Surrey & Kent - Best primary schools with good comprehensive/grammar schools

[countrysidemuffin]

We are planning to move to any place in Surrey or Kent which has the best primary schools & comprehensive/grammar schools.

Our situation is:

1. I work in Liverpool Street and my husband works in Canary Wharf. We would like to keep the travel time to less than an hour.

1. We would like to buy a 3/4 bed house. Our budget is about 450K. We can cut down on number of rooms - our most important consideration is that the place should have the best primary schools and comprehensive/grammar schools.

Any suggestions where we should move and which primary schools we should consider?

Thank you for reading my post.

I think this topic about 'the best schools' may have been discussed earlier but I thought it would be helpful to read from other parents what they think, given my work situation- location/travel time etc.

In Kent I would suggest Tunbridge Wells / Sevenoaks

Have you tried the website Locrating.com? You put an area / post code in and it shows you all the schools, with their ofsted gradings and reports. It's very useful!

I was also going to suggest Tunbridge wells, good primary schools and grammar and comprehensives. Houses within your price range. Be very careful when looking at catchment areas and confirm with the schools (often on their website) if you will be in catchment/distance from school. Trains go into canon street and charing cross and there is a new commuter bus that goes into London with various pick up/drop off points - first stop Canary Wharf which people say good things about.

Tonbridge is an easier commute to London. My dh does it and we live in tonbridge. Primary and secondary schools are excellent. Look at st Margaret clitheroe and woodlands for primary and choice of tonbridge and tunbridge wells for secondary. Lots of private schools for both, too.

Did you want a town or countryside environment?

Thanks all.

WiganKebab I'd prefer countryside environment but most important is an excellent school - so happy with town too.

You could try West Kent / East Surrey - there are some lovely village schools around there. Look at Chiddingstone, or Limpsfield, or perhaps Crockham Hill?

A grammar will rule out a good comprehensive near by, as strictly speaking the nearby schools, whatever they are called, will effectively be secondary moderns in that in Kent approx 25% of chdn are at grammars. However many of them are also very good.

See I don't agree, lots of the west Kent grammars are super selective or very small catchments. You have to be very careful where you move. East Kent is more straightforward (less children/more coastline) and Ashford has fast link to town (37 mins). Lots of great primary schools but if you are looking at comprehensives I would think Surrey is better.

Reigate in Surrey has a grammar school, and some excellent primary schools.

Reigate Grammar is an independent school.

yes don't be fooled a lot of "grammar" schools, are ex LA schools which went independent after abolition of 11+. Competitions for primary places at the "better" schools in Reigate is fierce and there are currently bulge classes and a temporary school pending a new one being build in Redhill/Merstham. Best local comp may become an academy and is talking of a lottery system for places , currently religion, siblings and proximity are priorities. Very few selective state school in Surrey (try outer London boroughs)

West Surrey (Woking area) has some places where there are infant (Reception to Year 2) schools plus junior (to Year 6) then secondary. There are some primary schools but the infant/junior split is more usual so you would need to have an eye on the next step after infants. There are some very good infant schools around. Secondary is less good - the highest performing state school is Gordon's School but you have to practically live on the doorstep to get in, the catchment is very small and they check your eligibility very carefully I'm told.

The commute from Woking is easy - fast trains to Waterloo, then the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf or the Drain up to Bank.

No state grammars here btw.

There are no comprehensive schools in Kent.

Don't know about Surrey.

Ashford, Kent has grammar schools as mentioned above. It is also very cheap for housing - you can get 4 bed detached for £250k. However it's girls grammar often takes those who do not even pass 11+ - even advertised the other year for girls to come forward who had not reached the pass mark!

We are in the catchment for Cranbrook Grammar School which currently takes pupils from 13+ and is a very good school. Many of the local primary schools are not that great, but there are plenty of prep schools.

There are no comprehensive schools in Kent

I'm confused by this seeker. Is that really true? What is a "comprehensive" school?

It's just I am in West Kent and there are a few that say they are comprehensive schools?

Comprehensive = takes all abilities (which is why you hear the phrase selection by postcode in some areas!)

In Kent, approx 25% of children are at grammar schools, therefore the remaining schools cannot be truly comprehensive. Some of the church schools, and the high schools without a grammar close by might be comprehensive ish.

Were you thinking of any schools in particular?

Ah ok a few round here say they are comps (eg Mascalls at PWood, Bennett Memorial - which is outstanding in every area are the 2 that immediately spring to mind).

Both of those are v good schools, but are still missing a chunk of their most academic children- if all the chdn in the mascalls catchment who go to grammars went to mascalls they would need at least one extra class each year!