Primary schools and kids activities in Hove, Brighton area

[Anna77]

hi mums
Can anyone give some guidance to where the good primary schools in this area are? We are a family planning to relocate to the area but don't know a lot about it...scary! Any tips on playgroups etc would also be so helpful. Help anyone?

Um, Brighton and Hove is a big place - about 250,000 people. I am guessing at about 50 infant/junior/primary schools. Can you be more specific about where you want to relocate to, or more importantly your budget, as this will be the major influence on where you might live.

There are specific places you might want to avoid, and ones that are lovely, but there is a huge price differential.

You may also want to think ahead and consider senior school areas as there are some good and very and secondary schools in Brighton...

Oh thanks for your message!
I guess we're planning to rent for at least a year to get a feel for the place..Budgetwise not more that £2000 per month - that's more than enoughWhich areas do we want to avoid? That we be our guide!
It's good to think ahead as well I guess..
What's on the top of our worries is not to end up in an area that's a regular on Cimewatch
Any tips?

Ok, so with that budget, you have a lot of choice . Where you locate to is dependent on a lot of choices - do you want to be near the sea, a park, a (London-bound) station, an area with a sense of community, or a more laissez-faire environment? Brighton and Hove have many very distinct areas, so give me an idea of what kind of lifestyle you want - city living, suburban, country-like. Regency building, victorian, edwardian, or modern? Do you want a decent sized garden, how important is parking?
I have lived here for nigh on 20 years, and there are plenty of other Brightonians on here - some of who have relocated more recently - that can help you out if you give us some more to go on...

i moved to Brighton nearly 2 years ago now. I live near St Ann's Well gardens which is at the Brighton edge of Hove. I agree that Hove is a big place, and you need to think about what you want. For example:

Will you/your dp be commuting? If so, you would need to be near Hove Station (or near where I am which is walkable to Brighton station)

Are you looking for a church school?

Would you be interested in indep. schools?

Is it important to you to be able to walk to the sea/be near a park/have a modern house?

If your children are already school age, I would suggest that you phone the education department and they can tell you what the waiting lists are like for the schools. I didn't think about this, and ended up without school places for my eldest 2. The Children's Information Service can also give you a list of nurseries/playgroups (I must confess I haven't found a good one yet - as alot of the good ones seem to be in Preston Park/5 Ways area which is too far from me to walk).

i've lived in hanover for the past 10 years and its lovely for families. nice schools too, elm grove and st lukes primary both fall into the catchment area. you could easily rent a 3 bed terrace house with nice garden for £1500. queens park is big park for children with duck pond and everything...

my DS goes to the happy days nursery (2 min walk away) and i cannot say enough good things about it, the staff are absolutely brilliant and he loves it so much he doesnt cry when i drop him off but cries when i pick him cos he's enjoying himself so much !

sorry meant to say hanover is a part of brighton. and sorry about the funny symbols (my pc!) meant to say you can rent for 1500 pounds.

Anna - I am assuming that as you are asking about playgroups, your children are not yet at school? As Pollyanna said, there are waiting lists for most of the good infant/primary/junior schools in Brighton. Otherwise, school preference forms need to be in by the end of Jan for entry into reception/Year 3 that Sept, so you would need to have an address in Brighton or Hove by then to be able to apply.
There are are number of good pre-schools, nurseries and playgroups in Brighton. Preston Park/Fiveways tends to have the best in a small area and is a very popular area for Londoners moving down. Areas to avoid will become obvious once you read the local paper, but I would prefer not to live in Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb, Lewes rd area, London Rd area, Bevendean, Coldean, the estate bit of Hollingdean - the other bit is fine - and also Hanover (sorry LMB!), although Queens Park which is at the top of Hanover is lovely. Good areas (but may have drawbacks) include Fiveways, Preston Park, Clifton, Stanford, Prestonville. These are all Brighton areas. I do know about Hove, but will leave that to someone else

Katepol - not hanover?!!!!

Sorry LMB!! To generalise, Hanover = huge hills, rubbish parking, poor quality, crammed-in housing, small gardens, lots of petty anti-social behaviour, lots of lentil-weavers and associated pressure to be organic, free-range, ethical, ecological, political (green) and so so so community minded ...
On the plus side, there is quite a good social mix and the Greys is good and you can walk into town (as long as you don't mind the big hill on the way back).

