Looking for good areas with decent schools for a variety of children ages

[KitC21]

Hiya.

we are currently in Scotland. Moving to the England probably around Easter to may time next year.

kids are currently
-just turned 3, not in nursery
-4 turning 5 in p1, first year primary school
-7 in p3, 3rd year of primary
-14 in s3, 3rd year high school

Oldest was in nursery in England but rest all been in Scotland education system.

my husband will need to be able to commute to London 1 day a week or maybe once every second week. It’s not mandatory but he needs to be closer to London. So we have moved around a lot and I know a lot of areas but not how the schools are. And the English school system I’m not to clued up on either.

im keen on Chichester as I like the area but dont know the schools. Im looking for any advice of areas that are best or suggestions. We will be renting.

thanks

I guess it will depend somewhat on your rental budget. Chichester is lovely and there are lots of places in West Sussex that are beautiful. Hampshire is also a good option imo; Petersfield and surrounding villages are popular for families too. Winchester and some of the Southampton suburbs are great for families with good schools, close to beaches and New Forest too if you like an outdoors lifestyle. All commutable to London in 1-1.5 hours ish.

Did your oldest turn 14 this school year, ie since September? If so they would be in year 9 in England. If not, so if they will turn 15 before 31 Aug 2026, they would now be in year 10 , which is the first year of GCSE work in English schools (those that don’t start in year 9).

If they would now be in year 10 they will be at a huge disadvantage moving in May of year 10. In fact schools will be very unkeen - they would basically have less than a year of a two-year course to catch up in every subject. Obvs they will be studying now, but topic based subjects like history, English literature (specific texts) and sciences will be really hard.

Is there any way you could move now, so the start of year 10, or perhaps better, delay by a year? Seriously, joining year 10 in May from a different system could seriously be an issue.

She turns 14 on Sunday. 19 October.

she is quite bright and usually waiting for most of the class to cathc

Sorry new to this posting. What I was saying is she is quite bright and usually waiting in the rest of the class to catch up. So I’m hoping she will be ok.

im at a loss how you get them into schools in England tho. Here you just call up and need to send proof of address like council tax bill

If you plan to move next spring, you will need to apply for an in year transfer for schools for the three older ones. It will be a question of where there are spaces in the year groups you need.

The West Sussex and Chichester area has some well thought of schools and there is Chichester Free school which is primary and secondary I believe. The area has plenty to offer, with the South Downs, theatres, shopping in Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton and there are some lovely villages in the area.

Much depends on the size of house you need and your budget. Chichester itself is more expensive, but there are some less pricey areas. There are good transport links, although the A27 is almost always busy. Train time from Chichester to London is about an hour and a half.

@KitC21 that’s good as she will be going into the end of year 9 next May then. There are worse times to start a new school. But I would look for a school that does GCSE over two years (year 10 and 11) rather than three (starting in year 9). She will have missed the option choice time so may have to slot in where there is space in terms of GCSE options but that’s not the end of the world. If she has studied an MFL and wants to continue, you might want to look at schools that offer it.

For in-year places, it’s a case of contacting the local authority and finding out which schools have a space. You usually need an address in England so I am not sure if Scotland will be OK? But in any case schools usually want you to take up the place within a couple of weeks, so you are unlikely to finalise this until you have moved.
You could contact the LA to ask about which schools are likely to have spaces tho – you either need an under-subscribed school (not likely to be the best school sadly) or you are relying on a student in year 9 to move in the summer – which is obvs possible but perhaps not super likely.

I would prioritise the secondary school for your oldest DC as primaries IME are usually OK. If you don’t get the best school for your oldest, they can go on a waiting list and you can appeal. And if you live near a secondary you like, you other DC are likely to get spaces when you apply in the normal round (ie autumn of year 6).

This school business is stressing me out. Oh my days. The schools have to take them in tho right? They can’t flat out refuse. My heads in a spin with all this.

You will be offered places at schools. Not necessarily all the same schools for your primary aged DC tho, which may be tricky. Not necessarily your preferred school.

If there is no school place at all offered (in other words if all possible schools are full), you can appeal to FAP – fair access protocol whereby the LA has to find a space – making a school go over PAN if needed.

But if the LA offers a school place, you should accept it unless you are happy to HE, as it will not offer another just bc you don't like that one, if that makes sense. You can always go on a WL or appeal – tho for a DC at the end of year 9, I would be loath to move them unless the offered school was in some way really unacceptable.