Moving from the US to London

[Mominaka]

Hello everyone!I hope you’re keeping safe and healthy.My husband just accepted a fellowship at Kings College Hospital starting Dec. 2021.Our family will be accompanying him to London from America.We have three children, ages 7,5 and 2.We are confused about what area would work best for us in terms of housing, keeping the work commute reasonable while having good state primary schools nearby.We would love recommendations for kid friendly neighborhoods close to the hospital.So far I have it narrowed down to Dulwich Village.Any suggestions or tips would by highly appreciated.Thank you!

East Dulwich and Herne Hill?

I can't give you any advice on London, but I have had children who have gone to both US and U.K. primary schools and there's a big difference in catchment areas.

When we lived in the US, the children automatically went to the school that was our catchment area school.

In the U.K., class sizes are strictly limited and state schools are often oversubscribed. That means that moving into a particular area does not guarantee that your children will be able to get a place at the closest school or even that they will all be at the same school.

Just something to be aware of if you're not already familiar.

Its hard to go wrong Dulwich village/East Dulwich/Herne Hill all great. Moving in December might be slightly tricky for school places - the large outstanding state school my children attend always have movement - 3 or 4 new children per year (over 3 or 4 classes per class) but places are often filled in the summer and there tends to be less movement mid school year - if you could be in place by September it would be easier but there are so many good primary schools in the three areas I am pretty sure you would get places even if not in your nearest school.

Dulwich: (East / West and the Village)

The commute would be 10 min on the bus and it has a number of outstanding primary schools. Harris Primary and Dulwich Village Infants and Dulwich Hamlet are all rated outstanding by Ofsted and Heber is also extremely popular with strong academic results and great extracurricular activities. Heber is the most oversubscribed LA primary in Southwark.

Heber and Harris are heavily oversubscribed for their main entry points in reception but as families tend to move around, there are occasional vacancies in higher years. I know Heber has spaces as a number of families have relocated out of London. Once you have your older children there your youngest will more easily get a place as siblings get priority so you don't need to necessarily live super close to the schools.

The area, particularly East Dulwich, is extremely family friendly with lots of young families and family activities (ballet, kids tennis, swimming etc), good shopping, restaurants, a cinema, museums (Horniman and Dulwich Picture Gallery) and great parks / woods.

Herne Hill is further from the hospital but Judith Kerr is the best school in that area and offers German bilingual instruction. It is one of the top primary schools in the country (by academic results and value add scores) and the has really happy and polite children.

Feel free to PM if you want to know more

Yes, for King’s you’d be best off with Dulwich, Herne Hill and East Dulwich. Another option would be Denmark Hill which is immediately to the south of the hospital bordering Ruskin Park (look for streets such as Fawnbrake Ave, Deepdene Road, Acland Cres and Champion Hill for location). For that area local school options would be Jessop Primary, Dog Kennel Hill Primary and Lyndhurst Primary. You might find Camberwell itself a bit grimy although Camberwell Grove is in Denmark Hill and is very, very nice.

In those areas there are lots of good schools. In the Village itself you’ll find Dulwich Village Infants which is for children in the first three years of primary, and Dulwich Hamlet Junior which is for the last four. Just one thing to note - DVIS is a Church of England school and takes this seriously. Secular options include Judith Kerr (all years of primary) which has a German specialisation. It was initially set up to be fully bilingual but this hasn’t been achievable. In addition, it has the highest academic performance in the local council area so has become popular with non-German speakers. Another popular option is Bessemer Grange. All the children seem happy at all of these schools.

If you search on Rightmove for the following postcodes: SE21 (Dulwich), SE22 (East Dulwich) and SE24 (Herne Hill), that will give some indication of local housing stock and rents. All areas are very family friendly and have lovely parks and nice local shopping options.

Will you have enough income to pay the rent on large enough property?

I'd agree that Camberwell / Denmark Hill are scruffier than Dulwich. Dulwich Village has the largest housing and is the poshest most expensive and most twee part of Dulwich. East Dulwich has the most going on (shops, restaurants, gyms, etc) and is younger feeling than the Village. West Dulwich is a bit sleepy and Herne Hill is the best connected to central London.

Thank you so much everyone for the very resourceful responses and showing me some light.Having lived in San Francisco, we are particularly aware of how living in a certain neighborhood does not guarantee a spot in the assigned school.We had a feeling that London might not be so different.We hope we’re able to find something suitable to fulfill all our needs.I am deeply grateful for all the replies.

For general advice on moving from the USA have a look at abroadpurpose.com/ She moved from the USA to the U.K. and has a lot of great info. She couldn’t get a space at the local schools so they ended up in independent school. They also decided to live outside London for a better quality of life. A wealth of information on there.

Thanks!This is really helpful.

I know this thread is now old, but out of curiosity where did you end up @Mominaka ? I live in the area and are going through some of these choices with schools, also from the US originally.

Hi.Wow! This seems like a lifetime ago.We ended up living in South Kensington and had the best time.Let me know of you’d like some further insight.Have a wonderful time…Londons such a great city to be in!