Primary schools in bromley

[faiza123]

Hello, this is my first time on mumsnet...
We are moving into the bromley area because we know there are good primary schools there.

however does anyone have any specific information on which schools are the best performing schools in bromley?

we are flexible on the actual area and would move to the area of bromley where the best schools are.

equally important which are the schools to avoid?
Appreciate you help, thank you.

Hello
I don't live in Bromley anymore (moved 2yrs ago) so I can't be entirely up to date.

I went to Highfield, it did very well and I'm pretty sure it's still one of the better ones.

Clare House always had an excellent reputation, it's really tiny though so pretty hard to get into I think.

HTH

3m

Thanks I actually have visited that school, seemed nice..but i am not sure what to look for at these visits..any pointers?

If you can move anywhere in Bromley then I would suggest buying close to a top secondary and then looking at the local primaries.

The top comprehensives in Bromley are Langley Park (there is a boys' school and a girls' school) but you need to be within 0.9 miles of the boys' school and within about 1.2 miles of the girls' school. You would then be close to Unicorn, Oak Lodge and Hawes Down primary schools - all of these are good. Unicorn is quite new so doesn't have any results in the league tables yet.

Clare House has a fab reputation but you practically have to live in the school playground to get in.

if you buy in park langley then you are in the catchment for highfield (excellent primary) and langley boys/girls

That's a really good idea, thank you for your advice. I'll start looking at these schools ...but just from looking at property websites, park langley is expensive!!

park langley is expensive, partly due to the schools. slightly cheaper and still in catchment for highfield/st marks primary and langly secondary are roads like broadoaks way, pickhurst park, have a look at a local map near these roads.
my daughter goes to highfield and the school is excellent, my neighbour has a son at st marks which is also an excellent school.

My DD1 went to Marian Vian which I would recommend. Balgowan is also highly recommended. She is now at Langley Girls, I would personally place more emphasis on being in the right catchment area for a secondary school. Page 43 of this booklet lists the catchment areas for primary schools in Bromley. www.bromley.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D29BB0DB-5BFD-4DB9-B6BB-93CE3CA8FE9E/0/StepstoStartingPrimarySchooli nBromley201011.pdf and this page has the league tables for Bromley primaries news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/09/school_tables/primary_schools/html/agg_305.stm

sorry for the delayed reply- i typed a message, but have just realised that it has not been posted... thank you all for your advice

Sorry I am posting a bit late, I am new here.
We are actively looking to buy in Balgowan / Marian Vian catchment area e.g. ClockHouse Road.
We saw a good house today and about to make an offer, as it is less than 0.2 miles of Balgowan.

But then I started reading this topic and I can see that some experienced mums (BIG thanks for sharing with the rest of us the valuable info!!) recommend looking around Langley, which makes sense really.

But when I tried looking around Langley (girls') it seems that there is very limited supply of houses on the market + the only primary which is reasonably close is Unicorn (no results as yet and heavily oversubscribed I am told)...
I looked at Ernest Grove / Eden Park Avenue (Eden Park side) and Lloyds Way also. But was advised by Bromley admissions that for instance Ernest Grove is outside catchment areas of both Unicorn and Marian Vian...

Also with the current baby boom it may be too optimistic to try and buy within 1.2 miles of Langley, as catchment area may well shrink in the next few years. I was told there are some new developments happening in the Langley park area, so quite possibly the catchment would shrink eventually (?)

So, to summarize, we are struggling to find a place near Langley which is affordable for us + to ensure a place in a primary.

So I guess we will have to buy in ClockHouse Rd, stay there for a while, quickly ) have another baby and then move on closer to Langley.

Good luck to Faiza in your search - please let me know how you get on, we may as well end up being neighbours!!

Kirinski, I think that's the way to go - buy in Balgowan/Marian Vian catchment and be prepared to move at year 4 or 5, if you have your heart set on Langley secondaries.

Many thanks for your reassuring post Undercoverelephant!

Not to mention that ClockHouse Rd area is easily affordable for us, whereas buying in Langley area would push our budget beyond what we can really afford (and overspending is always a bad idea), or we will have to compromise on the space/garden/quality if we were to get anything half-decent there.
And, with luck, by the time we need secondary, we'll hopefully be in a position to buy a bigger/nicer place in Langley area.

The only point I don't quite understand (please forgive my ignorance, I am a first time mother and I didn't grow up in the UK), is how the transfer to the secondary works.

