Help us decide where to move to! (London)

[MelbourneStateofMind]

Looking to move within London in the next few years and looking for recommendations for areas. Partner and I have small DC and no other family therefore no ties to any particular area. We need access to the City in under 45 mins door to door, and good state secondary schools. We are not interested in moving out to the suburbs and like being within easy access of the centre of town, plus close to good green space.

We have been renting near Blackheath / Greenwich which is a lovely area for primary aged children but secondaries aren't great unless you are Catholic. Everyone here seems to bus their DC out to Kent grammars. We are against grammar schools and private schools (could not afford them anyway!) and the local comprehensive has had mixed reviews having been closed down.

I've been looking around at good mixed non-religious state schools but not sure whether to choose the area first, or, since we have no real ties to anywhere just choose a great school and go for that area. In a way having no ties is helpful, but it also means we can feel overwhelmed by the choice!

Some schools I have looked up are Graveny - but I don't know how nice Tooting is as an area? Also Haverstock School (we used to live round Kentish Town and absolutely loved it there but not sure what Haverstock is like?)

We have lived in London for 15+ years but prior to DC so mostly inner city flats. I am now looking at London with new eyes through a family lense.

We would have a budget of up to around £850/900 for a 3 bed, or 4 bed if we could afford.

Can anyone recommend a great state secondary or an area or both please? Thank you.

Graveney is a good school. It’s in Furzedown (between Tooting and Streatham) and is a great place to bring up children - commons, parks, shops, etc. You can walk or bus to either Tooting tube stations.

you might struggle with your budget and being 45mins from the city, especially with good schools. Herts/Essex would be a better bet as easy links to the city with much better schools, but not good if you don’t want to move too far out. If you go onto Rightmove there is is a function where you can put your place of work and see what is available within your budget and house preference. I think North London would be out of your price range, but NE might be doable, Wanstead/Woodford etc. south you could probably get somewhere in South Norwood/Sydenham/Lewisham, or SE around Woolwich or Charlton. You could definitely get something around Barking and Ilford, again not too sure on the school situation. I think Redbridge has quite a few top ranking secondary schools and would be within budget and good links to the city.

Thanks. Yes we definitely don't want to move that far out.

Woolwich Charlton schools are not brilliant o don't think.

What are you classing as suburbs? Most excellent London secondaries are catholic or grammar. Graveney is an excellent school but your dc will still be streamed & if not passing the test to get in on catchment you need to be very close. You may get a terrace needing work for your budget. Tooting is a great area for young people but tbh with dc I find it very busy,

Maybe some non religious secondaries in Wimbledon worth looking at?

Or there's a very good secondary in Sutton, I can't remember the name but it's not a grammar

How about the ark free school in charlton?

Bullerswood School (there is one for girls and one for boys) - non selective secondary schools in Bickley/Bromley but quite small catchment areas. Train to the city in about half an hour.

I was going to start a thread just like this! So am watching x

Look at the bromley schools. Mixed and single sex choice. Hayes, langley, ravenswood, bullerswood. Catchments can be small so do lots of research.

Look at locrating.com for all sorts of advice.

Tooting/Balham is a great family area and currently there are 3 bed houses in your budget on Rightmove in Furzedown. But these are the prices now. Who knows what they will cost in a few years' time!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77042266#/?channel=RES_BUY
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125515055#/?channel=RES_BUY
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123665594#/?channel=RES_BUY
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126654767#/?channel=RES_BUY

Prendergast Hillyfields is a great state school but girls only until sixth form. Some nice areas of south east London in budget, schools can be hit or miss depending on sex.

OP: says ‘no suburbs’ in post
PPs: ‘how about all these suburbs?’ 😂😂

Graveney is a great school and Fuzedown and Tooting are lovely family areas
the Colliers Wood end of Tooting is a bit more ‘up and coming’, the Bec end is greener and nicer and pricier

you can (currently) get plenty within your budget though…

Thanks everyone. Yeah definitely not interested in Bromley. It feels like a town outside of London.

Achland Burghley was another thought, though not sure what that's like now. The Richmond schools seem a bit far for our commute, eg Grey Court / Orleans Park.

There's also Ashmole Academy but I know nothing of that area round Wandsworth as we have only ever lived very centrally or North L.

As pp said locrating is good for these sort of questions (but you have to pay for most features).
When you say mixed do you mean mixed sex as well as ability?
If so options with outstanding Ofsted's (though you may want other views!) also include:
Charters North Dulwich - though you might struggle with your budget.
Dunraven Streatham - though I find it a bit far from any meaningful green space
Elthorne park and Drayton manor Hanwell - though z4 might stretch your definition of not a suburb, it can feel as urban and has similar quality transport links as others mentioned

Highams Park would be worth a look on that budget but I don’t know what the secondaries are like. Overground into Liverpool Street or change at Walthamstow Central for the Victoria line. Might be a bit suburb-y for you but I suspect the schools are better than in Walthamstow, which didn’t used to have a brilliant reputation for secondary schools (but my knowledge is dated, happy to stand corrected).

It would help if you could define a bit more what you mean by good secondaries. There are performance indicators on the .gov website is there a results cut off you would be thinking of? Hackney secondaries stream and have what I would consider good results as an example, but a lot of London boroughs generally have good schools.

To be honest it's early to say with my primary aged dc but we are just looking for excellent schools in terms of results, destinations (high proportion getting into good university courses), lots of opportunities for curricular and extra-curricular options - that sort of thing.

By mixed I mean Co-Ed. That's the ideal, anyway.

Ah yes thank you, I forgot about Charter Schools. The North Dulwich one might be the right catchment for us to buy in Herne Hill perhaps?

I don't know Hanwell at all but obviously the Elizabeth Line makes it fine commute-wise.

Acland Burghley is better than Haverstock these days I think. But the catchment area is small so you have to live pretty close.

Following just out of complete curiosity! This whole having to move house to be near decent schools just seems insane to me. My daughter is only 1 and we moved to Tottenham recently (not originally from this country) and all everyone keeps telling us we will have to move for the schools!! Jeez

i think il be moving home by the time secondary school comes round eeeep.

Yes it sounds crazy doesn't it, but unless we want to go private then I don't think we will want stay in our current area.

Streatham/West Norwood are both good areas near a number of good secondaries: Dunraven, Elmgreen, Norwood school and Kingsdale.