Moving to Woking - advice pls

[refizade]

Hi there
I already posted this under primary education but thought i'd try here too.
We are thinking of moving (from Dubai) to Woking and need advice on schools and areas to live.
We will consider state and independent but may not be able to afford independent for more than 2 years...
We have boys who will be going into year 10, year 5 and year 4.
I havent had much luck finding good secondary schools in Woking and other than RGS no recommendations for Guildford either. Someone did mention Winston Churchilll tho...any others? Fullbrook? What is Freemantles? is Philip Southcote any good?
so much to consider!
many thanks in advance!

thank you so much again all of you.

Randommess, I think u really understand my predicament :) I need to get DS1 into an indie (somewhere not too far hopefully), then if no state places for DS2 and DS3 I can prob manage to pay for them to go private till year 6 or poss year 8. Then if we can afford it we carry on down the indie route and if not then like u said there needs to be a good state alternative.

West Byfleet sounds ideal. Or Weybridge. Like I said we need to see these places. Will be tricky at xmas when its freezing cold and with toddler in tow but needs must.

harrison1999purple, thank you so much for the info. I did find woking swim club online and they seemed serious. Am hoping DS1 will have time to continue swimming...will take u up on PM offer, thank u.

Am slowly getting with the jargon! ;)

Weybridge to Woking swim club - forget it - traffic is bloody horrendous!!! Although there is a pool in Walton near the borders with Hersham but not sure if it has a swim club as such? If you may have to transport your eldest to the International School - it's a fairly long walk from the station, again the traffic bloody shocking.

If you want to go State secondary then you need to move at the end of year 6 to take up the place for year 8. It would also mean that you could afford indie 6th form if you felt it appropriate.

Bizarrely I would rather live in West Byfleet than Weybridge (tho Weybridge more prestigeous) more of a community feel perhaps. There are several decent junior/primary state schools close to West Byfleet so hopefully at least one will have spaces for both boys.

There is a shortage of school places in the area which means if you didn't take up state at the end of year 6 I don't think there would be any places at all in Year 9!!!!

What sort of budget to you have for a house, I love looking at property on right move

Guildford has one extremely good swimming club, and another good one.

thanks for that randommess. budget to buy around 800k. to rent upto 3k per month? have been checking rightmove all week :)

I'd prefer to put DS1 on the school bus (International school do have one to woking/weybridge/west byfleet) at least for the first term. I dont have a uk driving license and may take forever to get one as i drive like an Arab :) But the nightmare traffic is from Weybridge to ISL, right? Not from West Byfleet?

Thank you mummytime, will def consider Guildford (not just cos of the swim club of course!)

Yes Weybridge to ISL is a nightmare!!!

Anywhere to do school drop off is awful so the nearer you live the better

Def research Burpham to Guildford station as an option - how long the drive takes how much parking costs as well as the commute time.

£800k is a healthy budget to get something decent, may not compare to what you have now but you will certainly have a choice - I can't even afford to live in WB let alone Weybridge live in the horrid area in between them

From Burpham it may be easier to drive to Woking station than into Guildford, as the traffic is queueing all the way in the morning. Parking is £135 pm at Woking station car park.

Random. My DD begged me to go to Fullbrook. I wanted her to go to Woking High!

This is a very naice address. My friend lives in this road.

Burpham

And yes Guildford has a good swimming club.

I let dd choose in the end, I figured over riding her wishes would only work against me. At least it has saved me in bus fare! Next one is following to the same school in Sept, wonder what the youngest one will choose to do - wouldn't be surprised if she upsets the apple cart and decides she wants to go to boarding school like my eldest did!

The thought of having to drive to any station around here in the morning and then commuting makes me shudder. Quite happy with my 10 minute cycle ride

Thanks again randommess :) Which schools are your DCs in? Do you also have 4 kids?

10 mins cycle ride sounds so nice...I guess not that great in Winter in uk. Then again here that would be a nightmare in the summer!

I light of what all of you have said, I think it makes sense for us to rent for a year, maybe in Pyrford/West Byfleet. Put DS2 and DS3 on the list for hoe bridge, St Andrews, Greenfield but also Pyrford Primary and West Byfleet Primary and try to get DS1 into ISL or another Indie that has a school bus.

