Where to move to in Bucks

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We are moving to Bucks due to DH’s job. He will have to work in Aylesbury and High Wycombe. We know nothing about the area but are very excited. Any recommendations for areas please?
We have DS1 1yo and another on the way. We want to be close to:

-excellent nurseries
-stuff to do with kids within a 20 minute drive or so
-nice family friendly community

• max 40 min drive for DH to either location
• we are thinking of maybe one of the Oxford prep schools for DS so a bonus if it’s commutable distance to Oxford centre-ish but this is a desirable as we can move later on
• house budget £1m

Thanks!

Marlow ticks your boxes, as it doesn’t sound as though train travel is an issue

Marlow would be a bit of a pig for commuting to Aylesbury, I'm afraid. It would be fine if he was in Wycombe only.

If your DH is working in Aylesbury and High Wycombe, I'd recommend looking for somewhere between the two. If you're thinking of a prep in Oxford, a town like Thame would also tick all your boxes, and has a good train station into both Oxford and Marylebone. If you're not bothered about being actually in a town and would be happy to just be nearby, Great or Little Kingshill would work as well. Wycombe itself is much maligned, but has decent shopping and lots of activities for teens coming in from outlying areas.

Princes Risborough is halfway between Aylesbury and HW and is a nice enough town but if I had to choose, I would go for Thame.

Your child is only young and if you will be going private all the way through then it's not an issue but beware that Bucks is a completely grammar/secondary modern county, and Princes Risborough secondary school does not have the best track record. There are a couple of comprehensives in Bucks but they have tiny catchment areas and they will still lose some of their most able students to the grammars so can't be true comprehensives in that sense.

Thame has easy access to Aylesbury, Wycombe and Oxford, 3 X great primary schools, an excellent comprehensive Lord Williams, and also accessible for out of catchment places for the Aylesbury grammars if you don't go private. 5 min drive to haddenham for the train to London/Birmingham/Oxford.

Lots going on for young families, you really don't need to leave Thame to find a good choice of kids activities. Has its own leisure centre. Nice High Street, a mix of independent shops and chains, a great community feel. If an event is organised the town will turn out for it!

Music festival, food festival, literary festival, carnival, music in the park, fair, emergency services day, kids play days all happened pre covid and well supported.

Marlow? For a prep in Oxford? It’s also quite distant from Aylesbury.

I think your best bet might be around Thame in Oxfordshire. Or villages nearby. Chinnor or Aston Rowant to the south or Garsington nearer to Oxford. Your big problem is traffic in Oxford if you live too far away. You will spend a long time in the car!

I live quite close to both places you mention for work but I would not want to commute into Oxford for school. So you will have to get nearer to Oxford. Brill is nice. You do have other preps in Bucks you could look at. Dorton House school is quite near Brill but it’s not The Dragon. My DD went to Godstowe in High Wycombe but they only do pre prep for boys. Many then go to Caldicott.

If you looked around Amersham, say Prestwood, Great Missenden, Little Missenden, and Whiteleaf, Speen, Lacey Green, Wendover etc you could look at The Beacon School in Amersham - boys prep. Lots of villages are ok for High Wycombe and Aylesbury. They are not ok for commuting a DC to Oxford.

Lots of nurseries here are fine. Several preps run nurseries. You might consider the Gateway prep at Great Missenden but it’s really an 11 plus crammer. Bucks has grammar schools. This is the big goal for many Bucks parents.

To get to Oxford, you need to be west or north west of Aylesbury really. And near the M40 for Wycombe.

I also suggest you need to think about your final destination for DS too. Grammar in Bucks or private. Boys private secondary day schools are largely absent in Bucks other than Stowe. So are you aiming at somewhere like St Edwards in Oxford or a Bucks grammar? Prep choice In mid Bucks is somewhat divided between grammar prep and independent school prep at 13. Let me know if you need any more suggestions.

Depending on times and how much your dh needs to go into work etc marlow may be fine for Aylesbury, I grew up in marlow abs went to school in Aylesbury and was fine!

There are no comprehensives in Bucks. There are schools that select by religious affiliation. No grammar county can ever have true comprehensive schools. The children who pass the 11 plus largely go to the grammars or go private. Schools call themselves all ability because they wouldn’t turn away a child who had passed the 11 plus or didn’t want to take it but there are no true comprehensives. At all.

Thank you all so much! This is really helpful. I will have a look at Thame and surrounding villages. I just didn’t want a half hour drive to the supermarket or to get to a baby class but equally we don’t need to be in the centre of a town. Also I’m not interested in grammars.

@PresentingPercy your suggestions are so useful. We are looking at day private all the way, with strong academics and access to a wide variety of sport and music. We have a DD on the way and I love the sound of Godstowe, but we don’t want boarding for seniors otherwise it would be the perfect school. Seniors is tough in Bucks- not many which fulfil what we want so I was thinking about aiming for Magdalen Prep in Oxford as a first choice and not sure for DD yet but maybe Oxford High. Do you have any other suggestions please?

@weegiepower
How did you get a school place in Aylesbury whilst living in Marlow? Usually Marlow to Aylesbury involves going through High Wycombe which is a pain. To get to Oxford you would go along the M40 from High Wycombe. Then you have the fun of getting into Oxford where traffic jams are legendary. Would anyone do this for school? It’s a horrible journey at rush hour!

Hi.

This is really going to depend on what your DH thinks about commuting. I might let him do that! Oxford and villages between there and Thame might be the best bet. HW is then easy but a bit cross country to Aylesbury.

Magdalene College senior school is one of the highest performing schools in the country. You might need a back up. It’s highly selective. Oxford is full of very gifted parents. You have plenty of time but I would research all preps and look at their destinations. The Dragon could obviously take both DC. So could Dorton House in Bucks. You should also look at St Edwards and Headington High as well as schools in Abingdon which would be in reach.

I think Princes Risborough Bucks, Thame Oxon or the surrounding villages might suit. As mentioned above, you might like to look at Ashfold School in the tiny village of Dorton which would be a much easier drive than Oxford which gets very congested in normal times.

Huge apologies. I did mean Ashfold School. At Dorton, near Brill.

Thanks everybody so much. I will look into all these options. From what it seems, private day school options are somewhat limited especially for senior school.

@PresentingPercy we obviously have high aspirations! I’m not naive to the fact these schools are extremely competitive (DH and I also went to v competitive schools). Who knew it would be this hard to select the right ones!

Thame does seem to have much of what we are looking for. I’m leaning towards a nearby village. Does anyone have nursery recommendations please?