Where to live in Newcastle/Sunderland area

[Abmumma]

Hiya all, can anyone help me? I am thinking of starting a degree course at sunderland uni which would mean moving from the south west of england to there. I dont really know where to look though. I am renting and will need to claim some housing benefit as i wont be working whilst doing my course. I have 3 kids aged 3,6,9. I need somewhere nice and family focussed and am willing to pay that bit extra to get something right. Will need good schools which give support 2 kids with suspected dyslexia, also emotional support which i've found invaluable at their current school. They also do lots of afterschool clubs, some run by banardos so nice and cheap, street dance, performing arts, footie, irish dance, and gym so would like them to carry this on.
I'm sorry for the long list but dont wanna uproot them if its not just right. Is there any places anyone could recommend? any clubs run by banardos or similar kids charities?

Many many thanks xx

Hi, I live in Sunderland so can tell you which areas are good/bad here and which schools are academically good. I havent heard of the Banardos afterschool clubs but my dd is not at school yet so have no experience of afterschool clubs.

Do you want to live near the uni or would you rather live near a good school? Travelling from Newcastle into Sunderland is ok but I think the nice areas of Sunderland and probably cheaper to rent in than the nice areas of Newcastle, and the worse areas of Newcastle are generally a lot worse than here imo.

Hi Maddikins,
Thanks for responding. I am pretty much open to suggestions although my main priority is finding a good school so I suppose I would rather live near to one, anywhere in newcastle or sunderland as long as its nice. If you could suggest some areas/schools i could look into further i'd be very grateful.
Thank you

In Sunderland Barnes/High Barnes area is a nice family area and there are quite a few primary schools in that area (Plains Farm, The Broadway, St Mary's and Barnes that I can think of.

Barnes School is good, a few people I knows kids' go and they are happy with it. I'm pretty sure it has a web site which had the after schhol clubs on when I was deciding on schools, www.barnesjunior.co.uk.

Also Ashbrooke/Queen Alexandra Road area is nice but more expensive, good schools would be Hill View or St Mary's and there a few private schools. Close to Barnes area, nice park and 5 mins to city centre.

Over the water (so very near the beach and the St Peters Campus part of Sunderland Uni) Roker/Fulwell areas are nice and Fulwell School is supposed to be good, Whitburn is a bit further along the coast but also nice.

Parts of Doxford Park, Moorside, Silksworth and the Herrington areas are all ok but a bit furher from the centre and I don't know which are the good schools in these areas.

The areas I would avoid are Hendon, Pallion and Pennywell Sunderland South and Hylton Castle, Witherwack, Southwick Sunderland North.

Newcastle I only know that Jesmond and Gosforth are nice but expensive and no idea about schools. Durham is lovely and no further or worse for travelling into Sunderland than Newcastle. Personally if you are going to go to Sunderland Uni I would definitely look to rent in Sunderland (but go shopping through Newcastle!).

Hope any of this is some help.

Thats a really good help, thanks! It's always better to get opinions from people that actually live there, than from property websites, so much appreciated!
:)

Thank you too for this information. I will be coming to Sunderland in September with my family and my boys are age 2,4 and 7. It will also be a whole new experience for us since we will be coming from Africa so more information about living in Sunderland will be highly welcome,many thanks.

Hi there, I'm also looking to relocate to Newcastle/Sunderland permanently from London. I have twins 1 yr 4 mths and a 17 year old boy who will be in university. I would like to know good areas for my family and community I don't know anyone in these areas but I will be offered a large council property as there are none in London. I'm a bit scarred to take the leap but want a better quality of life and good job prospects for my self.

@Kigongo81 It’s a great area for families. Do you have any idea in which area you’ll be offered a house?

My husband is from high Barnes.
It’s pretty central with a nice park.

I even been offered places like Washington or Heaton and Sunderland in general I'm not sure yet. Also is it a multi culture place to live as we are originally from east Africa though I was born in England?

Heaton is very multicultural. Generally Newcastle is more diverse than Sunderland. Heaton is really nice, I’d definitely go for that!

Hello!I'm taking a decision to come to live in Sunderland with my son age 12.Im a bit scared but I need to change due to stress of living in London.Can you please help me trough recommendation where is good to live as a family and safe.And where is the best secondaries schools and job opportunities? Thank you

@Elisamares

What is your budget and what size house are you looking for? All areas are safe but some are nicer than others, Fulwell and Seaburn are nice areas right on the coast (quite expensive). High Barnes, Tunstall and Ashbrooke are nice areas, all of these area are a 10 minute drive or less to the City Centre.

St Aidens (Catholic) and Southmoore are decent secondaries.