Asian American family of 5 moving from Amstedam — Montpelier or Christ the Saviour in Ealing?

[AMStoLondon]

Hi everyone! Our family of five is considering a move to the Ealing area from Amsterdam (by way of California) this summer. We have three children (ages 7, 5, and 4) and are looking at Montpelier Primary and Christ the Saviour as our top school choices.

We'd love to hear from any parents with children at either school. What's been your experience? How's the community among parents? How welcoming is the school to international families?

We're also curious whether there are other American or Asian expat families at either school. We're Asian American and it would be great to know our kids would see some familiar faces.

Any insights on the Pitzhanger / Ealing Broadway area for families would also be really appreciated. We're coming from California originally and are looking for a neighborhood that feels safe, walkable, and community-oriented.

Thank you so much!

Ealing is extremely diverse. You will meet people from all over, to the point that asking "Are there any Asian families?" is actually quite funny! Yes, there will be families from almost every Asian nation & most ethnic groups. Schools will be very used to international arrivals and will welcome the children. Both Montpelier and Christ the Saviour have excellent reputations.

The problem is that English schools aren't a case of "pick one that you like the look of." They need to have spaces in the relevant year groups. English schools aim to run at capacity (30 per class) and are not allowed to go over except in specific circumstances that will not apply here. You will most likely need to enroll in a less popular school initially and put the children on waiting lists at the other schools.

I don't know enough about neighbourhoods in Ealing to recommend so hopefully someone else will. I would say: first, find an area that you are happy with and enroll in a local school with space. Then, take a view whether to keep them there or move them.

@ThesebeautifulthingsthatIvegot Thank you, this is really helpful and exactly the kind of honest perspective we needed.

We're coming to Ealing this Thursday through Sunday to explore the Pitzhanger and Ealing Broadway areas properly. Any recommendations on streets or pockets near either school that are especially good for families with young children? We're looking for a quiet residential street within walking distance of the school, a park, and some shops.

Really appreciate the guidance. The English admissions system is quite different from what we're used to in the US!

You may already have investigated the system for applying for places by now, but this is the Ealing Council information

www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201116/in-year_admissions

http://www.ealing.gov.uk/downloads/download/1528/in-year_school_vacancies

From Friday's vacancy list you can see that one of the schools you mentioned had no places in any year group, the other only places in year 6, which is not relevant to your situation.

You apply for each child separately, and although one being offered a place at a given school may move siblings up the waiting list, there is no obligation to offer places to siblings if none exists in the relevant year group, so the worst case scenario is that you could end up with three different schools. Or initially no place at all for at least one DC; however, if there genuinely is no space available in the relevant year group in any school within a reasonable distance of your home (not just, 'no place in a school that you like'), then the local authority is obliged to find a place by asking a school to take that DC over numbers if necessary.

(And no, sorry, I have no experience of living in Ealing or any other part of West London - just quite a lot of experience of parents coming to school admission appeals claiming that their DC doesn't have a place anywhere, and the LA isn't any help, when the LA has already found them a place, and they turned it down).

Pitshanger is a lovely area but they are both very popular schools.. Christ the saviour very religious so that maybe another hurdle. In Pitshanger the main primary school is North Ealing which has a good reputation or St Gregorys which is Catholic

Previously the church schools have been difficult to get into but not sure of impact of London declining birth rate.

Pitzhanger is lovely. You may also want to look at Northfields (Fielding and Little Ealing) but you are going to have to be lucky to get ‘in-year’ places for 3 children at the same school. The admissions team at Ealing council are very helpful though.

Yes to add to comments from PPs, in England you need to find (or ask the LA to find) a school that has spaces. Infant classes (years R to 2, so basically ages 4 to 7) are capped at 30 pupils and popular schools will have hit that mark. There is sometimes more flex in older years but even then, the school will have a PAN (total number of pupils allowed) which is is not supposed to go over.

It sounds as the you have chosen two popular schools so you can go on their waiting lists but no space may ever come up.

Ideally you would want all three DC at the same school, so you maybe need to find out if that's possible. There will be lots of schools within a reasonable walk of where you live anywhere in Ealing, but the LA is indeed under no obligation to find a space for all three at the same school. If you reject the offered school it is not obliged to offer any more.

Sorry to sound so doomy; I don't know the schools but I know Ealing a bit and it is a nice area with good diversity (like most of London tbh). Also in London the population is more mobile than some areas of the UK so places do come up.

Have you thought about secondary schools as well? It’ll come round fast!
Private there’s St. Benedict’s (mixed) and Notting Hill and Ealing (v academic) and St Augustine’s (both girls only)

If you're in Ealing Broadway/ Pittshanger you won’t be in the catchment for the state schools everyone considers the best. These are Twyford (C of E, rigorous church going requirements) Elthorne, Ealing Fields and Drayton Manor. There are other good schools though- Ealing is very lucky.

yes good point from @rougheredges I mean to say that – if your oldest is 7, 8 before end August this year @AMStoLondon then you will be applying for secondary by October 2028 which is pretty soon; so I would definitely look at which areas are in catchment for secondary schools you like, as that will be key.

Tbh (and this is based on my experience in my area rather than Ealing!) most primaries are pretty much OK, especially if there is good parental support. It’s secondary that might need to be your focus – especially as you can make a difference to the outcome there, while primary will be taking what you can get tbh.

Thank you all so much for these thoughtful responses. This is exactly the kind of local knowledge we can't get from school websites.

A few updates based on your advice:

We hadn't considered St Gregory's Catholic, so thank you for that lead. We're a Catholic family so that's worth exploring, though we want to make sure the academics are strong.

