Moving to Oxford area: Primary school. Options?

[NewEnglandMum3]

We're moving with our 3 kids (ages 2, 5 & 7) from the US to Oxford or nearby this summer. Is it true that schools in North Oxford (Summertown, Parktown, Jericho) are over subbed and we have almost no chance of sending our school aged kids to the same school even if we're in the catchment area? We feel we may need to give up on that dream.

We've started looking at other areas: Wallingford, even Henley, as reasonable options (unless it's the same story as Oxford) for state schools, my husband will be working in Abingdon.. But also wondering about Chandlings schools and possibly moving to Cunmor, nearby. There is also St Mary's in Henley.

Would appreciate some insight. Perhaps private would be good to ease our kids' transition with smaller classes and wondered if anyone can speak to realistic expectation of Oxford state school spaces vs smaller towns like Henley. What is life like in Henley for families? Any current experience at Chandlings or St Mary's? And thoughts on living in Cunmor, outside Oxford?
Sorry for all the questions! Lots to learn, obviously!

Yes, ButtonLoon, it's a tricky situation because our house search is tied to areas where schools have availability and it would be disappointing to move into a specific school's catchment area and then find ourselves driving elsewhere for primary school. We hope to have an address in May or early June, at which point we need to apply through OCC as an "in year" transfer.

OP, I would seriously avoid schools in Oxford unless you are planning to live there. Commuting to/from Oxford is a nightmare. It sometimes took me 90 minutes to travel 18 miles from West Oxfordshire. DH leaves home 6am every morning in order to avoid the traffic in the centre.

I would look seriously at Witney, the commute to Abingdon is quite reasonable and although not on the Thames it has the river Windrush running through the town. It has more going on than Abingdon and has generally a more attractive and vibrant feel. There are lots of good Primary schools to chose from and if you are planning to stay a while the Secondaries are also well thought of locally.

Don't worry too much about the CofE nature of schools in the UK, this is mainly a strange quirk of our history; most Primary schools being founded and funded for the poor by the Church in the late 19th century. The majority of schools focus on values rather than religious themes within their assemblies, although in recent years the Govt has forced more inclusion of religion within the curriculum. If it concerns you, asking for your children to be excluded from RE or assembly is an option. Or certainly used to be 10 years ago when DS was at school.

Thanks SilverBirchWithout. I will look into Witney, but as lovely as it sounds, I'm afraid the commute will be too far. With the help of other posters on this thread I realized that DH is actually working in north Didcot, so we have tried to focus on the areas surrounding there. Yes, we've given up on the idea of Oxford. We'll be exploring the area in a couple weeks when we visit with the children.

We have recently moved from the US to Witney. DH also works at Milton park. The commute is 35mins. We love living here, you can walk everywhere, great amenities and lots of good restaurants and coffee shops. There is a great community and lots of things to do with preschoolers. We got a school place for DS in a good school without too much hassle. The school has been great at helping him catch up but it has been hard as there were so many gaps. We wont be moving closer to Milton park as we are very happy here. If you want more info then PM me.

My DH works at Milton Park and we live in Caversham as I go the opposite way. Wallingford is lovely, especially the outdoor swimming pool in the summer. The commute from there is fine. For a smaller village, my friend moved to Compton and had no trouble getting her son in to the school. She really rates it.

Oh and we use the Milton Park nursery. Both our boys have been really happy there.

I'll give Witney area a plug as well. Under-rated and more affordable. We live West of there and DS commutes to Abingdon for school. Commuting from Witney to Milton Park does not seem to be that onerous to me.

Watlington is for people who want to get to London by road I think - very handy for M40.

And I'd do my homework on CoFE school culture. There is a lot of variability. Quite a few are indeed as Silver... indicated. But if you are used to what happens in US public schools you might be deeply shocked by the antics at some schools, with kids routinely in assemblies with prayer, being dragged off to the village church etc. We have at times considered Dragon, OH Junior and other Oxford schools but the commute is appalling. While Abingdon is a bit of a jam there are some cunning routes to some of the schools that mostly avoid the problems. And the people I know with kids at the Manor are very happy with it. There is a wide-ranging bus service feeding several Abingdon private schools including the Manor, that makes a huge difference.

Thank you for these insights. We have definitely put Witney on our list of places to visit and will have to see if there are spaces at the schools there. I'm guessing schools are closed for Easter break but once we're over next month we'll ring the schools and hope to make visits during the week we are there.

And good to know about the bus option for the private schools in the area. Someone said earlier on this thread that Henley would be a difficult commute to/from Milton Park. I do find the larger market towns compelling and am still considering whether we should add it to the list.

