Moving to Leicester/Nottingham area

[RedSauceSpaghetti]

Hello,

We are going to be moving to within a commutable distance of Syston, just North of Leicester. Children are ages 7, 4 and 1yo twins. We plan to rent for a while and buy once we are happy with which areas we like. However, we would ideally like to move to within the catchment of schools we won't need to move the kids from when we do buy. A good school atmosphere is more important to us than results as our eldest is being assessed for ASD and, although she is very sociable, she can be easily led and overly forgiving of other children and has struggled with bullying at a previous school.

Budget is around £1500 a month for a 4 bed with a garden. Ideally somewhere with plenty of walking-distance green space.

We have been looking in a few places, including Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray (villages), Oakham, East Leake, West Bridgford, Syston. Due to the timings I am keen to find out which areas may be more likely to have school spaces, and which schools might be good for us/best avoided, as I find ofsted reports only tell you so much!

West Bridgford is just a suburb of Nottingham City rather than separate places like the others you've listed. It certainly isn't an area with an excess of school places. The schools are massively oversubscribed.

@HasaDigaEebowai thanks for that. I suspected as much to be honest. It's one of our less-preferred areas just due to being part of the city anyway, so good to know. Thank you.

West Bridgford is a place in itself. Whilst it is in the suburbs, it's not even under the same council as the city.

It is not a place in itself. It’s literally over the bridge from the city. It’s a suburb. It’s not even the last suburb before you reach the edge of Nottingham other than in a small area because of Clifton and edwalton. Yes it has its own shopping/bar area but that doesn’t make it a separate town.

West Bridgford is the perfect choice it's 30 minutes to syston, the a46 but you will be on is 11 miles in which you can cover in 10 minutes no problem. West Bridgford is slightly more expensive though but the area is much nicer than syston, harborough is a less straight forward commute and posthumous options for getting stuck in traffic.

You could look along A52 near A46 junction. Lots of newer houses as well as traditional and good schools.

Ruddington is just south of West Bridgford and will have that village vibe. Nice high street, new shops/cafes opening up all the time, & a couple of infant/junior schools. Close to lots of countryside walks and Ruddington Country Park with a great playground. Housing cheaper than WB.

Bingham may also be nice - good schools, surrounded by countryside

@Givemetrees we like Ruddington. That's definitely on the list.

Is there anywhere more rural worth looking at? I know you get all the benefits of close amenities when you live so close to the main towns and cities but as someone who grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, I do often find myself hankering after a quieter pace

Smaller villages than Ruddington = Cropwell Butler, Colston Bassett, Bradmore. The W villages - Widmerpool, Wysall, Wymeswold, Willoughby on the Wolds. Around Rutland Water is lovely too.

Personally I find Loughborough is under-rated - a couple of outstanding primaries, with most others being pretty good and couple decent secondaries that I would be happy with.

But it sounds like you are maybe looking for somewhere a bit more rural - you might want to check out Quorn, Barrow upon soar, Mountsourrell.

Agree Loughborough might be worth considering. The Nanpanton area has the Outwoods within walking distance and you have Beacon Hill and Bradgate Park a short drive away. The forest side of town has good primary schools (Holywell, Mountfields & Outwoods Edge) and is well placed for commuting to Syston.

Thank you for so many suggestions. Really helpful to know which sides of towns to look at and which villages are rated by those who know them.

I hadn't considered Loughborough but I will look into it.

@WEIFHWYOEIG As I'm looking at schools anyway, what are the secondaries you would say it's best to try to avoid? Just thinking ahead and it'll be easier if we move to an area where schools are feeding into better secondaries.

Keyworth and Radcliffe on Trent might be worth a look. Both with great communities, small town big village vibe, local businesses, the primaries in both are lovely.

I hear good things about Limehurst and de Lisle, not sure about any of the others - @freckledsloth sounds like she might have an idea?

@RedSauceSpaghetti

Hello,

We are going to be moving to within a commutable distance of Syston, just North of Leicester. Children are ages 7, 4 and 1yo twins. We plan to rent for a while and buy once we are happy with which areas we like. However, we would ideally like to move to within the catchment of schools we won't need to move the kids from when we do buy. A good school atmosphere is more important to us than results as our eldest is being assessed for ASD and, although she is very sociable, she can be easily led and overly forgiving of other children and has struggled with bullying at a previous school.

Budget is around £1500 a month for a 4 bed with a garden. Ideally somewhere with plenty of walking-distance green space.

We have been looking in a few places, including Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray (villages), Oakham, East Leake, West Bridgford, Syston. Due to the timings I am keen to find out which areas may be more likely to have school spaces, and which schools might be good for us/best avoided, as I find ofsted reports only tell you so much!

Rusheymead has a great school catchment and so does Oadby. Both areas have strong rental stock too.

I'm not as clued up about the secondary schools as the system in Loughborough has changed. It used to be that unless you were at De Lisle or the private schools (which went all the way through from 11-18) you went to middle school at either Garendon, Limehurst or Woodbrook Vale for years 7-9 then moved to either Burleigh (Loughborough) or Rawlins (Quorn) for year 10 up. Garendon and Burleigh have merged and are now known as Charnwood College and Limehurst and Woodbrook Vale are now 11-16 and offer GCSEs. So it might be worth looking at the range of subjects the different schools offer and also factoring in the locations, Limehurst is in the town centre for example whereas Woodbrook Vale is only a short walk away from Outwoods Edge primary. Sorry I can't be much help.

Shocked at the suggestion of rushey mead! Heck no, avoid.

Why avoid Rusheymead? It is one of the best school catchments in the UK even when you include privates. Rusheymead and Soar Valley schools, between them, are the best state schools Leicestershire has to offer in terms of grades, facilities, and prospects. The area is also one of the few places where property prices have increased and continue to increase year on year. Yes it’s a largely Indian area so many people try to put it down but all of the best school catchments in Leicestershire are, including the ones for the grammars.

Oakham isn't commutable to Syston. If you're looking rural, you don't want to go any further out than Melton Mowbray because of being stuck behind rural traffic. Look at Rearsby or Qudniborough as well, good primary schools, in catchment for Wreake Valley for secondary which has good pastoral support for pupils. Syston also has good primaries but over subscribed.

Have a look at Lowdham too. Further into Notts but nice village with school and shops and easy A46 access to get to Syston.

@NellietheNumpty we went to see a property in Keyworth and we did like the area. Sadly the house was a bit small, but we will keep looking. Good to hear Radcliffe on Trent is also good. Sounds like there are quite a few areas to choose from so that's good.

@freckledsloth thank you for the detail on schools. Sounds like there's been quite a bit of change recently so that'll help. Thank you.

@PineappleWilson he'll only be commuting 1-2 days a week so he won't mind a bit of farm traffic on the odd day he does go in. In any case, I think it'll beat the daily London commute he's had for the past 7 years! Thank you for your secondary catchment suggestion and Lowdham as a village.

Just seen how many times I used the word 'good' in that last comment

I was born and brought up in Thurmaston, just next to Syston. It's a decent area and I believe the schools are good. Don't bother with Thurmaston, as there is absolutely nothing going on. It's dead. The other villages around there are lovely.
Leicester it's self is so much nicer than Nottingham.
I live in Lenton. It's a 40min drive to Syston.

English Martyrs used to have a school bus to Syston. I presume they still do. Have a look at Queninborough, Barkby, Beeby etc .

I grew up in Scraptoft, that side of town is really lovely, Beeby, Billesdon, Barkby, Keyham are all rural but easy to drive to towns and supermarkets, and within 5-15 minutes of Syston.