The secondary school point is really well taken. Our eldest is 7 so October 2028 is right around the corner. We'll definitely factor Twyford and Drayton Manor catchment into where we choose to live.

One more question if anyone has experience: how realistic is Twyford for a family that starts attending a CofE church now rather than having 5 years of attendance history? Our eldest would be applying in October 2028, so we'd only have about 2 years of attendance by then. Our younger two would have 4-5 years by their application dates. I've read the points system in the admissions policy and it looks like you need close to maximum points to get in. Is that what families are finding in practice? And does attending a Twyford Trust primary (like Christ the Saviour) make any difference, or is it purely the points?

We're visiting Ealing this Thursday through Sunday to walk the neighborhoods properly. If anyone has recommendations for streets or pockets near Pitshanger / Ealing Broadway that are especially good for families, we'd love to hear them.

Really grateful for this community. You've already helped us more than you know.

I wondered if you were Catholic from your other thread - if you are thinking about Catholic secondary West London has some outstanding options - they are some of the most popular schools in London. Things can change over time of course - but it may be worth investigating admission criteria as some have priority primaries... Diocese of Westminster website will be your starting point.

Some CofE schools do admit Catholics - Twyford used to have a 'world faith' criterion - but not sure if it is still the case or how far in distance they go to fill any such places.

In terms of primaries I would focus now on whether you prioritise faith, popularity (often linked to academics or Outstanding Ofsted), location, or placing all children together - you are unlikely to find them all. The key metric is age of your youngest - if they turn 5 before start of September they will be going into Y1 and the whole process becomes easier - the Ealing spreadsheet a PP linked to is your friend. If you are applying for a reception class (DC is still 4 on 1 Sept this year) it comes down to the schools with vacancies come July unless you can move sooner.

I have children in catholic school in Ealing OP if you want to message me

Also think about Ealing Fields for secondary. It’s in Northfields which is a nice area with an high street and a tube line, and Northfields has Fielding primary which is rated outstanding- and which locals also think is very good.

Ealing Broadway is a bit of a no man’s land but the council do have to offer you a place somewhere and enrolments are shrinking….

Re secondaries :
Drayton- it’s strict. It’s an Academy so check the catchment rules online- I think they’re different to standard council. Does well. Good 6th form. Was considered the state school locally about 10 years ago but Elthorne and Ealing fields are now getting a lot of the kids who would normally have had pushy parents pushing to get them into Drayton.

Elthorne- it’s considered easier in the discipline than Drayton. Northfields/ Hanwell catchment. Seen as kinder option than Drayton but results are excellent.

(The open days made me laugh- Drayton, kids in blazers standing in serried rows while classical music played. Elthorne- kids in sweatshirts playing Mr Bluesky on guitars. I think Elthorne may currently have the edge based on results but that’s prob more a factor of the catchment area. Drayton has really good value added scores.

Ealing fields. Part of the Twyford trust schools so easier admission into Twyford 6th form. Started out 6 years ago as a community school run by local parents until it became clear that running a school is difficult so it joined the Twyford trust. Some teething problems but more for the parents than the children - it went from a secular media focused school run by secular media parents to part of a C of E strict academic trust. Parents speak highly of it and results although it’s pretty new are good. Basically the Twyford trust are good at running schools that get good results - if you can manage the religion or sneak in via the many music scholarships (no previous music experience needed apparently!) You also need less God to get in into Ealing Fields than Twyford school. I would say that if you have any neurodiverse or anxious children that Drayton and Twyford/Ealing Fields wouldn’t be my first choice.

Brentside wasn’t as popular but is getting more so. Hear increasingly good things. Good facilities.

Open days are in September so go and look round and get a sense of what might suits your kids. I’d argue that secondary is more important than primary. Book in advance for a lot of them. List will shortly be going up in the admissions website.

(I’ve had kids at 3 of the schools above at various times so have some experience!)

@TheOriginalSinclair thank you for this. My wife is Catholic and I'm Christian, so we're open to Catholic schools but also want to make sure the culture isn't too rigid for our kids. I'll check out the Diocese of Westminster website for the Catholic secondary options - that's really helpful.

@coffeeagogo would love to connect! Sending you a message now.

@rougheredges this is incredibly helpful, especially having had kids at multiple schools. The Elthorne description really resonates with us - we want high expectations but with kindness, not a pressure-cooker environment. One of our children may need some extra learning support so that's a big factor. A couple of follow-up questions if you don't mind: is Elthorne accessible from the Ealing Broadway area or would we need to be closer to Northfields/Hanwell? And how would you compare the overall feel of living in Northfields or South Ealing versus Ealing Broadway/Pitshanger for an american expat family with young kids?

Thank you all so much for the incredibly detailed responses. The secondary school insights especially have been eye-opening.

One more question that's become the deciding factor for us: community. We're comparing Ealing to Chiswick, and the Chiswick moms have been incredibly welcoming already through Facebook groups and Mumsnet.

Are there American or other English-speaking expat families in Ealing, particularly around Pitshanger, Ealing Broadway, or South Ealing?

We're visiting Ealing next weekend. If anyone is local and willing to grab a coffee, we'd love to meet you!

Facebook groups to join and post on locally- Ealing and Northfields friends, Pitshanger Area Friends. On the Pitshanger/EB side you have Ada Lovelace secondary, another high perfoming school in the Twyford group. Though you need to live close, no church attendance required. Lots of kids from Montpelier go there for secondary due to the similar catchment area. Worth checking last distance admitted for the schools you are interested in on the council website (primary and secondary).

Stats here

https://www.ealing.gov.uk/downloads/download/899/ealing_school_prospectuses

PM Sent :-)

@Twobigbabies super helpful, thank you!