I'm not too concerned about a bit of CofE culture in the state schools. My greatest worry is that my daughter will feel overwhelmed by her presumed gap academically. Her confidence can be easily rocked and I don't want her to feel defeated from the start. With 30 children, on average, in a class my concern is that the teacher couldn't possibly work with her individually as often as she might need it - and a key question for the state schools will be if there is support for children who come in with a learning gap (and then compare that to the scope of services offered at a private school.) Any thoughts/experiences relating to this? 123yipee has shed some helpful light on this..

Hi all,
I hope I'm not getting too off-topic, but this thread had so many helpful replies, I thought I'd continue this conversation. We have just spent a week in and around Oxford and have decided to send our children to Chandlings or the Manor. We looked at several villages and parts of Oxford and think it's best that we focus on a village/town around Abingdon or Didcot. Areas we really like include Dorchester, Long Wittenham, Clifton Hampden, (Sutton Courtenay - maybe?), and Abingdon (north/central, near Crescent Park).

We also like South Oxford, but don't know much about it for families. Does anyone know Iffley Village? Is it nice/quieter/safe compared to Iffley Rd/Cowely? It's proximal to Rose Hill which I"m told is more transitional.

Can anyone shed any light on how social some of the smaller villages are? Our hope is to find a place that has lots of families that we can engage with despite not attending the local school. Incidentally, we decided on private for our children when it was confirmed there are learning gaps and we think they'd be best supported in a smaller class format at a school that routinely has children entering from other systems.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

I'd personally choose a house you like in a village you like (or town). You'll get some socialising from school friends and parents. Village life socialising will happen anywhere. It may be tricky for your children to mak local friends if they are not at the local school - Appleton I have heard that if your children don't go to the primary, then you're not really in the young social mix (im happy to be corrected).

Where I live, my children don't go to the local primary and as such, aren't friends with the very close by children Who do go there. It's not a problem tho. We have made friends through school. It just takes longer to get to play dates.
What year are your children starting in, sept 16?

Also please don't be fooled by the current house prices in Abingdon above £800k. They are all well overpriced, by a good £300k. The estate agents are eagerly waiting for out of town people to come along and buy these properties with their "London money". Th roads I am referring to are Norman Avenue and Picklers Hill!

Thanks for the tips, Kanga! We're going to rent for the first year, just to make sure we're happy where we are. And yes, children starting Sept 16.

Were you at the tea party last week by chance? If so, pm me!

Kanga, no we weren't at a tea party. I presume you're at one of the private schools?

I'd like to endorse what Kanga59 said about friendships. We have not found it too onerous to drive to organized play dates, based on the friendships growing up more around school than neighbours. Renting for a while is exactly the right thing to do - maybe even longer. It's not just getting to know the area - Oxfordshire prices are a national high for price/earnings and IMHO it's at unsustainable levels.

This is helpful to know, roguedad. Are the homes around Crescent Park rarely for let? I realise that is more central Abingdon, but found it very attractive but maybe mostly owner-occupied.

Abingdon school rents out number 1 Bostock rd. Contact them if interested. AFAIK, no other houses are rented on park rd, park crescent. Coopers lane is nice. As is the old gaol development.

"We also like South Oxford, but don't know much about it for families. Does anyone know Iffley Village? Is it nice/quieter/safe compared to Iffley Rd/Cowely? It's proximal to Rose Hill which I"m told is more transitional."

We've been living in East Oxford; Iffley Fields (15 mins walk from the city centre, just off Iffley Road) since before the kids (5 & 7) were born, extremely happy. Schools are good and there is a lovely sense of community. Very multi-cultural. Plus walking distance to health centre, parks & playgrounds, the river, gym & indoor pool, shops, great eateries and lots of cultural stuff. House prices are bonkers for what you get these days though.
Best of luck!

Thanks, Vanellope! We stayed in Iffley last week, in a short term let, and liked the vibe there. We enjoyed a meal at the Chester Arms! Haven't found much for rent in that area, other than places for students. Iffley village isn't far from there - how is the neighborhood?

NewEnglandMum3, just around the corner from us then! Would be so funny if our children ended up in the same classes.
Must confess I don't know too much about Iffley Village, there are some nice streets indeed and some not quite so gentrified. We do have friends who rent decent family homes in Iffley Fields (ie a tad closer to town) but I know what you mean about most rentals being student-y. If you want to pm me I can list the streets I would focus the search on if I were you.

Complete digress but I looked at Wallingford on rightmove and a house on Queens Avenue in Wallingford is a staggering £297,950! For a similar type house you'd pay £115,000 where I live!!!
How the hell do people manage to afford to buy homes in the South?????