Moving to reading (schools)

[movingtoreading]

We are currently looking for a house in reading /earley/wokingham area and i am looking for recommendations around schools .
Initially we were thinking of moving only to Wokingham or earley for the holt and maiden eirlgh catchment but there isn't Alot of stock and you don't get much for tour money
I have came across some beautiful houses in tilehurst and it's in catchment for good primary schools birch copse but i am not too sure about secondaries . My kids are only in primary now but we want to make sure there are good secondaries as well as we don't want to move again
Does anyone know about little heath and denefield schools ? Results don't seem to bad
Thank you !

King’s Academy Prospect is excellent. Hugely improved in recent years, part of a very successful MAT. If you ask to visit, they are always very accommodating.

Thank you .As far as i can see their results below average and is not in the area we are looking at .
Do you know anything about little heath and denefield schools?

Some parts of Tilehurst are really nice, but some are not. Have a look at the postcodes before you commit to Tilehurst: https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/18771961.readings-least-deprived-neighbourhoods-revealed/

Statistics showed the five most deprived areas in and around Reading were located within Whitley; The Meadway in Tilehurst (RG30 4 postcodes); the Honey End Lane area of Tilehurst (RG30 3 postcodes); Norcot (RG30 1 - RG30 6 area) and the Northumberland Avenue area (RG27).

Thank you so much for that ! The area we are looking at is RG31 postcodes so not in these

I used to live in RG31 although moved away now. My nephews went to Birch Copse and it is a brilliant school. Catchement
Secondary is Little Heath or Denefield. Really close to the Thames with nice villages like Goring and Streatley. Nicer part of Reading than east in my opinion and close to Newbury which is also nice.

Both Little Heath and Denefield are good schools, getting decent results at GCSE. Both schools are over subscribed, Little Heath is the bigger of the two, but Denefield has a fantastic pastoral department. The RG31 side of Tilehurst is also a nice area generally with easy access to some lovely places.

Thank you both ! I am debating if we should get more for our money in that part of tilehurst (birch copse denefield catchment) or stick to lower early for maiden erlegh and aldryngton

Maiden Erlegh has seriously tiny catchment for such a large school. Many parts of Lower Earley have no chance of a space there. Lower Earley children take the bus to Bulmershe, Emmbrook or Forest for secondary.

The house we are interested in is 0.3 miles away ? They are currently in primary so i thought it would be easy to get into ? As it wont be an in year application
Not sure about primaries though i am guessing it would be more difficult since it will be an in year application for both

Check with Aldryngton if the house you are interested in is in catchment. The office should be able to tell you.

Hi everyone ,
We are close to moving now and the only primary available that has places for both my children and is close enough is earley st peters
Does anyone have any experiences with the school ?
Hillside also has spaces for one of my children so i could potentially get ok the waitlist for the other

Earley St Peter’s has a decent reputation, don’t know about Hillside but you can always check the latest Ofsted reports.

But… does that mean your local secondary would be Bulmershe? That does not have a good reputation locally.

The dream duo is Aldryngton/Maiden Erlegh

Well if i would be applying normally we would be in whiteknights primary school . Aldungton is very close to us 0.3 miles but they are only taking odd numbers from out road so we would get whiteknights . I will put whiteknights as a first option but realistically they have 7 kids in waiting list so i dont thibk we will get it .
I am trying to find the best option where i can get both of them in .
The only close on that has both is early st peters , then the rest of them are 6 miles away (keep hatch, all saints and st theresa)

Secondary we believe we can get into maiden eirlgh as is 0.3 miles in catchment and is the reason we are moving . Hopefully since wile wont be applying in year we will be able to get in
Hillside is the "closest" one along with with early st peters that has in year places .

Have you phones ME to check that the roads you are considering are in catchment? Their catchment area is not large as it’s a very popular school.

I have emailed them and they told me to check with the council
The council has given me this

experience.arcgis.com/experience/eb3b4c8650f4488bba78bb38f190dc3a

website when i put the address in ,ME
comes up but aldyngton for example doesn't even thought they are the same distance from the house . So i believe that site is accurate and we are in ME catchment ?

Ok hopefully it is in catchment then.

It does make sense that ME would be in catchment but Aldyngton wouldn't, despite them being the same distance from the house. Because Aldryngton is much smaller and is even more over subscribed.

Is really weird ! so the houses on our road that are odd numbers are in catchment but not even numbers 🤷🏻‍♀️ i assumed it would be tbh as distinacr wise is the closest school to our house . we wouldn't get it anw though as we are moving in year !
We are mainly moving because of secondaries so i hope i can find a good enough primary that has spaces . We will be in the waiting list for white knights but council said is as popular as aldyngton so i don't have much hope

Earley St Peters is also a good choice if that ends up being your local primary that has spaces.

Thank you . I went to see it and is quite different than the one they are in now which is why i am hesitant is quite big and seemed a bit chaotic