Good primary schools in Kingston-on-Thames

[DastardlyandSmugly]

Hi - am thinking of moving to Kingston and looking for help on which are the good primary schools.

Bump

I know the primary schools in North Kingston are really good as my friends ds goes to one. Latchmere and Fernhill are apparently excellent, though I think you would have to live pretty close to get in. Hope this helps.

Anything in North Kingston is really good. They are oversubscribed though, so check on the borough website for the last place granted on distance before you buy a house--there are some dead zones.

There's Fernhill and Latchmere on the Richmond Road/Tudor Drive side, then St Agatha's (catholic) in the middle, then St Luke's (C of E) and Alexandra Infants in the Canbury area. All very good, several of them had bulge classes this year and Alexandra is getting adding on a 3rd form entry permanently.

St Joseph's and King Athelstan in South Kingston are also quite decent.

Thanks for this. I'm a little concerned as we've just spent ages getting DS into the over-subscribed school in Wandsworth and am obviously worried about getting him in somewhere else.

Coombe Hill, Burlington and ChristChurch all excellent in New Malden.
Plus good schools in Surbiton.
We are blessed

Excellent. I have a good friend in New Malden (she produces a local free mag) so already looking into there. Just been looking at Surbiton too as lots of houses for sale there.

Is that Jenny, DastardlyandSmugly...I know her (small world).

Yo to Cyb.

Oooooh D&S, got to be careful with Surbiton. Some really good schools there, some really nice houses, but there are lots and lots of dead zones. I know several people who Didn't Get In Anywhere in the first allocation and one of them still hasn't got a place.

Re surbiton and kingston schools in general, Kingston council produces a semi-helpful guide which tells you how far the furthest proximity offers went out to for over-subscribed schools in the last three years. The info is in their primary admissions booklet - on their website. Upmystreet website can give you an idea of how far any particular house is from any particular school.

Beware New Malden if you are not a church-goer. We have completely ruled it out as a place to buy because we aren't religious and so many of the schools demand church attendance. There is the Mount Primary in the middle of New Malden which doesn't but Ofsted says not as good - depends how much stock you put in Ofsted I suppose. From New Malden proper, I am not sure kids would get into Coombe Hill. There is burlington, though, which is not religious and supposed to be good, as a PP has said.

Lots of children go from New Malden to Coombe Hill- mainly from the Groves and up.
Agree ChristChurch hard to get into if not churchgoer- but Burlington is 3 form entry and has wide catchment.

deaddei am surprised, but looking at the admissions booklet you are right, Coombe Hill catchment has gone out to 1.7, 1.3 and 1.54 in the last few years. Maybe we shouldn't totally rule out NM after all....hmmm.

I really want a local school (e.g., walkable) for my DD though. Don't fancy having to get in car every day - think that would be a problem if we moved to NM's groves area.

Ds walks from Groves to Coombe Hill every day......

Maple in surbiton is excellent - and its usual intake includes parts of south kingston. a few years ago Athelstan's wasn't very good - but I know it got a new head so perhaps it's improving. St Johns is another good one in south kingston - but it's a c of e school and difficult to get into in.

if you're looking at commuting btw you're much better off somewhere within easy reach of surbiton station (ie surbiton or s. kingston) - faster and more regular trains to waterloo than from Kingston.

Thanks for this it's all helpful. I'll be commuting to Canary Wharf so good advice hatwoman.

I've looked at house in the Groves on-line and did think Combe Hill looked walkable from there. How long does it take your DS deaddei? I had already worried about the amount of church schools as we are definitely not church goers.

Deaddei it is a small world. We used to work together years ago and have kept in touch. She loves New Malden which is why I'm considering it.

DandS- takes him about 20 mins .

Her magazine is great- NM is a good community. (and has good wine bar)

She wants me to come down and visit so she can show me round properly. I will make sure the wine bar is part of the itinerary.

As with the rest of SW London, primaries in Kingston tend to divide between very popular state primaries (being over half a kilometre away could put you out of catchment), very popular church schools (must be regular attender of relevant church, not just correct religion), and the rest, which tend to be in the more disadvantaged areas (although general rumour is that teaching at these schools is good).

However, 2 years ago 200 children didn't have a school place in Kingston, so over the last 2 years (and next year) most primaries have taken a bulge class at some time or another. Some schools in Kingston (including Alexandra and Latchmere and I think Coombe?) are going to add extra classes. It's difficult to tell at the moment how this will affect the 'dead' areas.

Thanks merrymouse. The situation in my borough this year was 421 children without a place, one of which was my DS. I had to fight tooth and nail to get him a place in a school I wanted so I really don't want to have to go through that again.

If you go to kingston.gov.uk you can find information on proposals for school expansion in Kingston. In theory there should also be a new secondary school in North Kingston to accommodate increased intake.

Thanks again. Will do that.