Talk to me about Twickenham and Teddington!

[NicLondon1]

We are currently looking at houses in Twickenham and Teddington and I don’t know the area at all (though DH grew up nearby and has family nearby).

Can anyone advise me on the best Primaries and Secondaries?
The area by Kneller Gardens seems more affordable than those closer to the river… why is that? Are there any issues to be aware of?
By the river/ Strawberry Hill area I worry we wouldn’t be in school catchments as they are mostly private schools…?

And then Teddington has a longer commute time but lovely High St… is Collis Primary the one to go for?

Grateful for any advice, thanks!

I lived in the area for many years, and I would say get the Flightradar24 app loaded on your phone asap, to check the places you look at are not under a continual flight path. More of an issue for Twickenham than Teddington. Also with Twickenham be aware that on Rugby days (80,000 capactity at Twick Stadium) whole roads will be closed off to traffic i.e the road from Twickenham Stadium, down to the station. Kneller Gardens area is closer to the A316 so traffic noise could be more of an issue, but I'm not aware of any major problems. I can't comment on schools. Although having now moved out to the Home Counties I'm pleased to be away from the general agro of Greater London, but you have chosen nicer parts, and I'd go for Teddington personally.

Like previous OP can't comment on schools, but have lived in Twickenham for years and in your place I'd look at Teddington. Better shops, for a start. Twickenham, frankly, is a bit of a dump. Granted, we have a Waitrose, but all the banks have closed and are steadily being replaced with fast food shops, and it's a nightmare on rugby days.

Most of the primary schools in the area are very good (although we are counting down the days until autistic DD2 leaves Y6); the secondaries are less uniformly excellent but still good. Also a lot can change in 7+ years if you’re just looking at primary for now. The links below are worth a read to gauge catchment areas (to your point about Strawberry Hill as it has been a bit of an admissions blackspot in the past). Catchment areas for Orleans Park secondary were really tight this year (but that might just be because many are siblings of a bulge year in Y8). Around Kneller Gardens you might be in catchment for Waldegrave Girls’ School, which is v highly regarded if relevant and you’re ok with single-sex, but (the co-ed alternative) Twickenham School’s reputation is less good (I follow their ex-Waldegrave head on twitter and she seems great though).

Personally I prefer Twickenham to Teddington, it’s better connected and more down-to-earth! Agree the shopping is a bit shit though.

https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/17682/how_primary_places_were_offered.pdf

https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/25749/lbr_tss_furthest_distance_offers.pdf

Personally I prefer Twickenham to Teddington, it’s better connected and more down-to-earth!

Not sure what you mean about down to earth but agree the trains are better; with the caveat that it is South Western so they are equally likely to be shit on any given day.

Not from there but a major rugby fan I wouldn’t be anywhere near the stadium we often park on local drives when we go to game and it often takes us an hour to get out it is a nightmare, the plane noise is awful to.

Not just one stadium, two.

There is also train noise (squeaking rails) to look out for.

Prefer Hampton Wick tbh but don’t know anything about schools there.

Just that we’re in a bit of an overprivileged bubble in (much of) the borough generally and although Twickenham certainly isn’t excluded from that, I feel it’s less acute than in Teddington (and St Margs, Richmond, Barnes etc).

Twickenham does have faster trains but also it’s not too much hassle (provided you’re nearish the high street/Richmond Rd) to hop on a bus to Richmond and get tube/London Overground from there if SW Trains in meltdown. Teddington is in the middle of the Kingston ‘loop’ so has two different SW Trains routes for getting into Waterloo but last time I checked they seemed to leave at very similar times (so on paper they might have 4 trains an hour, but they effectively left every half an hour). That might have changed though.

Thanks for the info....
@MrsDanversGlidesAgain how often are the Rugby days approximately...? Is it every weekend in summer or more sporadic?

@Kta7 thanks for the schools info.... it actually looks like catchments are pretty good, around 1km or more (where I live in North London they can be 0.3!)
Do you happen to know if Trafalgar Junior school is improving...? It's not had great Ofsted reviews but I wondered what the parents views were?
And also anything about the reputations of Archdeacon Cambridge or Twickenham Primary Academy (which is outstanding but looks like an office block...?)?
Re: Secondaries, I have an 8 year old DD so Waldegrave or Orleans Park sound ideal - is there a preferred one of those...?
Thx

Afraid I don’t know much at all about those 3 other than I’ve heard good things about TPA on the grapevine (people were allocated places there when it first opened rather than actively choosing it, due to it being a bit office-blocky, but seemed very pleased with how things worked out in the end).

