Where to move for schools in NE London, Essex, Hertfordshire?

[Wheretogo44]

We currently live in the London borough of Redbridge. We have two DDs aged 4 and 8.

We are thinking of moving out into Essex, Hertfordshire or to another part of North/East London.

Our biggest priority by far is secondary schools. Both DH and I went to very average comprehensive schools and we've always dreamed of sending our DC somewhere better. Unfortunately we can't afford private.

Our budget is about 800k, ideally for a 4 bed. DH needs to commute to Bank but my job can be done pretty much anywhere.

Where would you go for the best secondary options? I like the idea of a grammar but we are wary of pinning our hopes on it. I attend church (C of E) if that opens up any options. We would be happy with either girls schools or mixed.

And thank you for all the other comments too! Am taking notes as this is all incredibly helpful.

In Hertfordshire, Harpenden and Hitchin seem to have very good reputations for schools but I have zero personal experience.

If you were to consider a different side of London, then SW is very safe and you wouldn’t need to worry about your daughter hanging out after school etc. The most sought after girls’ comp is Waldegrave, followed by Coombe Girls. There are many lovely co-ed schools too (speaking from my teaching experience), eg Orleans Park, Grey Court, Cheam High and Glenthorne. There are grammars too.

Parmiter’s or Watford Girls’ Grammar are definitely good options. Look at Bushey, Kings Langley, Abbots Langley for houses. You could also try St Albans but that’s £££ and you’d struggle with £800k for 4 bed. There are also plenty of nice bits of Watford proper. Main thing to decide is if you want to move close enough to one of those schools to get in on distance (which will be a pretty tiny area, but is possible), or go with the academic/music/sports test, in which case you can live in a wider area (altho there are still inner and outer postcodes in the admission rules), and of course you’d be betting on DD1 passing one of those tests.

Watford area has a lot to recommend it - good shopping centre, public swimming pools/leisure centres, two cinemas, two theatres, lovely massive park/woods (Cassiobury and Whippendell), a John Lewis (!!), near lots of lovely countryside but also close to London for work/days out.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

Saffron Walden is lovely and has excellent schools, very safe and friendly. Might be bit far. Bishops Stortford after that. We moved from that area for secondary so I know people with children at lots of the schools mentioned. You need grammar or private though if you want a lot of pushing / less behaviour issues. Several Essex grammars plus Woodford.

@Wheretogo44 we live in Essex but close to you and just wanted to say i sympathise with your dilemma. Wouldn’t consider the state system locally. I grew up in the area and went to the girls grammar but wouldn’t consider it for my kids now. Planning to move when DC get near to secondary age!

Have a look at Chesham/Amersham

@mrsmummybx it's tough isn't it, and a shame as we felt we were spoilt for choice at primary level.

Out of interest would you say the same for the faith schools? From what I know about them, I've been impressed with Trinity (although we are not Catholic so not an option for us) and Davenant.

@pandancerandrabbitoplh I love Saffron Walden, will certainly take a look although as you say it may well be a bit far out. I've known several families move out to Bishops Stortford from this area, and it has come up several times on this thread too so def worth investigating.

Hitchin Girls School has a good reputation and only 20 mins to London on the train.

@Wheretogo44 I agree Trinity is probably the best option in terms of state schools in the area. Woodford and Ilford County High are not what they used to be (despite competition for entrance!) - used to be 5th ish in the country but have slipped in recent years somewhat. Academically they are perhaps still the best In the area but other detracting factors in my opinion. Davenant also has a good name. However if we stayed in the area I think we would feel we had to try and somehow scrape the money together for private schooling to get something like what we want (and even the private schools aren’t perfect!). Hence considering a move!!

Have you considered Leigh on Sea or Thorpe Bay? Grammar school areas - choice of 2 for your dds. In addition there are 2 more schools which have grammar streams and if all else fails the local catchment schools for those 2 areas are pretty good with high aspirations. DofE award etc, good GCSE pass rates etc.

I grew up in the area you live in now, I went to Trinity and my brother to Wanstead although my parents swiftly moved him from there to join me at Trinity.

Trinity was an outstanding school and I have friends whose children go there and it doesn't appear to have changed much so I would assume it is still highly over subscribed therefore being non catholic it would probably be ruled out.

I still hear good things about Davenant, I now live in Upminster, schooling here is outstanding and you would get a house in your budget, just, also great commute into the city. If state here isn't an option you have the choice of grammar in Southend/Westclifff easy commute on the C2C or Chelmsford.

@mrsmummybx yes I've heard some things about the grammar which worried me. The academic side is very important to us but above all of course we want the DDs to be happy. Where are you thinking of moving?

@kittyhello I will definitely put it on the list, I love Leigh on Sea in particular. I think this process has made us realise that probably we would prefer to stay in Greater London if we can but Essex and Hertfordshire definitely still on the cards if that doesn't work.

@uncomfortablesilence yes, I was looking at Sacred Heart of Mary in Upminster in particular, I couldn't work out if they only take Catholics or if some places do go to girls of other religions. Is it Coopers which is the other good one? And do people really commute from Upminster to the grammars in Chelmsford and Southend? I can believe it although it does seem a long way.

Yes DD is at Sacred Heart, it's heavily over subscribed so I don't think many non catholic's are there but there definitely are other faiths there. Coopers and Hall Mead are both great but very different schools.

I know lots of kids go to Southend as it's straight through on the overhead and takes 30 minutes, that's the good thing with Upminster you have the C2C and you're still on the tube line.

I used to commute from Ilford to Sacred Heart in Upminster but I'm not sure how their catchment works nowadays.

We are having the same thoughts as you, I'm in Wanstead. DS is only due to start primary school this year and we already have thoughts of moving out for secondary because there is a real lack of options around here unless you go private. We are catholic so have certain options but DH isn't a fan of Trinity regardless of how good a school it is.

From personal experience I'd avoid Bancrofts, have found the children who left Forest to be much more well rounded.

OP, Watford is within the M25 and frankly feels a bit like part of Greater London (on the tube, our nearest Ikea is Wembley, probably closer to London than some other bits of London are!), so if your reasons to stay in Greater London are related to proximity then don’t necessarily rule out Watford!