance.
That being said, St Albans is a lovely place to live, and most schools here a great schools!

In the end, after talking to many parents, we decided to buy a bigger house for a better price in an "not so great " catchment area, rationalising that the money we saved on purchasing would be put towards our daughter's education at a private school. We actually didn't think we'd get Alban City.....decisions decisions!
Good luck all you potential St Albaners! Hope you enjoy life here as much as we do! :)

Hello, we are moving to camp area and camp primary is the closest to our new home. Please can anyone share you view on Camp primary and Nursery school as well as Windemere primary? Thank you.