Having said that we will def look into Burpham and also Weybridge, hopefully at xmas. We have close friends in Guildford but not sure where in Guildford they live...

My DH is saying we should consider Kingston but have had a look on rightmove and even 900k doesnt get sth really nice...Any views on that?

Cece, I told my DH that as soon as i mention the budget, you would appear with suggestions! Lol!

Education for the kids is DEF priority but at the same time moving to a not nice area or living in a shoebox will be quite depressing for all of us and make the move seem like a disaster. The kids are already worried about leaving their friends behind and I am worried about safety, them being bullied etc :( You do get used to leaving the back door unlocked in Dubai or leaving my handbag on the shopping trolley and walking off down the aisles! I once left my car engine on in a car park for hours!!! By mistake of course! But dont think that car would have still been sitting there in most countries...

We're not expecting anything as nice as what we have here in Dubai, but the other house we have in Liverpool is also very big with garden etc so I dont want to have to squeeze 6 of us into a 3 bed.

Dont know what is "the done thing" on this forum but maybe mums with similliar age kids in the area might like to meet up once we move? Am sure everyone is busy with their own lives and routine tho

I liked the 2nd house you sent me Cece :) Had a look at schools map and although its very close to George Abbot, there dont seem that many primary options for DS2 and DS3 other than Lanesborough...is that any good? Loads of options for DD but she's the last of my worries as she's only 18 months :)

I think we can assume we wont get into the Catholic state schools...

Personally I wouldn't want to live in Kingston especially not if you want state primary for your youngest - huge shortage of places. Nice town but just crowded unless you could afford to live in the very very nice areas. Like you said you don't get much for your money there.

Also worth putting their names down for the primary schools in Byfleet and New Haw Juniors in New Haw - both an okay drive from where you would be driving and get good results.

Yes I have 4 dds, the eldest went to boarding school, #2 is at the JHS which is much improved on what it was 6 years ago (yes it was truly shocking) the intake has changed radically in recent years due to the catholic diocese changing their criteria (if you're not catholic you don't stand a chance!). It's never going to have fantastic results across the board due to the intake however those who work do very well and it is on the up. Youngest 2 are at Ongar Place primary which is fantastic - still growing into it's primary status but very nurturing and is long term focused rather than just getting high SATS results.

This area is also suffering from a shortage of places at all primary levels the sort of overspill from London I guess!

Certainly I would be looking to live somewhere that is well within good secondary school catchment, you can apply for places and then go private if you decide finances can afford. This is an area of huge economic variety - real poverty and multi millionaires all living side by side.

Actually cycling in the winter isn't an issue - by the time you've de-iced the car (no garage!) and queued the whole way to work in a cold car it's quicker to hop on your bike and get it over with. I just don't like cycling when it's very windy or chucking with rain in the morning. Free exercise and overtaking all the cars has it's advantages

With having a toddler you are sure to meet people and make friends easily, also if you put your eldest into the internaional school I would anticipate them being very open to getting to know new people as they are used to having to move regularly IYSWIM.

Although Send is in the catchment for George Abbott I've heard some awful things about the primaries in Send and Ripley so perhaps an area not to consider until you're already here and have the opportunity to look properly. Mind you would also be a drive to the station etc.

Yes forget the catholic schools!

Weybridge has a lovely playground at the back of the high street - parking is behind the library, but watch out the parking warden is hot on issuing fines!

Another great place for all ages (as has adult gym equipment too) is this one and usually has a little kiosk open and quieter than Weybrdige one www.sunningdale-pc.org.uk/RecreationGround.html

Is it Charters that is the fantastic secondary school near there? Is that somewhere to consider buying in the catchment area of?

Other thing is Merlin passes - eldest can go to Thorpe Park, younger ones Chessington and Legoland and you can all go and do various things in London with them

yes, that was my feeling about Kingston too. Although we hope we can afford ind schools, I would prefer to go with an outstanding state primary for DD if poss. And if by the time she's due to start school, we realise that we will be able to afford it I can put her in Halstead or St Andrews etc. As I said she's the least of my worries for now :)

Yes, New Haw is on my list of schools to call 2moro, as is West Byfleet Primary.

