Moving to Central Bedfordshire /3 tier school changes

[dcbe17]

Hi we live in NE London and have seen lovely house in Henlow. Anyone know what it's like to live there? Have 10 year old boy 8 year old girl and me and husband will be commuting to London. Is there stuff for kids to do or will I be driving the round trying to make up for the fact we moved out of London? Thinking ahead, what do teenagers get upto round there?
Also, I can't quite find out whether the change to 2 tier schools is going to happen in Central Beds from 2017. Confusing how Bedfordshire Borough wanted it but then with new govt coming in 2010 it all got stopped.
Henlow primary and middle seem nice enough for now but Samuel Whitbread hasn't got that great Gcse results and we are wondering if there is more upheaval coming with change in tiers it is going to be affected negatively. Its making me nervous about the move tbh.... Any insider views will be a great help.

Sorry I don't know about Henlow, but am in central beds. I know dunstable has made the change already but not sure about other parts of c beds, certainly not heard of any proposed plans for changes where I am. I would assume it would stay the same and if you are not keen on the upper school then factor that in to where you move too. Are other parts of the area an option? Other good uppers getting consistently good GCSE in the area are Redbourne ( Flitwick/Ampthill), Harlington (Toddington), Cedars (Linslade and that side of l buzzard), and Wootton ( Cranfield).

We're in Central Beds, not that near to Henlow but a similar distance from Bedford. DD is at one of the schools mentioned above. The 2-tier/3-tier thing has been constantly on and off throughout her schooling, I'm just hoping (selfishly) that if it happens now it will be after she's left but nobody seems to be making up their minds at the moment.

Wrt what teenagers do, I'm afraid the answer is generally 'be driven round by their parents'! We're in a small village with a park, a shop, lots of open countryside but not much else, (think Henlow maybe has slightly more?) so if DD wants to meet friends who don't live here (and because of the wide school catchments and people sending their kids to 'better' schools out of catchment, that's most of them) then she needs to be taken. They generally meet up to 'hang out' or have sleepovers, sometimes they go to the cinema or swimming and often shopping is involved. DD is just old enough to start getting the train to places but generally whether it's social life, clubs/hobbies or part time jobs, yes you will be driving them around ime.

That's not altogether a bad thing though, at least you get the chance to meet their friends (I seem to give a LOT of lifts!) and have some idea where they're going although it's a pita on a Friday night when you're desperate for wine .

We used to live in Henlow and have friends still there. Haven't heard anything about and more plans to change to two tier schooling and I'm pretty sure my friend would have mentioned it.

Henlow is an average Bedfordshire village - fairly long and thin. Has a village shop, a deli, scouts and guides, a few pubs, two churches and a couple of playgrounds. I'd imagine that as children get older you need to drive them around as bus services not great and if they want to go to places with more to do then they'll need to get taken there. We left when mine were 6 and 4 but I go back there quite often.

My friend was happy with the lower school and her DD seems happy at the middle school. Not sure about what they think about Samuel Whitbread.

Thanks so much for this. Really useful.

I suspected as much. I lived in middle of nowhere and my parents were major taxi drivers. You are right to point out the plus of knowing their friends and having to cut down on drinking :-)

Thanks for this info. Good to know.

Henlow is lovely, in terms of what there is for kids depends if they hobbies. You'll probably end up driving them around but they can get to a fair few places by bike (arlesey station is bikeable) it will be a culture shock after London though

Schools are an interesting one, etonbury is expanding to take in 9-18 so that's another option, Samuel Whitbread is very marmite.