Advice on schools and nurseries near the Lakes Estate in Palmers Green

[QuaintMauveRobin]

We've seen the house of our dreams in the Lakes Estate but understand this is a bit of black hole for school catchment areas and would like some advice. Our children are 1 and 5 years old so would be looking for a fantastic nursery and primary school but would like to stay here long term. Does anyone have any advice as to which nurseries or schools might be options for us. We are lucky to be able to afford private school for later years but might be able to stretch to it if state primaries are not options. Can anyone in the area make any recommendations of where they send their kids and if they are happy with them? We currently live next to a fantastic school in archway but have outgrown our current home so weighing up whether to move our not. Thank you in advance for any tips!

This is the kind of question that local Facebook groups excel at. There's a sizable group (5k+) called Palmers Green Parents that might be able to help!

Lakes estate definitely used to be a primary school black hole but that is changing with the declining birth rate. You’ve got Walker and st Monica’s on the Southgate green side and Hazelwood on the Palmers Green side. Plug the postcode into gov.uk schools site, see how far the house is from schools and then look at how far the catchment is in the last couple of years. Should give you a feel.

That is super helpful! Thank you!

Following on from what pl242 said, Hazelwood's probably your best shot on the Palmers Green side, and the catchment there has actually been creeping outward the last couple of years as birth rates drop, so don't rule it out even if older threads say otherwise.The friend of mine was choosing between N13 and N14 recently for similar reasons, https://localeiq.co.uk was handy for cross checking how the school ratings and local deprivation stats actually stacked up postcode by postcode, rather than just going off Ofsted alone. Definitely worth pairing that with the gov.uk distance checker pl242 mentioned since admissions distances shift a bit year to year. Good luck with the move, sounds like a lovely area!

Thank you, I really like the look of Hazlewood so I am really happy to hear the catchment is wider that previous years. Looking to the future, does anyone have any experience of living in palmer's green and thei kids attending private secondaries in north london, whether the journeys are doable?

I have a good friend whose kids are at Hazelwood and she and her family have found it a very supportive and friendly environment. As others have said, the boom in London primary aged pupils is over now and after many extra classes were laid on 10-15 years ago, a lot of even the popular and highly rated schools are struggling to fill their places. Worth checking with the school or LA before you set your heart on something though.
A lot of the north London private secondaries lay on buses from the outer boroughs - nearby Winchmore Hill will definitely be on their route as it's a wealthy area. Makes a long day for the kids though.

That is very helpful thank you, yes agree these coach journeys must take ages with all those stops en route. Would love to hear from any parent who has experience of this whether you advise against it as Enfieldlady makes an excellent point about it being a long day for the kids!