Moving house, pls advise on the area!

[Olchik]

Hi! We (husband, myself and a 3month old baby) are thinking to move out of London and get a house (under 500k). Looking for someplace under 1h commute time (to London) and with good schools and a nice safe neighborhood. Somewhere where it'd be nice to live as a family.
I came across some properties (mostly looking at new build) in Reinham, Rochester and Sittingbourne. But I know nothing about either of them. In fact I know nothing about any area at all 🙈 do you know about/live in any of these 3 or can recommend something else?
Thank you 🙏

Maybe put the places in the title to get more posts?

Oh good idea! How do I edit the post in the app? I m not very tech savvy haha

Rochester has a nice vibe in some areas but v close to Chatham which is rough, it wouldn’t be my first choice for safe / good schools. Does it still have prisons, I think so?

I’d rather have a small house in Borough Green / Hurst Green than a big house in Rochester

What London stations do you commute to? Is a commute from St Albans an option?

Be aware that Kent has grammar schools which sounds great but sucks because there are no comprehensives, so either you pressure and tutor your child from age 5 (and they might still not pass the exam its very random who passes), or you send them to a secondary modern which doesn’t have the most academic children there.

Hi! Thank you. I am super new to all this, FTM. Could you please kindly explain to me what is grammar schools and the other kind you mentioned?.. I wasn't born here so I don't know how school system works and my baby is still very small so I didn't research the topic yet....