Southgate / Palmers Green advice

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I recently posted about having to decide between moving out of London or finding somewhere in London that has a quieter vibe. Posters suggested Southgate so we went to check it out at the weekend. It's lovely! Seems a bit too good to be true. Nice parks, restaurants etc and a 4 bed house for less than £950k (yes, I know, apologies this is very much in the London economic model of affordable!). I think we are going to seriously consider moving here in the next year so any tips about schools, particular areas, extra curricular activities, local tips etc much appreciated. Also, about useful local bus routes. I noticed buses going to Muswell Hill and Barnet but any other useful routes?

Hello there!
I grew up in palmers green, and then moved back, after some central London years, to find a family home. It is lovely!

Schools. Southgate- move very near to Ashmole and you're set at an outstanding school all the way through to 18. Catchment is something like 0.3 at the moment though, so choose carefully! Same goes for all the other great primary's in the area- Walker in Southgate is also lovely and sought after, highfield, eversley and hazelwood are excellent in winchmore hill/palmers green.

The best advice I can give you is to join the following Facebook groups and do some searches on schools. (There are loads of discussions on that subject)

Palmers Green Parents
Winchmore Hill Families
Southgate Families (much smaller but more recently created and I think helpful)

Bus routes- yep there are lots. Mainly the tube or train is reliable and v quick to get central.

Lots of family events going on, lots of meet ups, generally great for easing a family. And this is coming from someone who was DESPERATE to escape the area as an 18 year old 😂 as a 39 year old it's awesome.

Thanks @KangaFandanga that's useful to know. Had no idea the catchments were so small. A colleague suggestd the Lakes estate area bit that looks out of catchment for Ashmole. Will research the other schools you suggested, thanks.

We live on the lakes estate, and it's really lovely. BUT it's a bit of a black hole for schools unless you're very careful. If you're catholic there's the wonderful St Monica's, but aside from that it's a little tough. We missed out on all schools on our list 2 years ago and decided to go private when offered a struggling school a 15 min drive away 😱

Oh dear. That's useful to know. I saw a house on rightmove with Walker Primary 0.5 distance away but I guess that is too far! We are not catholic and can't afford private.

Local authorities produce booklets or have interactive distance from school checkers on their websites. That should tell you admission distances for the past 3 years.

Thanks @JoJoSM2 I will have a look

Hi, we live in the Lakes Estate. It's a lovely place to live and raise a family but schools can be an issue. We applied for a place in 2018 and got our fifth choice school. But we stuck it out on the waiting list and got offered our first choice in the September.

The whole experience inspired me to set up a new website which shows the catchment areas for schools, which you may find helpful: primaryschoolcatchment.co.uk/

Good luck.

Oh wow @Tashki17 I'll have a look. How long did you have to wait for the school place? Were you applying for in-year admissions but had to wait until September? It does worry me as it's a bit too far to commute back for school while waiting for a place...

Hi, no it was for a reception place in 2018. We got offered our fifth choice on National Offer Day in April. Our daughter actually did one week at the school she was allocated before we were offered our first choice and we moved her.

There is a lot of movement both for reception places and in year admissions so it is definitely worth staying on the waiting list but obviously it's not guaranteed so can be a bit nerve wracking!

There are some good schools that usually have places available (eg West Grove and Grange Park Primary) but they are not really walking distance so not so convenient. But we are lucky that most schools in the area are good, some are more sought after than others.