I mean, say we live in Balgowan area, but then I want to get to Langley Park.
Should I buy there before my girl turns 11 AND move there before she finished primary?
But then I'll have to drive her to primary for some time?
Any advice as to how other mums are managing?
Apologies once again if I am asking silly questions, but I don't have any friends with old enough kids who have done the "transfer".

Thanks in advance for any word of advice.

Yes, you need to apply for a secondary place in the Autumn term of when your ds is in year 6 (so she will be age 10, coming up to 11). So you will need to be living in the catchment area then and drive back to your primary school.
Have you looked at the West Wickham side of the Langley catchment area eg The Avenue, Pickhurst Rise? You can then consider other primary schools and not have to move eg Oak Lodge, Hawes Down and Pickhurst.

Hickory - many thanks for your advice and explanations on the subject of the transfer.
I shall look into West Wickham side then.

Yes, there are many parents that drive their younger children to Balgowan/Marian Vian, having sent their elder sibling(s) to Langley. There seem to be few families that stay beyond yr 5 (although that's just my impression - they are large schools so presumably not everyone moves away!).

It seems fewer people want to send their kids to Kelsey Park boys or Cator Park Girls, which are closer and in the catchment. Personally I reserve judgement on those schoold until I've actually done my homework on them - but the Langley schools, by contrast, do have a very good reputation.

thank you very much to boredofbeingbored. the links you have provided are so useful.

Looking at all the data and catchment areas I am aiming to be in catchment for highfields and langley boys (I have a little boy)

Thank you all very much for your advice - it really is invaluable to get info from local people, I was really struggling up until now

Looking at the stats highfields appears to achieve higher results that oak lodge hawes down and pickhurst - does anyone know of any 'more affordable' parts of the area which allow a catchment of highfields and langley schools?

I have just looked at the data for those schools and the difference between the schools is minimal ie one or two children less out of a whole year group didn't reach a level 4 in their SATs compared with Highfield this year. I know those schools well and know many very happy parents at Hawes Down, Oak lodge and Pickhurst as well as Highfield. You really should go and see them and get a feel for them rather than basing your huge decision on a percentage score.
I don't think that you will find very affordable houses that fall in both the Highfield and Langley catchment. To get Langley, a great primary and an affordable home you need to look in other areas. Trust me I have done it!!

Hickory - I so agree with you.
I think too much emphasis is put on the score, but the score is just the number and there are kids behind the numbers.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think that if my DD is going to be academically good (hope so), then a school's score would not make her neither less nor more successfull, as long as the standards of teaching are good - and they are good in ALL schools in Bromley that I am looking at: Marian Vian, Balgowan, Oak Lodge, Pickhurst, Highfield, Valley...

But may I ask you to divulge your personal favourite(s) in the above list?
I like your thinking very much and I entirely agree with you that there is more to education that SATS, so your opinion would be very valuable to me.

Faiza -
I am in exactly the same boat as you and the affordability remains an issue especially around good roads in Park Langley.

I am looking very actively around the area (saw few properties already and seeing another house tomorrow) and it just does not seem possible to find an affordable place in Highfield catchment which would guarantee (!!) the entry into Langley in the future for the following reasons:

• the catchment area of Highfield is appx 1.1 - 1.2 miles from Langley.

Whereas this year the radius of inclusion for Langley girls' school was 1.2 miles, I was told by Bromley admissions (the lovely ladies in the admissions recognize my voice now, I am phoning them on a daily basis with endless enquiries ))) that the radius may shrink in the future (unlikely that it would expand though especially with the current baby boom)... for example, I was told that in 2008 the radius of inclusion for Langley girls' was only 1 mile. So being within 1.1 miles of Langley won't necessarily get you into the school in 6 years' time. You may be lucky and still get in but no guarantees...

• the rules for admissions may change anyway in the next 6-7 years from now. In Brighton they are already playing "a lottery" with state school applications. I would be very disappointed if such practice became widespread as one can only imagine the detrimental effect of such games on the standards of state education.

The Conservatives seem to want to introduce this lottery system everywhere (at least these are the rumours circulating) so who knows what would really happen, conservatives or not...

So I guess I'll stop worrying about secondary too much and concentrate on finding a good house which we'd enjoy living in. If it will happen to be in Langley catchment that would be a huge added bonus.

have you thought about grammar schools... St Olaves (boys) and Newstead Wood (girls) are in Orpington, they are both really good (I went to Newstead... lived near Downham so it was quite a trek)

I was under the impression that Langley was quite bad, I certainly didn't like it when I looked round, but that may be my family being snobby

It is still better, I'm sure, than the schools where we live now!!!

