Cardiff

[whotheeff]

Considering relocating to Cardiff due to a job offer at USW. I have a rising year 9 and year 7. Budget for a home is £600k. Where would you live? We like to be pedestrian with shops and cafes. Not interested in private schools. Thanks!

@whotheeff I have family and friends who teach / have recently taught at all of them. I am far from snobby and living in a leafy suburban village. I grew up on a Cardiff council estate and want better for my children. Whitchurch high takes children from all over the city and is very multi cultural, the area also offers nice houses in your budget and brilliant transport by bus rail or car to USW, school offers a place from 11-18 so ticks a lot of your boxes - but if you want to do your own thing that’s fine but please don’t ask for advice then knock the advice of people who have been born and bred in the area and give first hand experience.
(Side note my children do not attend any of the schools mentioned in my posts )

@cit80 In fairness, you're knocking perfectly good areas and schools. Other people live in Cardiff too, it's not just the snobbery patrol whose opinions matter.

By the sounds of some of these teachers, I'm quite shocked and disheartened that they think so little of more disadvantaged/ special needs children.

@whotheeff in case you are still following this thread, I would LOVE to get in touch as I seem to be in a similar situation as you were, and I am looking for very similar things as far as school / area to live in goes. My kids also lived for years in an American inner city, I HIGHLY value diversity and STRONGLY support public schools, and we are planning a move to Cardiff so I can take up a new job at Cardiff University. Feeling lost over here as I've never spent any time in Wales, and know next to nothing about UK school system - we are currently in the NL and can't even visit Cardiff thanks to covid-19. Would be beyond grateful for any updates or pointers on how your search went!

@not0from0round0here why not just start a new thread asking what the worst performing schools are, in the roughest areas, that the middle class mummies from Cardiff would die before sending their kids to? Crack dealers next door, an added bonus! Then you will have your answer without asking @whotheeff.

@lockdownbreak my message seems to have rubbed you the wrong way, this was not intentional. I am new to Mumsnet and did not realise I could message the OP directly, which would probably have been more appropriate in this case. I'm just trying to figure out the best fit for my family and plan a complicated international move to Cardiff during a pandemic - isn't that a legitimate use for this forum?

Fitzalan has a very ethnically diverse intake, if that’s something that appeals to you. Cardiff High, Whitchurch, Llanishen are predominantly white. Fitzalan punches way above it’s weight when it comes to results but the kids are more streetwise than in the other schools.
Cardiff is a great city though and with your budget you’ll get a fabulous house. Good luck

Sorry @not0from0round0here , it the original poster who poo-pooed everyone's suggestions and clearly had a massive chip on her shoulder about middle class schools and areas. It was very irritating, smug and superior to read . If you look at the Estyn reports of all the secondary schools in Cardiff it should give you a good idea of the makeup of the schools. Once you have picked a school find out the catchment area and choose a house. Its should be relatively easy if you are actively looking for somewhere not leafy and fairly rough by Welsh standards. You wont get anything like as urban and diverse as inner city USA in Wales though. No guns or police helicopters. You will probably have quite a bit of money left over as well. Good Luck!