Moving to Nottingham - any advice on primary schools and childcare in that area?

[iloveshoesandbags]

hello everyone.

Well nearly 2 years into being a single parent and I'm living lincolnshire to move to Nottingham. Still being confirmed but want to get ahead of things and start looking for good schools.
I will be working in the strelley area of nottingham but would look to rent initially and wanted to plan that around the good schools catchment area.
I don't know where to start - any advice welcome.
I'm also working full time so will need either breakfast club/afterschool club or will need registered childminder.
Any advice mumsnetters?
Thank you x

Hmm OK Beechdale Road is a bit of a long way from some of my suggestions.

Do you want school and home to be near yr work? If so how near (in terms of time not miles)? That's the crucial question.

Lots of lovely places in Derby but I certainly wouldn't fancy that commute daily.

Fluffy, not heard re secondary school but if we don't get in there'll be a row! Couldn't really live a whole lot nearer (and it's the only one we put down!!)

No we'll be fine, a fellow pupil who lives in Chaddo got in so I think we are OK.

Fingers crossed for you clary.

What about west bridgford??

For work in Strelly I'd go for Wollaton, Beeston, Chilwell or Bramcote, Toton might be ok too, DO NOT do Stapleford (tis a bit rough) and wouldn't recommend Ilkeston either. If you want somewhere more villagey Cossall is nice, unsure of the schools down there though.

When I left home actually I moved from a Lincolnshire village to Nottingham. It's about an hour's journey - from west Notts you could skirt north through Southwell and pick up the Newark road.

I've lived in West Bridgford and though it's a lovely area it's exactly the wrong side of town for you. Nottingham does have good rail and park and ride connections for those shopping excursions though.

If I were you I'd go on a sightseeing mission and look at schools/ secondary schools/commuting routes. IME once you get stuck into a school it's really hard to move areas so check affordability of the kind of house you want. Although renting first is definitely a good idea.

Just think how handy you will be for Ikea at M1 Junction 26 !

Kimberley is lovely, heard good things about schools there, Nuthall and the Hempshill Estate (nice primary there) are all nice and near by.

I moved to Nottingham from the south and live this way, have settled in very quickly!

Congrats on the job by the way!

Kimberly is also walking distance to IKEA!

Oh, and also, we travel to Lincolnshire quite frequently fromt his end and it's not too bad a journey.

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to say thank you so much for all your advice.
There's certainly plenty to look into.
E-mailed a school last night and the headteacher called personally today to give some information and also went over some of the procedures and gave me another phone number to call.
I have plenty to do and will research some more.
Thanks again xxx

I live in Derby but was born in nottingham, Gamston in notts is fairly close to West Bridgford and is in the catchment of Rushcliffe Secondary school which is very good.
In Derby Littleover is very nice, lots of parks, nice schools very good bus service to city and not too bad to commute, very near the inner ring road.

I live in Long Eaton, slap bang in the middle of Derby and Nottingham. It's not the greatest town in the world but we are happy here. There is a very good infants school here - I'm biased because I teach there but we got an outstanding Ofsted report and our parents and kids love it. Obviously don't want to give too much away on here but if you want to know more about the area, let me know.

Woodthorpe nice. Lots of good schools to choose from. Where you are working is quite close to the ring road (or boulevards as they are sometimes known locally). Which is a good and bad thing. It gets v busy at peak times but it does move. Slowly . Avoid places beginning with B, apart from Bramcote and Beeston. West Bridgford nice but pricey. Kimberley and Watnall nice too, know a couple of nice schools there. Depends whether you fancy being close to the city or a bit further out. We live about 3 miles from the city so can be at John Lewis in 20 mins (which given the state of my bank account is maybe not such a good thing..) and good bars/restaurants are easy to get to for a night out. Ilkeston, Long Eaton nice, but not so close to the city. hth