Where to relocate for Colet Court and Eaton House Belgravia

[anxiousdaddy]

DS1 will start at Colet Court 7+ and DS2 will start at Eaton House Belgravia at 4+, both from this Sept. We are currently living at the "wrong" end of London and will have to relocate. Anyone having any advice on where to live for both schools? We are flexible both renting or buying but safety and convenience for school pickups are the top priority. Any help much appreciated.

Good to see another dad here! Our boy is also starting kindergarten at Eaton House in Sept. We live in Marylebone (nr Marble Arch) which is a short bus ride (about 15 minutes) to Sloane Square/Belgravia. We've considered moving south of Hyde Park but prefer the location/ community here. Good luck with the move and look forward to meeting you in the Fall.

Need more information:

Do you want a house or flat, or does it matter?
How many bedrooms would you want/need?
Budget?
Will you primarily use bus, tube, taxi, or car for transportation?
What is important to you and the family with regards to the area you want to live in (besides school convenience/safety)?

Hello anxiousdaddy.

The easiest location for the two schools would be Chelsea. You'd be very close to Eaton House, and there are several mini-buses to Colet from that area (door to door service!).

Hi. Thanks for the info. Logistically, I guess driving around the area will not be too practical given the road traffic around the school runs. So use of the tube seems a more reliable option. I was thinking of two scenarios for pick ups:

Scenario 1: if we have one nanny (will have to find a new one as current nanny won't move with us), since both DS are too young, she will have to pick up DS2 at EH and take him along to CC for DS1 and then back home. This seems a little tough for the younger one at EH as he will have a longer journey daily.

Scenario 2: hire two helpers to pick up each DS. Not sure whether it's easy to find helpers in the new area though.

For sending to school, it's much easier as we can have nanny sending DS1 to CC while I drop DS2 to EH on my way to office.

So a location for the new home I guess would be ideally closer to CC as that would cut down one leg of travel while keeping the focus to be CC. For me, EH is just a temporary solution for DS2 till he joins his brother in 3 years time (hopefully).

Mominatrix, you mentioned Chelsea but I'm not sure whether I'll be priced out of the area at my current budget - DS are used to the spacious living space but I doubt they will keep that luxury while we move to a much central location.

I was told that many CC students live in Chiswick and Putney so there may even be a chance of sharing some school runs among the parents. Is that true?

Anyone having experience of doing school runs for two quite far apart schools? I really start to appreciate the current luxury of having both DS in the same local school ...

I would imagine Barnes would be the best option.

Where do you live now and what is your budget?

sharing some school runs

anxiousdaddy, are you absolutely set on Eaton House Belgravia? I ask because other locations like Putney, Chiswick, Barnes, Hammersmith, Richmond which are very close to CC have their share of excellent pre-preps which get a large number of boys into CC and have very good relationships with the school. By choosing one of these other schools, you'd make your life (and nanny's) much easier.

If you are set on Eaton House Belgravia, other areas serviced by mini-bus are Notting Hill and Kensington. There are informal car shares between families in Chiswick, Richmond and vicinities, but you or your nanny would have to do some pick-ups or drop offs.

Hi Mominatrix, thanks for this good question. Actually we registered schools for DS2 too late and all the good schools in Putney, Chiswick and Barnes are full with long waiting list and the chance of getting a place seems slim. We got Eaton House place by pure luck. So it's a bit risky to lose it.

Does any minibus of CC go to Turnham Green/Gunnersbury? (Tried contacting schools for more info but unfortunately everyone's on half term break).

anxiousdaddy, if I were you I would try to get your younger into a state school in East Sheen.... To be blunt, there are 3 ofsted outstanding schools in East Sheen: Sheen Mount, East Sheen Primary and Barnes Primary. St Mary Mags is a Catholic School with a Good rating with many Oustanding features. The area is so affluent that very many people dont bother with independent schools, and the local schools are first choice. Then you can put your ds2 on the list for CC and have them both there in just a few years. And meanwhile, you enjoy the area without the hazzle of time consuming and expensive journeys requiring two nannies.

Dont bee too hung up on using private education, if the alternative is to enjoy a fab location and fab free education for infant school.

Otherwise, if you must go down the private route, have you thought of Tower House in East Sheen? I hear very good things about it, former neighbours have their kids there.

There are no minibuses from Turnham Green or Gunnersbury. Turnham Green is very close, and if you lived in the area, a couple stops on the tube or a short bus ride would get you to the Hammersmith Gyratory, which is just a short walk to the Bridge and school (there is an entrance to the school just over the bridge which is open and guarded at school opening time and closing time) - thus eliminating the need to walk all the way to the front gates on Lonsdale Road.

I'd contact schools in Chiswick and other areas which you are interested in as places open up all the time due to the transient nature of London. Places do open up last minute. I'll PM you...

Mominatrix, v useful info, especially on the side entrance to the school which will be a life saver! You opened up a whole new set of options for us. Thank you!

Hello and thank all of you for the advice and info. Much appreciated! We will be thinking long and hard. After all, choosing the right schools and relocation is not a small decision to make, especially when the kids are still in their tender years. I wish all of you best of lucks too.

If you're hoping your younger son will also go to CC (or to Latymer or another school near CC), then you should probably think about living somewhere convenient for CC assuming you would be able to take your younger son to EHB in the morning. You might consider Fulham, near the river, if your son and nanny could cycle in the morning (15 minute ride but not much fun if weather is wet or very cold!); or around Shepherd's Bush road (short cycle or walk along back streets and then across bridge and through the side gate mentioned above) or Chiswick/Turnham Green any of those locations would allow you to take the tube to Sloane Square and take your younger son to EHB and would be convenient for nanny or someone else to take older son to CC. HOWEVER, it would be difficult for nanny to collect younger son from EHB and take tube/bus to CC in time to collect older son without exhausting younger son. I know someone who did that for several years and survived .... but i think it was tiring for all. EHB is a great school but I think you'll be able to find another school for your younger son that might make the logistics easier for everyone.
Good luck!

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet but EHB has a school bus from Fulham / Parsons Green that runs along New kings road. Picks the kids up at 8am i think and comes back around 4.30? Might make it ok to combine both.