Hanover is ok if you like that sort of thing. If you have £2K to spend on rent a month (as the OP does), I think you would be looking elsewhere though?

Disclaimer - I have lived there, but moved on...

Oh great for so much feedback. It's kind of reasuring that we could get something decent for less than max rent budget. I guess when you live in London you just learn to accept that it's a part of life to pay off someone else mortage... Think I'll have to buy a B/H area map...
Pollyanna, my oldest is 3.5 years, do you think she would have to be on a waiting list as well or just apply? Don't really want to go down the private route as we would have to survive on bread and water LMB, is your son's nursery a day care nursery or "playgroup" nursery? i.e 2.5 hrs per day?

The Booth Museum in Hove has lots of childrens activities even for pre school age as does Brighton Museum. Booth museum is also opposite a park.

anna, it is the playgroup type of nurseries that I have found difficult to find (although this could just be in my area). There are lots of daycare nurseries here that have got a good reputation. The children's information service will be able to give you a list of pre-schools in any area - if you phone them they are very helpful.

My dd3 is 3.2 and she already has her name down for a [state] school nursery, but you will be applying for your dds school after September this year I think.

It is worth asking the education dept about catchment areas, as for some of the more popular schools the catchment areas are tiny. I was limited in the area that I could live in as dh was commuting to London, and then looked at the league tables and the ofsted reports for those schools in the area. When I moved from London, I made the mistake of thinking that it would be easy to get into schools and very different from London, but in fact there is alot of pressure still (although the standard of the schools is very different to London).

Anna - nursery is a proper day care nursery, they act as a feeder through to the local schools and do all the early education bit. No exhorbitant on fees either, i pay 16 pounds for morning sessions (8.30 to 12.30)

katepol - eek, maybe i should move (although I do like lentils and grow all my own veg !!)

Anna - if you lo is going to school Sept 2009, then don't worry. You can't really go on a waiting list as they don't exist until after places are allocated for the year. If you need a school place for this Sept, then you may have a problem as the good schools are always oversubscribed. Hwr, without an address, you can't go on the waiting list for this year yet, so you need to get a house - they will check you have a local address!

I second the thumbs up for the Children's Information Service. They are good - and you will want to search for childcare in Brighton and Hove except East Brighton.

As for recommendations, in the Fiveways area I would recommend Fiveways pre-school - it does morning and afternoon sessions and lunch, so you can just do 2 1/2 hrs, or a whole school day iykwim. Also, Joyland is a good pre-school, and it has a sister nursery for full daycare which is called Strawberry Hill, which is also fab. These are both sort of feeders for Balfour and Downs Infants schools which are excellent.

I could name loads more in other areas if you want...

I also second the vote for the Booth museum - always good for an hour's distraction, and across the road form a park with sea views and a cafe!

You really need to come and wander around and see which areas you like. Brighton has so many different places, you need to see for yourself. We can then get more specific

Hove Park Area if you can afford it is lovely, there is a really nice park with a great kiddie area, local schools to that include Aldrington which has a fantastic Ofsted report - there are also lots of good nurseries around. Stamford is also a good primary school.

Church Rd area in Hove is also good for families, you are near the sea, easy parking and lots of schools/nurseries around there too. Nice Victorian houses set in leafy wide roads.

Goldstone Valley is very suburban with modern tudor type houses, not much trafiic, is a safe place to live if you like modern houses, schools are also good, it's out the way a bit but safe as a result.

Westdene is also a good family place to live and the primary school is excellent with an outstanding ofsted report, lots of good nurseries around that area as well.

Good places to visit - try Washbrooks Farm in Hurstpierpoint - it's lovely with lots of farm animals running around and tractor rides for kids - you can take a picnic and spend the day. Got a big play area for kids with swings, playhouses, stationary tractors for kids to climb over etc

i am just so greatful for all the info - quite nervous about making a big move. so to speak.
So Pollyanna would you say that the standard of schools is worse there than in London or overall better? Or equal?
Tell1e, thanks for that area guide..can't wait to go down (for the first visit of many) to check out the area before our move. Hove Park Area, is that a little or larger area i.e more that one street? Wasgbrooks FArm sounds nice also...