Where to move for schools in SE London?

[MummRaaa]

I'm hoping somebody might be kind enough to give some insider local info. We're looking to buy a house in SE London or nearby Kent areas. At the moment we're looking at E Dulwich, Nunhead, Brockley, Forest Hill, but we are really flexible as it's family friendly and near great schools (we have a three-year-old girl).

We're hoping for a three bed period for around £850k. Where would you look if you were in our situation on that budget? Is there an area where you get decent primaries and secondaries (I imagine that might be a tiny slither of a few streets were the areas overlap?!)

Thank you so much

Carshalton, with a view to excellent state primaries and grammar.

Bromley and Beckenham

Brockley.

Excellent primaries including John Stainer, Stillness and Beecroft gardens. St Mary Magdalen for Catholic. Myatt garden a bit further.

Secondaries are haberdashers and Prendergast (girls school). Haberdashers have taken over Monson primary, so you get 4-18 education, which is invaluable when secondary applications come round.

850 should get you a 3 bed.

Thanks everyone :)

Thanks NN12, we had come to the same conclusion about Brockley - I think that's going to be top of our list.

Capewrath, would you say there are any particular spots of Bromley or Beckenham that might be good for schools please? They sound lovely from what I know, but I'm not very clued up on roads.

I know things can change, but I'm thinking seeing as we're flexible we might as well pick somewhere with a hope of good primaries and secondaries.

Have you considered West Dulwich/Gipsy Hill/Upper Norwood?

Beckenham is great if used to the urban vibe but it is hard to get a property in catchment for both primary and secondary for example Balgowan is a top primary and the sought after Langley Park is not in same catchment (was aeons ago, but not now). Orpingtom you have Darrick Wood primary and secondary. You'd get a fantastic house for your budget and whilst communing from Orpington is good it is further out than some like. Petts Wood is a great place to live, lovely community, great primary in Crofton but Secondary can be less than perfect unless you get into grammars - saying that we are able to apply to Kent, Bromley and Bexley grammars so good location for able children. For 850 you'd get a great house eg www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34250628.html

no, langley isn;t in the same catchment but harris crystal palace pretty good.

Hither Green v good for primaries but not sure about secondaries

Brockley is a good choice, it's increasingly 'gentrified' and family friendly. Nice parks and good transport links.

In terms of schools you have to be slightly careful as the brockley conservation area is outside the catchment of quite a few of the better schools so you'd probably be better off on the telegraph hill side or the 'west side' of the station (traditionally the less 'naice' side but lots of new development and close to the station is fine)

For example [[Revelon Road, Brockley, SE4
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52668608.html this house]] looks to be in the catchment of John stainer & haberdashers for primary both of which are rated outstanding. Personally I'm not keen on John stainer but know a lot of people who really rate it. For secondary you're in the catchment for haberdashers and prendergast.

Be aware though that the catchments for primary are v small and can vary quite a bit depending on siblings. Lewisham do publish the info on their website but they can be as small as 200m.

Also haberdashers catchment for primary may reduce significantly as the free school primary was only opened 2 years ago so generally there aren't that many siblings affecting the figures.

Sorry that link doesn't seem to work, try this

Revelon Road, Brockley, SE4
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52668608.html

For Bromley, you do need to be careful exactly where you live and probably have secondaries very much in mind when you do. Where we are, Bullers Wood secondary is well regarded for girls and there is a boys' version supposed to be opening in the next couple of years I think (not relevant to you at the moment, but you never know). Although Bromley is not an 11 plus area, a lot of people do the Kent and Bexley tests, but you could have a fair commute on your hands with that. Newstead Woods (for girls) and St Olave's (for boys) are the Bromley borough super selectives, NW being based in Orpington.

In Bromley itself (I don't know the rest of the borough) primary schools are all pretty good from what I hear but you need to virtually live in the playground of some of them, like Valley, Bickley Primary School, Raglan and Parish. If you are RC there is St Josephs (to consider, which is a one form entry but good. There are also a number of new primaries, including a Harris Bromley.

Last year a bilingual French-English free school opened - La Fontaine Academy. It has had some very good reports but is currently in temporary accommodation and, so far as I know, has no permanent home identified yet.

As to the area, it is good with decent transport links into London and out to Kent and the coast. It has no tube or DLR as yet, though that may change in the future. As already said, for £850,000 you should get a very nice house but do be careful where you choose. For example, the Palace Estate is lovely, but parts of it have been a black hole for primary schools because they are beyond the distances of many of the nearby ones (I am not sure if that has changed with the opening of the Harris school and the recent improvement of St George's Bickley, but it is still worth researching).

If you end up choosing private school for any reason, there are quite a few good options in Bromley.

Cape wrath being in the catchment for Harris Crystal Palace is no guarantee you get a place. It is oversubscribed from within catchment. And that accounts for 90% of places. 10% are out of catchment places.

Thanks everyone, greatly appreciated. We're planning some reconnaissance missions to Beckenham and Bromley.

I've also heard about the new Langley Park Primary which seems to be opening near the Girls school in 2016. Might it be worth taking a punt and buying near there, as then we'll get into both? I don't know much about these things - is it definitely going to open now and be on that site do you think?

You can't be 100% sure that you will get in the school. We moved 2 months ago in Sundridge Park avenue and still waiting for a response from the LA admissions team, although we are very close to Scotts park primary school. My 2 DC have no school at present and I don't know how long it is going to take.