Primary schools in Reading?

[toadstool]

I'm relocating in the Summer and looking for an infants school. Can anyone enlighten me about schools? Someone told me Wokingham LEA is better but I get the impression North Reading is a nicer place to live, and the Ofsted reports look OK for both. can any MNers help?

Reading's a big area - loads of schools - would be hard to generalise. Have you looked at areas yet where you'd like to live ?? www.upmystreet.com can help you see what an area is like.

I've lived in Wokingham and I'd say it is actually nicer than N Reading - but it depends how far you want to go out. Soem people count Henley as N Reading - and that is a nice area.

I was thinking (I don't know the town) about Caversham, but I've been told commuting into the centre from there can be a problem - thanks for the pointer towards Wokingham, as I'd discounted living there, so I'll do some investigating. I'd discounted Henley as too far away, so I'll have another look.

Caversham is nice, very good school there - but hard to get in I believe even if you are in catchment.

Would you be commuting into Reading itself ? Traffic all round Reading is bad for getting into the centre to be honest - I wouldn't have thought Caversham any worse than anywhere else. You could walk it from there - depending on where in Caversham you ended up.

If you went for Henley - beware as prices are premium. It is lovely there though !

What sort of property are you after - and price bracket ??

Henley you could get train to Reading, and likewise from Wokingham.

There is a fantastic infants school in Arborfield by the way - The Coombes - it has a website ! Very different, very inspirational - but not for everyone. If you were interested in that there is a lot of new housing in Arborfield too and it's not too overpriced.

I'm looking for the 400k bracket, so Henley is a bit outside the budget range. DH will probably be commuting into London a fair bit, and a lot of his current colleagues live around Henley, which is either a good or a bad thing depending on what kind of day he's had! Do you know what the area round Prospect Park is like, as the houses look affordable and pleasant?

Ummm - not very nice really ! Have you been there ?? Lots of council flats etc - youths hanging around the park etc...

I wouldn't recommend it I'm afraid !

£400K is good - you'd get a nice newish house in Arborfield or Lower Earley for that - if new houses and estates are your thing.

Shinfield has a great infants school - and some older houses, also Spencers Wood (Lambs Lane School). Swallowfield and Farley Hill are lovely but expensive - hardly ever anything in that price bracket on market and snapped up very fast if it does come on - but great school at Farley Hill - quite a few kids from Arborfield go there too.

Thats about the extend of my area knowledge really - hope it helps a bit - there are other Reading Mumsnetters around and I'm sure someone with other area knowledge will come along soon !

Where are you moving from btw ?

We live in Tilehurst. You could get a good house for that price (there are a few new build developments springing up). Tilehurst itself is large and crosses the W.Berks / Reading boundary. The secondary schools in W.Berks are great so try to stay on that side to avoid the Reading Secondaries (unless you get the Grammars or go private). Some parts of Tilehurst are NO GO and other are extremely posh. We like it as not far to go to get into countryside, decent shop range in the village & buses to town.

The Primaries vary a lot, again the W.Berks are better.

Caversham primary is best in Berkshire but VERY oversubscribed and their catchment is changing so be careful.

There is a station at Tilehust, but v.close to M4 Junction 12 & near to Reading Centre with excellent bus links (£8.50 for a weekly card)

OK! I'll look again at Shinfield and Tilehurst. I'm moving from Bristol which has similar issues with its LEA (though primary is OK, it's secondary that's a huge problem here). Off to do the school run now, many thanks!