Relocating to Kent. Help!!!

[Anagaga]

Hello! I need some help! My brother and his family (wife and 3 kids) are relocating to Kent. His job will now be based in Dartford. They have asked me to help them decide where to live and to find a good school for the kids. The problem is that I don't know that part of the country very well and so I thought I would ask you for advice.
So, there are two main questions I would like to ask your advice on:

1. Where should they live? I am told by a friend that there isn't anywhere nice around Dartford and they should head towards Meopham, Wrotham, Vigo Village.... Any other ideas a little closer to Dartford?
2. it is very important for them to send the kids to good schools, but they cannot afford to send them to private schools. They are all secondary school age. So, question 1 needs to be considered together with question 2 :-)

I have been looking in the Internet but I think it could take me forever to figure it out!!!

It is a sudden job transfer and so they have so many things to get sorted!!

I will really appreciate your help!!

Chelsfield and surrounding area is quite nice and Swanley Village not Swanley the place is also bearable.

For good secondary schools Bexley is 100 times better than the Meopham area. Superb grammars and great non-selectives too. About 15 mins drive from Dartford.

Thank you!! I will look in the places you have mentioned. Any other ideas welcome!

Chigley1 is right, Bexley area is very good. I'm a secondary teacher in Kent, so know a fair few of the schools...

Any in Bexley you would recommend?? It needs to be nonselective!
They are relocating from Spain and although they speak English, they will need a few weeks to adapt to working in English all the time.
They currently attend a grammar school in Madrid.

St Catherine's and St Colomba are non selective and have reasonable reps. The better ones are grammar though.

Otherwise Bromley LEA isn't bad; Bullers Wood, Bishop Justus, Ravenswood are all decent schools.

If they are looking at Bromley, Darrick Wood is also a very good non selective. However, for all the good non selectives, you do have to live quite close to the school.

Isn't Colomba Croydon way, though?

True, Darrick is good. Taught there for a bit!

There is one Bexley way too.

Bear in mind that they are very unlikely to get grammar places- grammar schools are usually oversubscribed in all years. So make sure that the schools that "non-selective" children go to are as good as possible.

Thank you ladies. I will get on the phone to the ones you recommend straight away.
They will be renting a house until they find one to buy, so they can live anywhere they need to as long as the kids get into good schools. They will adapt pretty quickly, but the first couple of months will be difficult for them.
Thanks again!!

Wilmington grammars and Wilmington area - check for places- could be possible. Pleasant location and pleasant schools

Wilmington - nice part of Dartford.

It's not impossible to get into a grammar after year 7, pupils leave and places are freed up. You don't say how old they are. It is always worth asking.

St Columbas is dreadful - you only have to put it in on line and find the newspaper stories to the stabbings, it has high levels of racism (worked there). The pupils are bused in from inner city and terrorise Bexleyheath from 2pm rendering it a no go area. It cannot fill its places at present and it is Bexleys dumping ground for casual admissions. The incoming Y7 is the lowest ever, only 80 places filled from a cohort of 150.

There are lots of pretty villages outside Dartford. If you are looking at those, Wilmington Grammar has the reputation for being easier to get into than the Dartford Grammars. Wilmington Academy is worth a look I only hear good things about that.

The Bexley schools are always worth a look, although you won't get into BETHS or Townley; people simply do not give up their places even when having to move. Some children now commute in from Canterbury.

Looking at this again, I would say to look at Bromley Borough, specifically near Darrick Wood, Bullers Wood (girls) Ravenswood (boys) Langley Boys or Langley Girls.

The father will be commuting against the main traffic, and the children will be in better schools. I would look at the area round Darrick Wood, particularly, as that is also good for St Olaves and Newstead Wood, should they decide to look at a grammar, later on, once the children's English has improved.

If the kids are secondary school age, you will need to consider whether places are available at the schools you are most interested in. If they are moving into Year 7, the most popular schools will be full, and have waiting lists. If they are moving into other year groups, some popular schools still have waiting lists. You can find this out by directly contacting the schools. The webste www.how-to-choose-a-school.org/ tries to be objective, and is not for profit. I'd have a look at this.