Primary schools in bromley

[jiya90]

Hi,

We are moving to bromley in march 2013. I don't know anything about the area but looking for a good primary school for my daughter age 6. Preferably with a multicultural friendly environment as we are Asian. Anyone knows of a school that might be a good fit?

Also she goes to primary 2 per the Scottish education system, she is born in October 2006, so would she go to reception in England?

Many thanks

She would be in year one. One of the oldest in her year.

Bromley schools are pretty full. I don't think you will encounter problems because of your race, Bromley is part of London after all. You will be a minority but it is a friendly multicultural area.

I think you need to call the council and ask which schools have places, because they will all pretty much be full, so getting on the waiting list for your nearest school would be a good idea.

It's decades ago now but I grew up in West Wickham which is part of Bromley borough, and went to Hawes Down infant school in West Wickham - there is a junior school on the same site, which the infant kids move on to, but the 2 schools are separate. It's still considered to be a very good school, I still know people involved with the infant school & I believe the junior school is also well thought of. In terms of multicultural environment, there would be some pupils from minority ethnic groups, but no more than the national average I would think.

The other schools in that area (West Wickham/Hayes/Coney Hall) would be Pickhurst primary (which i think was judged outstanding by ofsted and would be a bit more "multicultural"), Hayes primary (which is a larger school) and Wickham Common primary.

Thanks ladies. I got the number of the local authority for bromley off the internet and plan to call them right away to find out which schools have places. Checking the ofsted report online should also be a start.

I want to get the school sorted first and then look for places to live close by as I have suffered in the past especially as don't drive

There are some lovely primary schools in Bromley, and while your DC will be part of a minority, they are unlikely to be the only Asian children in their classes.

But could I point you in the direction of senior schools. There are two super selective grammars - one for boys and one for girls. Then there are three very good comprehensives - Darrick Wood is mixed, Ravenswood for boys and Bullers Wood for girls. The others are a bit ordinary, and I would really suggest you move close to whichever comprehensive you are most likely to want, or you could find yourself moving again in a few years!

And welcome to Bromley!

DD goes to Hawes Down Infant in Y1 and the school is great. In none of the schools we saw In West Wickham we thought no child wouldn't be welcome. Yes, a fair amount of Caucasian but also black, Indian, Asian children are there. The Junior is good as well, the schools are virtually on the same grounds but have seperate heads. The communication between the schools is good and they work hard to ensure transition to Y3 is smoothly.

Saying that Bromley is full, this year 9 schools had to take on bulge classes as the places were not enough. I would recommend speaking to the council and get an idea.

We like West Wickham, we moved here 2.5 years ago after previous living in Bromley a north. While there are also nice areas we could get more space and house for the same amount of money than there.

Re Secondary: you have Park Langley (one for boys, one for girls) and Hayes (mixed) here. Hayes is outstanding and Park Langley is good and from what I hear from friends with older children, they think of it as good schools.

Beckenham has a slight problem with secondary schools though. More that no a lot are there and children get allocated than all over the borough.

With regard to secondary schools, although it's looking a long time ahead for you, I went on from Hawes Down junior to Hayes School where I was very happy, I thought it was a lovely school (this was over 20 yrs ago now mind you!) - It does now have an outstanding Ofsted. It was locally a popular school when I was there. Most of my Hawes Down classmates went to Langley Park Girls/Boys schools as they were the closest schools to H Down (I can't remember whether Bromley allocates by catchment area, but certainly at "my" end of West Wickham, Langley Park was the most likely school at which you'd be offered a place). Most of the classmates in my year at Hayes had come from Wickham Common, Hayes or Keston area primary schools.