I want to move to London from Brighton for secondary school for my DC. The primary schools here are fantastic but i'm not comfortable with the lottery system for secondary. We could live right next to our catchment schools (Varndean and Dorothy Stringer) and not get in!
Also all of my family and friends live in the north and west of London. DC are 9 and 6 yrs old so we have some time. Where in London would have a similar family friendly vibe? It doesn't have to be very central so outer zones are fine. I moved away from Ealing 15 years ago and i'm not particularly keen to go back there. I've been looking at south west London so Hampton, Teddington, Kingston, Surbiton. Also north west so Pinner, Hatch end. Any advice re good schools and safe areas would be gratefully received.