We’re very happy with OPS, especially on the pastoral care side of things but obviously its academic results are strong too. DD1 wanted to go to Waldegrave but is now glad she missed out on a place. I think it just has some of the all-girl school issues but of course some of those benefits too. It also affects the gender balance in other schools as there’s no comparable all-boys’ school in the borough, but DD1 doesn’t seem too fazed by that. The catchments of the primary schools you mention don’t currently overlap with the OPS catchment (I don’t think?) but if doing an in-year move I guess that’s less relevant as you could position yourself closer to OPS.

Have heard good things about Turing House’s results last year too.

@Kta7 Ah thank you... yes, we're still looking at properties all around the area so depends on where we buy in the end. If we had a choice to buy in any particular school catchment, it does sound like OPS is the one to go for....

Not a rugby fan but it seems to be pretty much every weekend in November, then looking at my diary this year

2 days in February
3 days in March
2 days in April

Then in May we've got the Sevens and the Army/Navy, which in spectator terms is pretty much a riot with some rugby attached. To give you a clue - military and navy police flood the area on Army/Navy match day and the shops shut at five rather than have drunk squaddies and ratings rampaging through. And the Sevens are not much better. The RFU Twickenham will have a fixture list so you can check the times and the dates. Dunno if we have concerts lined up, as well (it appears we do, Depeche Mode on 17 June) then in August summer series starts.

TL;DR if you move to Twickenham stay out of TW1 if humanly possible and definitely nowhere near the stadium; unless you really like rugby. Twickenham is pretty much run for the benefit of the RFU.

Teddington over Twickenham, if the commuting works out.

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain sounds rather terrifying!
Cheers... need to spend a day in Teddington I think to get to know it better.
We were initially going for the quicker commute in Twickenham, but Teddington still in the running!

The problem with Teddington is that the trains into Waterloo are scheduled for 35 mins but it’s rare to get in at less than 50 mins in peak because the faster trains get priority. House prices are also very high because of a lack of decent sized family homes.

Mostly the rugby crowds are OK. People work around them and know when the fixtures are, and aceept that we live in Twickenham, there's going to be a lot of rugby. 😀

Army/Navy is a bit different because it seems a lot more aggressive. People are asking why it can't be spread between the major rugby stadia instead of Twickenham getting it all the time.

Thanks again to everyone who provided valuable info… we’ve opted for Twickenham and had an offer accepted just heading down to the Strawberry Hill area, close to river and 15mins walk to Twick station! Woo-hoo!
so actually - it is prob equidistant to Teddington for the cafes, win-win . Very excited!

Waldegrave goths school (non selective) is absolutely brilliant.

Girls school. Not goths. 😂😂😂

Strawberry hill great. More likely to get waldegrave but not Orleans. Rugby is t really an issue, you just have to plan a bit.

My view of Collis Primary School as a parent is not good, i recently had two of my children there. One DS having SEND needs, hence i think initially i was reluctant to uproat them, but when finally took the step to change school leaving Collis as so many other parents did in the same time as we did, i can honestly say my only regret is not doing it sooner. I personally found that my two children did begin to flourish and doing so much better in a different school.
During the time i had my children at Collis it had a change of 3 sencos in less than one year, and i also found it was a tremendous turnover in Teacher staff in general, and that sort of speaks for itself the amount of Teacher leaving in my mind.
But that is my personal point of view. If a parent looking at reception places and trying to make their mind up, Hampton Wick Infant and Nursery has outstanding ofstead report made in December 2023, compared to Collis that is over 10yrs ago and their outstanding Ofstead is totally outdated compared to other schools nearby.
St Mary's and St Peter's Church of England Primary school had outstanding ofstead rating as late as end of 2022.
Collis financial situation can be found online and they are struggling, that will obvsiously have a big impact on the schools performance. I found that the classes was way to big in order to save money, 31 pupils in each class and it will obviously also have an impact on spending on equipment etc for the children. If you are considering this school still, i would email the school and ask how many pupils per class in the relevant age group you are considering. I dont want to go in to specifics, but my personal experience of this school is not good and cant recommend it at all unfortunately. Collis is one of the few schools in the area that has not yet had an up to date Ofstead visit report, i am certain if they had it will no longer be outstanding. The outstanding ranking is ten years old and cant be taken in to consideration in my mind. But this is obvsiously a personal view, i just know that i wish i had changed school earlier. And knowing what i know now, i would never put my child in reception in that school, instead either Hampton wick or other smaller schools nearby. I hope it helps some parents, torn what to do. My eldest child was end of Year 5 when i took the decision to change school by the way.