Moving Out Of London For Kids Education

[Rohey]

Looking to move out of North West London to somewhere we can get a bigger home for our money and more importantly good schools..

Both Hubby and my job will be uneffected, so the move would be purely for the kids education.

We have 2 DDs 1 x is 6 and other is 3... I have heard that Kent has more grammer schools but is so vast I don't know where to start..

Anybody got any advice/suggestions etc??

Thanks...

[Ruthiebabes]

Hertfordshire has a selection system. Children sit an exam, therefore if academic can get into some very good schools ie Watford Grammar for Boys and Watford Grammar for Girls, Parmiters, Queens, Clement Danes.

We moved to Abbots Langley from Edgware a couple of years ago for better schools and a more village community. We are very happy here.

[LadyThompson]

Bucks has grammar schools. Hardly any other counties do (or only have one). Oxford state schools aren't all that good imo - don't know about Cambs.

[blimey]

and if kids prove to be very academic there is newstead wood girls grammar school in orpington

[blimey]

Beckenham, west wickham, hayes area - 30-40min commute to central london and excellent primaries and secondaries - cf hayes secondary and langley park girls and boys schools - they even make the good schools guide!

[WhereYouLeftIt]

If you have considered Oxfordshire, Warwickshire is only slightly further up the M40. We live in Leamington Spa, it is expensive to buy here but pretty much all the schools, primary and secondary, are good schools. There are no grammars in the town, although I believe there are some in Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick. I'm currently going through the choosing-the-secondary and I basically don't care which he gets in to, they'll all do just fine. It's also a very nice town to live in.

[happywomble]

Horsham and Dorking would be good places to look. Reigate/Redhill good if you are church going. Howard of Effingham is meant to be a good comp but don't know what the primaries are like in that area.

[Morosky]

Dorset is fab, I teach in a very good state school and there are others.My dd is so happy in her state primary (although I abut to start a moaning thread . WE have the grammars and there is Sexeys for state boarding in Somerset. Quality if life i wonderful here.

[mumblechum]

Mollie O, certainly ds wasn't tutored at all, but most of his friends were and/or went to independent primaries.

[MollieO]

As you have two dds you could consider Maidenhead or surrounding villages. Newlands (girls only) has a good reputation.

[MollieO]

mumblechum we are near Marlow and I'd heard, rightly or wrongly, that the grammar school results were so good because of the pressure put on parents to arrange for private tutoring. I'd love that not to be true as it is our catchment grammar although at primary school in Maidenhead.

[Lilymaid]

If you are unsure whether your DCs will get into grammar, Cambridgeshire (South Cambridgeshire), NW Essex - Saffron Walden/Newport and Bishops Stortford (just in Hertfordshire) have some excellent schools - and no grammars. All commutable to most parts of London.

[Mins]

Rohey yes there are good secondary schools here. Cambridgeshire has village colleges and we chose our village as it has a particularly good one. However we are paying for it in that we have a smaller house not a bigger one - although we have borrowed money to extend in some way! I really don't miss Harrow although do miss friends etc. Good luck with your search.

[londonmidwife]

There seems to be a delusion that schools in London are rubbish and those outside are great. Grammar schools? Great if you pass the 11 plus but history is littered with intelligent failures. Where I live there is a fantastic girls secondary (Walthamstow School for Girls)which gets outstanding Ofsteds every time and has brilliant GCSE results. Look at their website. My daughter has just finished there and has had a very good experience. Its also a truly diverse comprehensive that takes all abilities and is multicultural, properly equipping young women for modern Britain.

Houses in W'stow are also cheap by London standards, its on the tube and overground and the market is huge and cheap. Its perfectly possible to live here with a family and not need a car.My daughter would leave home if we tried to move to the sticks.

[thedolly]

Bury St Edmunds and Saffron Walden are lovely market towns with good schools - you might as well google them and have a look.

Good luck .

[HeadFairy]

Oh I've seen, it's the Royal Alexander and Albert... to be honest, I'm not sure we'd be able to afford it, even in 2018.... unless we win the lottery!

[HeadFairy]

LIZS, sorry for being ignorant, whats the RAAS? Thanks for the advice re the Warwick. It's a shame, because of course that's our closest school and so I'm sure the one we'd be allocated. To be honest, I'm sure we won't be in that house in 2018.... we're going to outgrow it fairly fast. Might have to think about looking nearer Dorking Leatherhead... or slightly closer to Sutton and try for Wallington.

[LIZS]

HF , I'm afraid W not going great guns yet. The head is relatviely new and actively trying to change its reputation but gcse still under 50% irrc, in 9 years maybe. tbh RAAS is the dark horse around here, shaking off it SEN reputation and very much in the ascendance with rapidly improving results and facilities.

[Rohey]

Eiben - good sound advice re: looking into secondary schools first..

Mins - thanks for the advice. It's nice to hear that someone from Harrow feels the same.. Are there good 2ndary schools around you? Good luck and I hope the move proves the right move xx

[Mins]

Rohey - also forgot to mention in my earlier post that we looked at lots of places that were commutable and all had house prices quite similar to Harrow. Haven't read all of thread so not sure if commutable for London is part of your criteria or not. The village we've moved to has a junior school similar in size to the first/middle school DS went to in Harrow, there are still 30 to a class but there does seem to be more going on there and certainly a very strong community vibe everwhere.

[scaryteacher]

You will normally only get less than 30 to a class if you are either in a small village, or you pay.

[Elibean]

ps Rohey, my dds are same age as yours: would definitely look at secondary schools first, then find good primaries nearby - it goes fast!

[Elibean]

Read thread with interest. Just sold in SW London, and are renting in same area and dithering over what next...depends partly on what house prices do, but also wondering about secondary schools as not much choice in our area atm.

I have family in Oxford, and grew up there, so we've looked at that - there are a couple of good/outstanding state secondary schools, but prices in their catchment areas aren't much less than where we are. A bit, though, which might make the difference.

So many pros and cons!

[Mins]

HI Rohey

We just moved from Harrow 8 weeks ago to a village just north of Cambridge. House prices here are roughly same as Harrow or possibly a little bit higher. We moved as we felt Harrow had really changed a lot over last few years and were worried about sec school etc for ds who has just turned 8. DH still commutes to London which is do-able from where we are - although much more time consuming and expensive than from Harrow. DSs new junior school has an outstanding OFSTED and is very impressive so far although we have had some problems with some neighbouring children being somewhat anti-social let's say which we never had in Harrow. Generally though much nicer and friendlier atmosphere than in Harrow but is very white and somewhat middle class - very diffrerent to what we are used to. We are in quite a large village with shops, banks etc and only a couple of miles from centre of Cambridge so great for shopping. Hope this helps!

[FiveGoMadonTheDanceFloor]

Dorset - Thomas Hardy and Lytchett Minster both good secondary schools with Purbeck not far behind. Primary feeder schools are all excellent plus have the option of Parkstone Grammar for girls and Poole Grammar for boys.

[mrsruffallo]

I'd stay in London for the teen years. They'll be bored and provincial otherwise.
Plenty of good schools here!