Does anyone live in Sutton/Wallington with children at the boys' grammars?

[menagerie]

We've visited some of the schools and liked them so much we're considering moving there if our boys get in.

What's the area like for families? What do people do at weekends? Is it friendly? Would love to hear from anyone who lives round there and has boys at Wallington, Wilson's or Sutton.

We're looking at houses but it's hard to get a feel for where the close communities are based, as it's much more urban than where we are now, which is a village where everyone knows everyone.

Thanks.

I live between Wally Boys & Wilsons.

Weekends - nowadays every Saturday morning kids go for music lessons & theory at the Sutton Music Service school.
In the past they used to go to gymnastics, drama school, swimming, cycling club.
(not all at the same time mind you)

I think there's lots to do, close to central London or to the seaside, Thorpe Park/Chessington near by.

I don't live in the villagey part but I know there are posckets where peopel are very friendly with each other.

What is your budged is going to make all the difference as prices (as you noticed ) vary a lot.

If I had a choice I would live very near (or on the edge) of Beddington Park :)
however Croydon Road is very busy night and day.

My kids are in Grammar schools and with their hobbies there's not much time left for more activities to cram in.

Thanks kayah - sounds like you're very happy there. Yes, I had noticed prices vary. We won't move unless we are successful with grammar school places for the boys, but if that happens, it would be nice to have some insider info on the area. There's only so much you can tell from driving around and drooling over properties on the net. The schools seem really lovely.

Schools are excellent.
Can't fault them much.
Each different in their own right.

Is fairly relaxed area and you make of it what you want.

When is your oldest boy sitting his exams?

Are you currently in London?

Ds will start y7 in September, my dd is in y 8 now.

DS1 will be sitting the exams in Sep 2012 for entry 2013...

just enough time to do the prep well
there's one very good tutor in Wallington I can recommend

Kayah, thanks so much for the offer. But right now we're too far from Wallington for a tutor there. We've got a tutor in Surbiton for now, who was highly recommended and sounds very thorough.

I hope it is enough time to do the prep. Despite glowing parents' evening reports, the end of year grades were a bit lower than I'd hoped, so there's a lot of work to do between now and next year.

I want you to keep in mind that English story writing has very high bearing and is the subject which takes longest to get right.

matha IMHO is easiest to get it right, VR - yo uhave to go through all types and pace it so that when you do the tests yo ustill have enough time to brush up areas which are the weakest.

I hope he's going to pass it and remember to place schools in order of your preference.

I have lived in the area all my life and teach in an Ofsted accredited school in Wallington. It's a nice place to live - South Wallington is lovely, Carshalton Beeches lovely. Parts of Waddon Beddington, North Wallington and Hackbridge less nice (no offence to ppl - I live in one of these areas so speak from experience).

There are lots of parks, Westcroft leisure Centre (though closing for re-furb in Sept I think). Schools run holiday clubs, Sutton Music Service is excellent.

I would agree with acsec re: parts of Sutton Borough

I also like to feel of the houses/roads around Carshalton Park and Carshalton Ponds.

Carshalton itself has more vilagey feel, but the road going through it is very busy :(

This all sounds so good. Thanks acsec. I've heard Carshalton Beeches and South Wallington are nice. Glad the music service is good as DS1 is passionate about music.

Kayah - thanks so much for that tip on story writing. It's what I teach, actually, so my sons are probably pretty good at it for their age, but haven't ever worked on timed writings, so that's what we'll concentrate on.

Also mainline trains into London from Wallington, Hackbridge, Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton stations.

Story writing is only 20 min.
Advice from the tutor was - not to worry about finishing it but write enough including as many of types of sentences as they can.
Not sure if this is the best example:
www.eslbee.com/sentences.htm

Buy both parts of those books:
www.amazon.co.uk/Tutor-Master-Helps-Write-Stories/dp/0955590914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310923773&sr=8-1

to give you idea about possible topics

and go slowly throught them discussing with him what he could write.

Good tutor would covered most of the mby the time of his exam.
If not - there's enough time to get through them.

Story writing is only 20 min.
Advice from the tutor was - not to worry about finishing it but write enough including as many of types of sentences as they can.
Not sure if this is the best example:
www.eslbee.com/sentences.htm

Buy both parts of those books:
www.amazon.co.uk/Tutor-Master-Helps-Write-Stories/dp/0955590914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310923773&sr=8-1

to give you idea about possible topics

and go slowly throught them discussing with him what he could write.

Good tutor would covered most of the mby the time of his exam.
If not - there's enough time to get through them.

Thanks. You've been so helpful.

Dear Kayah, could you please be so kind to send me the contacts of the tutor (in Wallington) you mentioned above?My e-mail address [email protected]

Thanks in advance!

Hi we live in north london and are thinking about moving to wallington for grammer schools. Did you move? If so what do you think about living in wallington? We are thinking about south wallington. Is it safe and homely? Does it have good community feel? Any advice much appreciated .

Hi Cerney, We moved to South Wallington recently for the schools and have settled very quickly and we really love the area. One thing that surprises me is how local people talk so positively about Wallington - i haven't found one person who doesn't like living here and I think this speaks volumes. I also feel safer here than I did in SE London.

The local shops are great and you can park beside the train station for a fee. I have a found a job in Wallington and the staff have made me feel very welcome. It was worth the move for us.