Moving to maidenhead?

[Naz346]

Hi ladies.

I need some general advice on moving to maidenhead.

I currently live in North West London and renting a 3 bed. It's an old building we live in and it has no insulation by the looks of it. As soon as the heating goes off, the cold starts creeping in and I can feel it. I can't live here next year as I wake up with asthma most morning. So we have decided to move out of London as it's too expensive and become more costly as the years go by! I have 3 children, 2 DS and 1DD. Dd1 is in year 6, Ds1 year 4 and DS2 is year 1. There are a few things I wanted to know before I move in the summer.

My DH is Asian (Muslim) and I'm white and our children very much take after their father. I don't want them to feel different in any way shape or form so wanted to know how diverse the community is and also which areas to avoid. we don't want to move too far out further than maidenhead as DH will still be commuting to work Monday to Friday to North West London and anything within an hour will be reasonable.

The next thing I'm thinking about is schools. I am looking for a good primary/junior school for my younger 2 and a very good secondary school for DD as she will be moving to year 7 in September.

Any advice will be invaluable. Thank you x

Maidenhead isn't rural. It's a large town

I really wouldn’t call Maidenhead rural!

It's a large town & plenty of Asian/Muslim people. You have missed the deadline to apply for senior schools though, so would have to go as a late entrant and may not have much choice of schools. There are some good schools I believe but I don't know them personally. There are villages around Maidenhead if you really are looking for somewhere more rural, but that wouldn't be so good for a commute.

Maidenhead is nice, has reasonable train service but isn't rural.
It's also not cheap to buy there. I used to work there and like the place - sorry I don't have first hand experience of schools etc. You'll have to get a wiggle on if your daughter is moving into Yr 7 in September. Mine's past that stage now, but don't applications need to be in very soon? Sorry I know that's not very helpful

A bit more of an answer.

Some parts of Maidenhead are catchment for Bucks Grammar Schools - tge transfer test was last September so you would need to apply for late testing.

If you’re not moving until the summer it will be very difficult to gain a place in any good secondary school - Grammar or comp.

Maidenhead is a diverse community. High Wycombe also has a large Muslim community.

Applications were by 31 October I think

Sorry, I have no idea how cosmopolitan Maidenhead is, but I would imagine very, given its proximity to London, and in no way would I call it rural!

The Wikipedia pages on Maidenhead might be useful, it lists the schools, as might staying a night in a Premier Inn or similar, and getting a feel for the place.

Thank you ladies. I'll have to get a move on with all of it. I'm not looking to buy but rent and it seems it is a whole lot cheaper than where I am currently. High Wycombe would be quite far out as I have family in Ashford Surrey and want to be closer to them for various reasons.

P. S Sorry I may have posted this on the wrong thread.