Moving to Maidenhead

[settleforgood]

Hello All,

I need some guidance. I am currently in Southampton and moving to Maidenhead area so that I can buy house and settle somewhere near to good primary and secondary schools as well as near to grammar schools catchment.

I will be required to travel few days in week to
Southampton for work and few days in month to Paddington.
My wife will be working few days out of windsor.

While my daughter is still in Year 1, I would like to consider a place to buy and settle considering good primary secondary and in future grammar schools like Sir Williams in Marlow .

Request inputs from all of you for the place to settle and buy house in Maidenhead considering the schools situation above as well as safety and good community for families.

Hello Freinds,

I am looking to stay in Maidenhead that has catchment for Sir william barlows , wycombe high, beaconsfield grammar schools. Please can somebody help me where should I be staying in Maidenhead to be in catchment of all 3 above ?
My daughter is going to be in Year 2 this September but we want to move Maidenhead once and for long term , mostky plan to buy house..Also , I want to be at location that has good primary and secondary so that if
she doesn't get into grammar, we can apply in state school.

Also I heard they have pretty much door to door catchment to get in primary. Will that be a hurdle even for in year admission? We will be moving from an outstanding primary school in southampton for in year admission to preferably good or outstanding school in maidenhead..

Will furze platt be good area to move and settle? Considering they have both good primary and secondary state schools as well as catchment to grammars above ?

Sorry for long and confused post as I am actually confused

@modgepodge

Borlase has a very small catchment - you are highly unlikely to get in living in Maidenhead. Might want to consider cookham or Marlow itself if that’s the school you want. There is also Wycombe high which girls from Maidenhead do usually get in to.

That’s not accurate (my children are / were at Borlase). Some of Maidenhead is catchment- check v carefully. They generally offer to 3 miles in catchment.

Maidenhead is not catchment for Beaconsfield High. Their catchment map is on their web site.

Wycombe High has catchment area B that isn’t the priority catchment area (A) but B includes Maidenhead. You would need to check on the BCC web site on how many DC get in from B and I’d also check to see if it’s a lottery. So can you be sure you will get in if you live in Catchment Area B? I doubt it.

Sir William Borlase’s catchment does cover Maidenhead in part. Again you need to read the precise rules about admissions. Also distance regarding successful applications year or year.

As I said upthread, if you live near one of these grammars and get the required score you will get a place but BH and WH are bigger schools with bigger geographical spread. But Maidenhead is iffy for both of these. Only part of Maidenhead is ok for SWB. You could also look at Burnham Grammar.

Although Sir William Borlase's catchment map includes Maidenhead, in reality you are unlikely to get a place from Maidenhead. Perhaps Cookham (Dean or Rise), and maybe the very north extremity of Maidenhead... but the distance taken to has been around 3 miles or less from SWB the last couple of years.

Read admission policies carefully, study catchment maps and look on the Buckinghamshire website for information on who actually gets places at these schools - they are all different.

Apologies @LadyLazarus40 - you already said 3 mile limit for SWB!

Pinkneys Green is generally fine for SWBGS - it’s straight line distance so actually much closer then the Bucks Villages which are in catchment (which I imagine is why they tweaked the admissions policy last year re the villages.

OP I would say you’ve listed a string of grammar schools who are very different to each other. Both my children have gone to SWBGS from year 7 - one left last year the other is year 12 and they would not have fitted into any of the single sex grammars (WHS, JHGS, BHS or RGS) so you really need to consider what it is your child would suit (which of course you won’t be able to do for some time). WHS for instance is massive with girls coming from a HUGE geographical area and is a very very different school in terms of attitude and expectations.

it is also worth considering where your child would go to school if they do not qualify. They are more likely not to qualify then qualify after all. Marlow would give you GMS which is the closest you’ll get in Bucks to a Comprehensive school and achieves outstanding results. I don’t know anything about the Maidenhead secondary schools to comment.

Newlands girls school (state comprehensive) is a good school in Maidenhead

Hi. I know its an old post but wanted to ask...

We are putting our house on the market in London after Christmas and am starting search around relocating to Maidenhead.
DS is in specialist secondary near railway station, need to find mainstream secondary for DD with good pastoral care. Viewed Altwood and seems a caring and nurturing school. Also DH and myself need to commute into London so max 30 min walk to station. Also, budget is £650-700k for 3 bedroom. Altwood area has houses in that region. Would people prefer Furze Platt area? Would be good to find semi at least as DS is autistic and can be loud in the garden so will need understanding neighbours, but suppose this will come down to luck!
Thanks so much!

Furze Platt much better for all rail links than Altwood as it has its own branch line connecting at Maidenhead station. You can still walk in to the main station if needed.
Dont know the schools well. Which year group? Some are full but Altwood possibly not as not quite as popular as Furze Platt. Altwood not seen as good for results but maybe that’s not a key issue here.

@Looking2Move just seen this is in primary. You might get more luck if reposting in Secondary.