Moving to Wiltshire

[Countrymum84]

Myself (41) and my husband (42) are thinking of moving from Hertfordshire to somewhere around Wiltshire. We have a 5 year old daughter (currently in a private school but we'd potentially change to state if we moved) and have lived here for around 5 years. I have my parents living about 45 minutes away in Bedfordshire although they are divorced (they are 70 years old). We absolutely love areas like the Cotswolds, New Forest and the Jurassic Coast and Wiltshire is very central and has beautiful countryside. We're looking for a more rural lifestyle with a lovely community but still fairly good amenities (pub, cafe, shop, playgorund school etc).

My husband has his own business and works from home and only really needs to go into London once a month if that. More often he flies abroad. I also work from home.

I came across Mere and thought that looked ideal and the primary and nearest secondary school looked really good. The house prices don't seem to bad either - especially compared to Hertfordshire!

I was wondering if anyone has any experience living around these areas? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

All the primary schools in the Marlborough area are great. St John’s is well regarded, less so than it used to be. It suffers from its size. It is the only school for a vast area, and people travel in quite a distance. They have 1700 kids (not including 6th form). If you child is sporty, academic and robust they’ll do very well. The provision for SEND, arty kids or those with any kind of difference is much less good. It’s pretty impersonal and if yours is one of the many children falling in the middle and not standing out as either brilliant or terrible be prepared to have the impression no teacher actually knows who they are or anything about them.

the problem then is that you have very few alternatives. Pewsey vale is marmite. I know some people who consider it a far more nurturing and supportive school, others who have reported less favourably. Pewsey is a bit of an odd pace. Really lovely in some respects with a strong community but a bit insular and isolated in others.

Something to be aware of, and thisisprobabkybtrue for lots of rural counties. You have the really very well off who have nice lives and barbours and cocker spaniels. Those who are at the other end of the scale really are at the other end, with few employment possibilities, and little access to opportunity because public transport is dire and there aren’t e.g loads of colleges or course or support systems in place. Which is something that bothers me on a societal level, especially for kids growing up in these communities. They’re very homogenous. But that might just be me 🤷🏼‍♀️

I agree with the above poster. St John’s is too big, its pastoral care is shockingly bad, and the catchment area is enormous, which means the children are very widely spread. When my child had difficulties, her head of year had no idea who she was, even though she had been there 2 years.
I do love living here. But would have made a different choice if I had known what I know now about schools.
Tbh I’d be amazed if you found a house in your budget too. It’s the most expensive town in Wiltshire.

Did OP give a budget ? I didn’t see one.

If you liked Marlborough I would look at one of the villages to the North. It will give you more choice on secondary schools, assuming you don't want private education, but be aware you need to choose carefully as the boundary between Swindon and Wiltshire means that certain primary schools are automatically feeder schools for St John's and you won't get accepted to any that fall within the Swindon boundary. However there is much more choice of secondary school in Swindon.

Agree wholeheartedly with PP analysis of St John's and Pewsey. Both have very mixed reputations and pastoral care at St John's is a well known issue.

@DeathBanana @Thingamebobwotsit @marlboroughdweller that's incredibly useful information thank you!

If there are any secondary schools around there you've heard good things about I'd love to know

My advice would be visit some before you commit to moving.

What suits one child might not suit another. Ridgeway, Royal Wootton Bassett have good reputations. But both are big schools and don't suit every child. Pastoral care is meant to be good at both. Not sure what their results ae like these days. There are some good schools in North Swindon as well. And non-fee paying grammar schools which are just about commutable from that neck of the woods in Stroud.

Private school wise you can look at Marlborough, Stonar or Dauntseys (I think the latter goes up to secondary) for day only. Boarding there are other further afield which also have a good reputation.

We are lucky here - the schools are generally good in this area, several big MATs (white horse, ascend, Excalibur, Athelstan, st Laurence) and the Chippenham’s schools which sit alone. All have their own strengths (and weaknesses) so you will need to visit and get a feel for them, work out which are best for your kids.
I agree Marlborough is pricey and can be cliquey, RWB is v fast market, and Chippenham only really has new housing. Moving away from M4 (and the ‘Bath commute’) makes housing more affordable but transport links less accessible. Lots of lovely villages but not sure of availability of rentals. Wiltshire is a lovely area to live though, we are lucky to have so much accessible to us and you can’t wildly go wrong…

@Thingamebobwotsit yes 100%! We're going to come down for the weekend and visit the schools and potential houses to get a feel for the area more.
That's really useful info about the schools.

@samlovesdilys yes I agree the more I think about it I just the Wiltshire seems to be such a perfect area to live! Neither of us need to commute so we can be fairly flexible and we will be buying not renting.
Our daughter is only 5 but she's ver bright and at a great school now so I definitely need to make sure she gets the same where ever we move to. We will certainly visit the schools. Hopefully get to speak to some more locals too and get their thoughts. When we visited before everyone had very good things to say about the area.