Relocating to South Lincolnshire

[mellowyellow3]

Hi

We are looking at relocating to South Lincolnshire from the south east and are looking for advice on nice areas to live and bring up children. My husband would be working in Bourne, so we would be looking at places with approx 15 mile radius.

I've done a bit of research and Stamford looks lovely. I have a 3 year old who will be going to primary school in September 2013 and 2 toddlers. So it's really important that we pick somewhere with good schools.

The only problem I see with Stamford for the future is the lack of Grammar schools in the area. The local secondary doesn't seem great and I believe there was a private school that used to have scholarships for more academically able pupils but these have now been phased out. Does anyone know if there are any problems for Stamford children of getting into Grammar school outside the area if they pass the 11+?

We've just moved to Lincolnshire from the South East. We're renting between Grantham and Melton Mowbray whilst we look for somewhere to buy. DD is 20 months so we're also thinking about schools (we've come from a grammar school area in SE so keen on the same system in Lincs). I also read online that Stamford are stopping the assisted places at the independent school in 2013 (it was what they did in Stamford instead of having grammars like the rest of Lincs) so that's really ruled out Stamford and the surrounding area for us (initially I though it would be the perfect location). We'll probably go for a village around Grantham as they have the grammar schools there. Stamford is lovely however, and if I was looking to live in a town rather than rural, I would find it hard to resist! Good luck.

Stamford is much nicer than Bourne IMO,but you will only get in Bourne grammar if you choose to live in Bourne or very close as it is oversubscribed.
If you do want Stamford there is The King's school in Peterborough, but only if you are regular church goers. This is a high achieving comp.school which has a very large catchment area.
If you want grammar though it will have to be Bourne or Spalding. I would ring the schools and ask their intake catchment area for the last few years to check.

I grew up in S Lincs and had a boyfriend who lived in a village outside Stamford and went to Spalding Grammar School so it was possible - not sure if it still is.

Back then the secondary moderns varied tremendously in quality whereas the grammars where much of a muchness - so you may want to look into that too.

We travelled in to school and that made sustaining friendships outside of school harder once we were teenagers as the schools have such big catchments - not impossible but very reliant on parents to ferry us about (until said boyf who had a car which solved that problem!) - we always envied the girls who lived in town, so tho you are some way off that i would bear that in mind too.

DB went to the Grammar school in Stamford and i went to school in Rutland.

Stamford is lovely.

I still visit alot as my Mum still lives there.

There are loads of lovely villages but it's getting expensive.

Very close to the A1 for commuting etc.

This is an interesting thread to me as well actually because I grew up mainly down south and we are shortly moving to Rutland for my husbands work before looking for a property to buy in the Lincolnshire region. I have been looking at Stamford/Bourne/Spalding and Holbeach. After we move I think we will start seriously looking, but with a child starting senior school this year and one who will start pre-school next year I will need to look at schools as well.

I went to Bourne Grammar, finished about 15 years ago. It was, and I understand still is, a really excellent school - obviously I didn't appreciate it at the time, but with hindsight I was very lucky.

But even back then, it was fairly competitive to get in so you'd probably have to live in Bourne - I left the place as soon as I could, so you can probably guess my views on that . Stamford would be my first choice if I really had to; there are also some nice bits of the Deepings, and I understand the Deepings school is very good as well...

I live 3 miles from Stamford but inside the Rutland border. I went to both Kings in Peterborough and Stamford High School about 22 years ago.

Out of your choices I would say Stamford is BY FAR the nicest town in terms of shops, restaurants, people. If you choose to live in Rutland, which is pricier, but very very beautiful, your kids get to go to one of 3 local secondary schools, Casterton Academy, Uppingham or Vale of Catmose, all of which are Ofsted rated 1 Outstanding. Even though I went to extremely good schools, I am more than happy for my kids to be going to Casterton in a year or two. If you need any more advice feel free to pm me.

Think I might just do that!

Thank you for replies. They have given me food for thought.

We still really like the look of Stamford but may look at a couple of the other places you have mentioned now.

Those of you local to South Lincs could you tell me of any other nice/villages towns about a 10-15 mile radius of Bourne.

Also have just checked the Bourne Grammar website and apparently they are increasing their intake and are now accepting children from a wider area including Stamford and Peterborough.

Sorry I hijacked your thread mellowyellow3

Good luck with your search for the perfect place to live

HI Mellowyellow

I live in a village 10 miles Ne of Bourne and even though Bourne Grammar widened their catchment area, several children from here still didn't get in to the school last year (1 child only lives 7 miles away ) even though they passed the 11plus. The catchment area varies from year to year according to how many people passed the 11 plus that year.

This year the year 6 was a very small cohort and the catchment are was big, so wouldn't rely too much on their website saying they accept from Stamford and Peterborough becuase the way Bourne is growing can't see many others getting in.

But Stamford is a lovely town and the Casterton College has a good reputation and know several friends who children are going there this year and tehy are happy with it.

Also look at villages between Stamford and Grantham as Grantham has excellent grammar schools as well.