Areas in SE London with good schools

[Mushi83]

Hi all
We have just had a baby and are thinking a buying a house in an area with a good primary and secondary school for our DD.
We don't drive so hard to move further out of London.
Ideally we are looking for:

• a 4 bed in a nice and relatively safe area in zone 2/3 with good links into London bridge/cannon street/charing cross
• good schools nearby (I've read catchment areas can change. Is that right? Doesnt this make it tricky to buy a house relying on current catchment areas ?) Any tips on good schools very welcome
• shops, cafes, some local restaurants within walking distance/short bus ride
• green open spaces and a nice community feel are a bonus

Our budget is £1.2m Many thanks in advance

East Dulwich and Forest Hill.

Brockley, Ladywell, Telegraph Hill. My children are adult now so prepared to be told I'm not up to date but my impression is that Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham has had a consistently good reputation over the years. It's a federation with a primary school (possibly two primary schools) which guarantee transfer to the senior school for their pupils. Mixed school. Children who don't go to one of the designated primary feeder schools would need to live very near the senior school indeed to get in.

As you have a daughter, the other obvious school to look at is Prendergast Hilly Fields, which is a girls only secondary school. It is also part of a federation with a primary school but I don't know how that fits with the secondary transfer stuff.

Sydenham Girls also has a good reputation, I believe.

Worth bearing in mind that lots can change with schools over the years.

West Norwood/Streatham

Excellent primaries ( Julian's, Hitherfield,Dunraven,Sunnyhill)

Excellent secondaries ( Dunraven, Elmgreen, Norwood, Kingsdale)

Some of the areas mentioned will now be out of budget, sadly!

Thank you all, really appreciate your input. Is it true that catchment areas can change or is that rare?
Yes @JimDixon prices have skyrocketed and I feel we may have missed the boat somewhat!

To be honest 'catchment areas' don't really exist. It's usually based on distance which will change every year. One year there might be half a dozen 4 year olds who live in the same street as a school, the next year none so the 'catchment' will spread out further.
As your child is just a baby it's going to be years yet before you have to think about secondary - the whole system might have completely changed by then and schools could be completely different.
Don't just rely on 'good schools' for choosing a place to live.

Beckenham (closer to balgowan primary or the high street in general).

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125039915
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124024154
Secon oone is gone but just to give a sense of the properties there

West Norwood/streatham vale for sure.
maybe Furzedown.
Telegraph hill/Nunhead for several great primaries and good secondary.

east dulwich and north dulwich have good secondaries (most primaries are good in london) but you may struggle with that budget close enough to the high schools.

Yes to clock house area of Beckenham 20 mins to all your stops, good schools and 4 bed in budget.

Bromley. Specifically, Hayes.

I actually thought Nunhead would be out of budget (Telegraph Hill definitely is!), but this is on for £1.15m:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124550144#/

Concentrate on primary school for now. Apparently the school population in London is falling dramatically and over subscribed secondaries may become less so once your dd is 11.

Thanks all, really helpful. Tbh I am not even sure if this is a good time to buy given how expensive everything is but on the other hand is it ever going to come down..who knows!

I totally take everyone's point about secondary school being ages away. The reason its on my mind is because we have been in our flat for 10 years and it has gone pretty quickly. Secondly it is quite expensive to move and it's a real pain. Ideally, therefore, I am hoping to make one move and hopefully stay there for the long term

@Needmorelego Ah I had no idea. Just to clarify my understanding, it depends on the number of applicants who live close to the school and that can vary year on year

@MrFirstTimeBuyer @Attictroll is the clock house area got enough within walking distance given we don't drive

Very interesting! Is that from lots of families moving out of London after the pandemic/move to remote working?

@Mushi83 yes school places will depend on how many apply and how many children of a specific age there are in an area. My daughter didn't get a place at a secondary we hoped for because we were just a little too far away. But her year group is quite large a cohort in the area we live. The girl who lives on the floor below us in our block of flats - but is a year younger - got a place at that school because her year group is smaller.

Have a look at Charlton / Blackheath Standard / E Greenwich. Should be within budget, well rated primary schools, not so sure about secondary though.

Thanks @skippy67 I would have thought Hayes would need a car. Is there enough around to walk to?

@Needmorelego wow that's really quite a gamble then. I hope your daughter likes the school she gets in

@TitilatedOcelot we are not from there, on the other side of Greenwich. I think bit of a black hole for state secondaries. There's St Ursulas but it's Catholic (and we are not)

clock house has a small row of independent shops but also is very close to the big leisure centre ... it's 15 mins walk to Beckenham high street probably 20 to penge high street a 15 min bus to Crystal Palace triangle and park. I really think you need to do a few days walking around bits of SE London and even venture into the borough of Bromley proper...other places with good transport links and amenities like chislehurst which might appeal

Over a million for a house in Peckham😥🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

@Attictroll Yes absolutely we need to walk around and explore areas. Wanted to shortlist some areas based on feedback first. This has given me some more ideas

It's known as "Posh Peckham" now... you know, like "London Luton" :)

Yes. Loads of green spaces, great transport links to London Victoria or Charing Cross. I work in Croydon and can get a bus direct, or a tram. You defo don't need a car and the schools are great

@Mushi83 we are in Blackheath with a baby and have had exactly the same thoughts and dilemmas as you are re secondary schools. In the end we went with Blackheath because the primaries are all outstanding and transport links are amazing (10mins to London Bridge, 15 to Cannon St), and of course green space is second to none, and generally the area ticks every box except secondary school. We don't drive either but there's so much on the door step.

Our rationale was that in 10 years so much can change with secondaries. The local state school is John Roan which did really badly and they re-opened it under new leadership a while ago. I imagine they will be working hard to improve it and so by the time our DD is in Year 5 we will have another look. Also Thomas Tallis is a good school which might improve further by then.

We basically couldn't find an area that ticked every single box but felt that we wanted DD's primary years to be in a lovely area, walk to school, lots of time outdoors etc. By the time she's a tween she might not care about green space as much and maybe we will move to a new location, or maybe the local secondaries will have improved.