state primary schools in Cambridge station area

[GiuSquirrel]

Hi,

my husband has found a new job in Cambridge, and we will be moving there from London next year in the Spring. We are a family of four, with two children aged 2 and 4.
Our son is due to start Reception next September, and we would like to find a place that allows us to be in the catchment area for a nice school, all while being close enough to the train station (I will need to commute to London twice a week for work).

I appreciate we will be moving once the deadline for primary school application has passed - which means we are likely to find a place in a school that is undersubscribed.
The schools that I have found and that are relatively close to the neighbourhoods we will look into (again, station proximity) are the following:

• St Paul
• St Matthew's
• St Philip's
• Morley Memorial
• Ridgefield
• St Alban's

St Alban's would have been a potential choice (we are catholic - that said, we are completely happy to have our kids in non confessional schools), but it is an oversubscribed school and I am afraid our chances of getting in are slim, with the timing of our move.

As for the others, we will try and visit, but I would appreciate it if someone could share any insight / good or bad experience. We don't know anyone in Cambridge with kids, unfortunately!

Thank you :)

We have moved this year. Newnham Croft is also likely to be in your horizons, as is Park Street.

there is more movement than in London and people seem mostly happy at them all. Different feels though - St M is bigger than the average London school. We are also Catholic, St Alban’s recent Ofsted puts it similarly to other schools. Wraparound differs between schools so worth considering.

There are train stations in Cambridge north and Cambridge south is due to complete this year, which may give a wider radius. We live an 10min ride from station and do a 3-4x weekly commute which while expensive is doable.

Thank you, this is super helpful.
I will need to travel to Blackfriars, which at the moment (if I understand correctly) is only a route available via Cambridge main station - hence my thoughts about that area..Newnham Croft was not in my radar, I will definitely look into it too!
And yes, school size seems to be a bit different than London…I was baffled by the size of nurseries too, some of them can fit 80+ children! but I’m positive we will find a good option.

Those trains will also stop at Cambridge South, so the Trumpington etc areas are also possible, though I don't think the schools are as highly rated.

St Ms is quite popular and as it's large, might have more movement.
St Pauls seems to have high turnover with people leaving for St Matthews.
St Albans is full on Catholic, seems quite intense ,but popular if you are in the parsh and so hard to get in to.
Morley Memorial is nice. St Philips had ok but not fab reputation several years ago. Milton Road is very popular but not on your list, might be too far north.

Cycle to the station rather than drive so that changes commute patterns and distances - lots of places can cycle faster than drive, or routes not available to cars.

Ridgefield is small and usually oversubscribed but has a reputation for being a friendly school.

I heard the other day that St Philips currently has an interim head after an abrupt leadership change. Maybe one to check up on - it also has mixed year classes so opinions vary there (some families love that, others not)

Thank you! I booked a visit to St Philip’s for next Thursday, not a big fan of mixed year groups personally…I have read very good things about Milton Road and Newnham, both a bit outside of my initial radar in terms of distance, but as other people said, I think we can make it work with a bike!
the more I think, the more I am convinced that it would be in our best interests to secure a lease by Jan 15th, and have more control on the choice.

Check the local LA's rules re accepting change of address and having that address used for national offer day allocations. There is usually a 'grace period' for movers / movers-in.

Make sure you submit an on-time application through whichever LA is officially your home LA at the time of submission.

Name your Cambridge preferences as your highest preferences (or only preferences, if there is no danger of the move falling through and / or you are happy that if you don't get the offer of a Cambridge school straight away, and you havent had your application taken over by Cambridge yet, the offer you do get will be the nearest school in your current home LA with a space - which may or may not be one you woukd have chosen)

You may be lucky even without having already moved / being able to provide acceptable evidence of a local address, and find that one of your Cambridge preferences ranks you high enough to offer. If not, you are at least in a position to be on the waiting lists from the start (but check whether it's automatic, or by request). You can also appeal, but where the refusal is based on infant class size rules, you are very unlikely to succeed.

Check the individual oversubscription criteria (RC schools will normally have 'all other RC applicants' above any category of non-RC, ). Make sure you have all required SIFs / priest's forms etc submitted by the stated deadline.

Any primary school with a PAN other than a multiple of 30 will almost certainly have mixed year classes at least from year 1 upwards, for financial reasons. e.g. a PAN of 45 will normally go:

R: 22 and 23
Yr1 and Yr2 (and 3 & 4, 5 & 6): three classes of 30 across the combined year groups, either 15 / 15 in each class, or 30 / 15 + 15 / 30.

(As for what schools in Cambridge itself are actually like, sorry, no idea - I do get to talk to quite a few people whose job changes take them there, but only those who have decided that they absolutely must live in a specific area of a neighbouring authority where both the primary schools and the nearest secondary school are very oversubscribed already).

Hi, updates here: we have decided that we will secure a rental agreement before the deadline of the regular admissions (Jan 15th), because I want to have some control on the choice and have a chance with schools that are oversubscribed.
I went to see St Matthew’s, St Philip’s, Ridgefield, Park St CoE, still missing Milton Rd though.

I came back with mixed feelings about Park St. Does anyone know parents / has friends with children there, and if so what do they think?

It’s a tiny school, which to some extent may feel a bit “suffocating” when compared to other bigger buildings with more indoor and outdoor space, and they have mixed years in the classes, which in general I am not a huge fan of. That said, I had a very positive, quite irrational gut feeling about this little school, was quite impressed by the head teacher, and felt that although it’s a bit at the opposite of the ideal I had constructed in my head about what my children school should be like (friendly but very academic), I could see my son there.
Maybe the location was part of the charm, or maybe it was the Reception class, or maybe I am just drawn to smaller places because in my head they feel safer.

I know many people like st Matthew’s, but neither myself nor my husband could see our children there, mainly because of the size.

We really liked Ridgefield but it is in an area that is not super convenient for us, and it would be hard to be in catchment.

Heard good things about both park st and St. M. However, park street doesn’t have a great reputation for having enough wrap around care. Is that an issue?

Don't know those schools but in Cambridgeshire secondary schools often give preference to children at feeder primaries so although a long way away it is something to bear in mind.

Chesterton Community College and Parkside Community College, in Cambridge, have revised their admissions criteria at the request of the government’s Office of the Schools Adjudicator to account for secondary allocation for Park Street pupils.

Yes, the head teacher mentioned they only offer clubs until 5:15, no external provision for wraparound, and no coverage during term holidays and or staff training days.
I need to think carefully and see if we can make it work (a bit unrealistic I am afraid). I was planning to ask other working parents who have children at the school how they manage…

I’d go for St Albans or St Matthew’s from your list. Have you looked at Spinney primary school? St.pauls is a quirky school with quirky (non traditional) parents and kids. Very small and they use the park for outdoor activities.

also there is Cambridge north station (near Chesterton) which is only a few minutes from the main station but easier to get a seat in the mornings and might open up more rental options. Milton rd is a great school in that area.