MathsMadMummy,
I am thinking about grammars too.
I know St Olaves has amazing reputation so may be we have to start trying for a boy (I have a little girl)

But from what I understand it makes no difference where one lives when it comes to grammars, as kids are admitted based on selective test results alone (and distance only matters in case there is a tie).
So technically it would not matter if we live near Bromley South or in Orpington, correct?
I understand there may be transportation/ distance issues but I guess we can always move if DD is lucky to get a place in a grammar...

On the other subject: I am VERY interested in your opinion about Langley. I was under impression that Langley Girls' is brilliant, as everyone seems to want to get in there.
Again, I am a complete novice in all this. So I rely heavily on other people's opinions and advice.
Please could you tell me what did you dislike about Langley - quality of teaching, ethos, staff or something else?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Saw an OK property very near Highfield primary today, thinking of making an offer. Don't really like the house that much though. Not sure if it's a good idea making an offer on a property I don't like much just for the sake of a school...

Yes you're right, Newstead/Olaves are super-selective, when I started there (1998) they'd narrowed the test to IQ-style (i.e. harder to be prepared by tutors so it was about natural ability) - obviously this was a while ago! I had some friends who lived even further away than me though I got a travel grant towards bus fares as I am from a low income family.

Langley may well be brilliant! This was 12 years ago that I looked. I remember a distinctly chavvy vibe and the students didn't seem happy/interested. Headmistress - Ms Sage, a former model I heard? - was really weird and at one point described her 6th-formers as tarts and whores BUT from what I gather, for a comprehensive it's pretty good, it's just that I/my parents were only interested in grammar schools so that probably marred my view!

I got into Langley as a backup though - at that time you could get in either by catchment OR a selective test OR by sibling... I was nowhere near the school but took the test anyway. Maybe they still do that?

It'd be good if you could find some people who have kids there already.

Hi again,

I think the trouble with Langley comes when people have such high expectations of it - particularly if they have moved house/disrupted family to get there. IMO there's bound to be a sense of anti climax if the school is anything other than perfect.

MathsMadMummy, what other grammars did you look at, out of interest? I am curious myself as I only know about Newstead and St Olaves. And with those being so selective it would be interesting to know about any other options!

errrrm none! sorry! also got into bullers wood which had the same test/sibling/catchment arrangement as langley, but didn't like it very much. had a look at bromley high and a couple of other private schools but wouldn't have been able to afford it.

tbh if i hadn't got into newstead i would've been devastated, there were no options that i was interested in!!!

oh but there are a few decent schools in bexley/sidcup for which i did a combined entry exam called the 'bexley test' (my dad went to a grammar called chislehurst & sidcup which was pretty good) - no idea if that's all changed though.

My niece used to go to Langley Girls. She said there's bullying and drugs there and quite a large "chav" element. Her words not mine. She couldn't wait to leave and now goes to a 6th form at a different school. We live in Hayes, which is in the catchment for Hayes School, Ravensbourne, and Ravenswood, which is a boys school. the others are mixed. My son goes to Hayes secondary and he loves it there. My dd is at Hayes primary, which we're both really happy with.

Brrrr... "chav element" really put me off Langley now...
Can't imagine anything worse!!!
I guess Langley is not in my top list anymore!

I think I found a dream home (well, kind of, it CAN become our dream home after some hard work and re-designing) in the road near Bromley Park, between Shortlands and Bromley South.

The very nearest primary would be St Mark's which is good aparently but it is religious school and we are Christians but not Anglicans... And the admissions team at Bromley told me that they are pretty strict on the entry requirements, i.e. you actually must go to the church...

Then Highfield would be about 0.42 miles away which takes us outside the 0.4 radius which was applicable in 2009/2010.
(But with some luck may be the radius will expand a bit in a year or two, we'll have to wait and see).

Which leaves us with Valley school near Shortlands station, the most likely school to get in, at 0.46 miles away from the house (and I understand their inclusion radius was 0.6 miles this year).

Perhaps someone could tell me something about Valley school? - I looked at the tables and they seem to be doing OK, and Ofsted report is very good.
Any personal experiences with this school?

As usual, many thanks for all useful advice to MathsMadMummy (love your nick by the way ), Undercoverelephant and Vonnyh!