Which London areas with good schools and easy commute to Reading please?

[PeppaFeb]

Seeking some insider knowledge on central/west London please. We are looking at moving to London and trying to find an area with good primary options for DS (Yr 3). It’ll also need to be an easy commute for Reading e.g. under an hour.
So far we have looked at Richmond area but found the airplane noises to be a main issue.
Now back to square one trying to locate an area for the search. Any advice gratefully received!

Is there a reason you want west London as opposed to reading? Reading is a lot cheaper, good variety of schools in the surrounding villages, do you need to live closer to London?

Thanks Great. Yes we’ll need to live in London due to potential move of job back to London from Reading in a couple of years. I must admit having been used to the life in the shires, moving to London is daunting...

Kew or Richmond would be ideal but if plane noise an issue I would try Sheen or even Putney near the main train line. I would have said Chiswick too but the new runway path will be over them in a few years!

How about Paddington / Maida Vale / Little Venice area. Expensive area but very short commute from Paddington. St Joseph's catholic primary school always used to have a good reputation but admittedly I am a bit out of date with that.

Cheermum yes we were almost exclusively looking at Richmond and but the aircraft noise was too loud to get over. :-( is it much better in sheen/Putney?
I heard Chiswick is also very nice but exactly as you said the new runway...

Majestic is the Maida Vale/little Venice area safe and family friendly? Also looking at Bayswater/Notting Hill area. The research for school is getting exhausting!

Btw we’re looking to rent so there’s some flexibility in moving at secondary time hopefully.

Why not somewhere like Guildford instead? 40 mins direct to Reading, 40 mins direct to Waterloo. Cheaper than being in London, more like what you are used to by the sound of it and decent journey times for both options.

Is it 40 minutes by train for Guildford Ali?

If you are renting then reading is a better bet, schools in London are so oversubscribed and so in year transfers are simply to wherever they have space, only bad reputation private will have space.

Yes, there are regular services taking around 40 mins by train to London and Reading (plus other services taking longer).

Have you stayed in Richmond to check out the aircraft noise? It’s really not that bad and you do get used to it too so you barely notice it

Ealing is nice.

gt84 we were there for a few hours to view properties during each visit and the planes were so frequent and right above the buildings (Richmond hill area).
So wanted it to work as we already like a flat at a good location for outstanding schools (not that they have any space lol) but can’t get over the noise? Would welcome persuasion!!

I commuted from Richmond to Reading. The train is slow but MUCH cheaper than the fast train from Paddington. So factor the cost in. I have to say that in Kew I really don’t notice the aircraft noise and it is such a nice area that everything else compensates for it.

Look at the Crossrail route. Should be opening in the autumn.

Second Ealing. Best of both worlds, and way quieter for aircraft than Richmond.

Twickenham doesn't have aircraft noise, and it's on the line to Reading. Or you could think ahead, and buy somewhere on the Crossrail route. West Ealing or Ealing Broadway maybe. It'd be a pain for a while, but after August the line starts opening up.

I wouldn't worry too much about finding a place in a good state school in Y3 in Putney, Richmond, Sheen etc. There is such a lot of movement from people moving out of London and switching to Private Schools that places always come up. No one ever seems to have a problem getting spaces in the good private schools either- lots of movement.

Thanks everyone for the very helpful info! Will check out the areas mentioned and hopefully find somewhere nice to live, easy for commute and have good choices of schools.
Just realised We’re basically just looking for a Richmond in any other sense without the aircraft noise!
A lot to research and consider- a is needed now...

For Ealing, can anybody recommend a nice area to focus our search on? What are the areas like near Ealing Broadway station? The rent seems much cheaper than Richmond or Notting Hill etc. Thanks!

Ealing is lovely, north of the station, the whole area up to the A40. Montpelier school is probably the best in that area, but you need to live VERY close as it's a small one form school. Your other options in Nortfields - lovely area, the school to look at is Fielding. Again, you need to be careful where you live as the good schools are very popular and always oversubscribed.
Have you looked at Ruislip/Pinner/Ickenham?

Yes Northwood/Pinner area was actually the first we looked at. The problem is getting to Paddington takes a while so making the commute a bit too long.

When we looked at Richmond hill area, I was surprised that two of the sought after schools vineyard and marshgate had no one on the waiting list although no space either. So I am hoping at some point with luck the oversubscribed ones may have a quiet time. Then the question is what to back up while waiting. For prep schools there’s a term’s notice period hence a term’s fee to lose if need to take up an available primary place immediately.

Never thought moving with a primary age child can bring so many questions!

Re Ealing and what area to focus on, maybe have a look at Hanwell, the area near Hanwell station. This is to the west of Ealing. I visited a friend there and it was a lovely peaceful area.
The downside is I think you would end up commuting back in to Paddington to get the train in the other direction out to reading, so maybe not ideal.

Maida Vale, close to Paddington Station.

Maida Vale very family friendly btw with Paddington Recreation Ground nearby. St. Saviours CE primary and St. Joseph's catholic primary very good schools in the neighbourhood.

Thanks everyone for the help!

Majestic thanks for the info on Ealing areas. Will take a detailed look.

We have briefly visited Maida Vale/little Venice area on Friday and really like it there. Diggy do you know if the two schools you recommended especially the catholic one have strict criteria based on religion?

On the other hand, also looking at the Notting Hill/Holland Park area for schools and these are schools currently with places:
Ark Brunel Academy
Avondale Park
Marlborough
Oxford Gardens
Park Walk
St Clement & St James
St Mary’s Catholic

Any insight would be gratefully received!