Was gonna ask about Ongar Place! So glad u mentioned it cos I'd forgotten the name and couldnt even remember how I'd found it! Will look into it. Thanks.

Thanks for tips re Send and Ripley as well.

Ongar is highly unlikely to have spaces - it is now only a one form entry. Surrey well and truly messed up by closing down schools and converting to primaries, completely ignoring the opposition from Runneymede borough council and the facts and figures about the rising demand for places due to increased birth rate.

Sayes Court is good too - again a more mixed intake but great results for any dc that want to work. My eldest went there and the next 3 would have done had they not changed both Ongar (was infant) and Sayes Court (was junior) to primaries - very annoyingly we walk past Sayes to get to Ongar, still after 8 years (they went to pre-school there) only 2 years left!!!

I think really it's just Sheerwater itself to avoid but again if you want multicultural that is the place to go! It's more that it is one huge council estate (although lots privately owned).

totally confused now! Isnt junior and primary the same thing? Dont have a problem with multicultural (mixed family as it is) but dont like the sound of council estate...Havent come across Sayes Court yet, will check, thanks.

Guildford has a lot of primaries, and most of them good (regardless of Oftsted, who has been hitting Guildford primaries hard). In the Burpham area you can walk to: Burpham, Boxgrove, Bushy Hill and St Thomas of Canterbury (these three via the subway under the railway line, which is very safe and busy at school times); I also know people who walk/scoot to Holy Trinity from there.

If you go to the Station before 8 am, the traffic is fine, after the traffic builds fast with parents doing the school run. You may also want to consider London Road station.
The only boys Prep is Lanesborough, but I believe there are buses to Cranmore and Belmont (and maybe others).
If you lived in Send you would also be in George Abbots catchment BTW.

If St Peter's has room it is willing to take non-Catholics, and as a school would prefer more non-catholics (the diocese has other ideas).

Infants is R, year 1 & year 2
Juniors is Years 3,4,5 & 6

Primary is R through to year 6

Secondary is 7 through to 11

Surrey had loads of seperate infant and juniors but their current policy is to convert them to primaries.

Don't get hung up on the Ofsted rating - they recently overnight changed their criteria and lots of primaries that were good/outstanding are suddenly only satisfactory. Ofsted rating is a waste of time - read the ofsted reports for the last 2 years and see what they actually say about the school. Long time ago Sayes Court failed because it was in debt (whilst waiting to sell some land to pay for major work) - everything else was great...

Generally I would avoid Sheerwater/Ripley and Send juniors/primaries down to personal experience of people I know. I know nothing about the Guildford schools. West byfleet/Pyrford/New Haw/Byfleet/Sayes Court/St Pauls/Ongar all fine.

haven't read the whole thread and you may be up to your ears in suggestions but one more for the pot - Horsley. Good state primary, catchment for outstanding secondary and easy access to lots of indie secondaries, by school bus or train. 15 mins drive to g'ford and easy train access when they are teens. not too expensive to park at station and lots of commuters cycle there as well. St John's in Leatherhead may well have space for your older ds. Lots of indie preps/jnr schools as well.

Random talks sense

This is a nice address in West Byfleet. Short walk to the school as there is a cut through and easy for DS1 to get to Fullbrook.

Yes cece, very naice, I can dream, I can dream walkable to the station too.

Randommess, thank you once again. I was actually just looking at the Ofsted Rating! Have just read the full report for a school rated good and to me it sounds much better than just good :) Its a primary in West Hosley called Raleigh...any views on it?

Its not far from Howard of Effingham which I understand is an Academy that was previously outstanding?

Does anyone know much about ACS Egham? It offers IB but is it an American school with a proper American Curriculum? Or do they do IGCSE?

I dont think I'm going to get DS2 and DS3 into the same school, whether I opt for state or Indie :( The 3 Indie's I've called have at least 3 on waiting list for each year and the state one told us we would move to the top of the list if we move to the catchment area but top of the list still means one kid from each year has to leave before my 2 get in...

Will read reports now for those other Primaries you mentioned in West Byfleet/Pyrford