areas with good state secondary and primary for family relocating from US

[luluT12]

Help: I have 3 daughters ages 7, 10 and 12 that I need to find good state schools for. We need to be commuting distance from Farringdon Tube Station. I hear it can be a real challenge, finding a good secondary school that is not full. All three of my girls are very bright and good testers. Any thoughts on family Neighborhoods that might fit the bill? Thanks!

So does selective mean entrance based on scores and non-selective based on open lottery?

Non selective usually based largely on distance from school

Although it varies - here it depends on feeder primaries then distance from the school

selective state schools usually refer to the 11+ exam or a school equivilant taken in year 6. Non selectives have a list of criteria, usually starts with Looked After Children, Children with SN, siblings then proximity. Some schools operate a portion of places based on lottery, but that will usually be lottery within borough.

Essentially it is too late for your eldest to do to the selective exams for year 7 entry.

Check out Camden School for Girls, La Sainte Union. Depending on where in Borough you are, you can also apply for out of borough schools, if you are within the proximity criteria...which would mean Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster Boroughs and perhaps others.

Look at the train lines into Farringdon. For instance, I know our local line goes there, because my DH takes that train. So Kentish Town, West Hampstead, Elstree & Borehamwood, Radlett, St Albans, Harpenden, Flitwick, Luton, etc.

Subscribe to one of the school catchment finder sites (your county)schoolguru.co.uk and check which school you would get into for every house you view. It's a nightmare, but you are moving out of sync with all of the application rules, which means you will end up in the only school that has places. And that's not the outstanding one.

Good luck!

Oh, one more thing: never, ever trust an estate agent saying that a house is in a good school catchment area. Estate agents are lying bastards would tell you anything.

catchments also can change from year to year...

In London there aren't many selective (grammar schools) so most non selective schools still have lots of bright pupils. ie not all the brightest are syphoned off. The top sets in most comps will be them same level as the grammar schools.
Something else to consider! until recently all pupils studied the full curriculum from year 7-9 then chose options for years 10 and 11. many schools now start to pick options in year 8 to study from year 9 onwards. May be useful for your eldest as she wont have to do French and or german if she hasn't done it before.

good point mary re the paucity of grammars.

But I think its worth pointing out that the ebacc 'standard' include an MFL and many schools are erring on the side of caution and going to ebacc standard across the board, so an MFL will probably be compulsory.

An hours commute could take you well outside london. 3,500 a month would be a lot outside London, family houses where I am are more like 1,600. But our train comes into the wrong side of London for you. Why not look at the man rail stations withint your travel to work time, and look to see where the selective schools are?

You could try Redhill/Reigate . There are First Capital Connect trains direct from Redhill to Farringdon that take just less than an hour.

If you want to get out of the city, look at St Albans. Train journey straight to Farringdon in 35 minutes (granted, it is not a cheap journey). Great schools. We are an US expat family living here and would be happy to give you an intro...

I live in The borough of Camden OP and travel to Farringdon is about 15 mins on the mainline from Kentish Town for us. Door to door probably 40 mins as we are not close to the station.

La Saint Union is very close to us and we have what I consider to be brilliant primary schools in Gospel Oak, Brookfield, Eleanor Palmer etc. the secondaries nearby have a joint sixth form which I have only heard good things about. Camden School for Girls is selective I believe but not in the grammar school sense I don't think.

It's a great place to live with Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill and Regents Park nearby.

Hey luluT12, if you're going to be in the borough of Camden, you could try renting as close as possible to the new UCL (University College London) Academy - they do their intake by distance to the school, at the moment 0.7 miles and start from year 7 (age 11)

Hi LuluT,

I did not have the chance to read through all the posts, but wanted to say to be aware that the school system is very hard to navigate (think Manhattan, or harder), unless you come at the reception time. As opposed to the US, here living in the school catchment (even across the street from the school) does not guarantee a place at that school, unless you register in advance for year 1, 7 etc. As you have three girls, chances are you will not have a good place for at least one of them (not to say that in fact you may get a very bad school). Also, be prepared for the high student/teacher ratio, that may affect a bright student (although in some schools children are placed in ability groups; but you get the kind of attention you get in a school ranked 10 or 9/10 in the US only in a private school here).

Just try to make some phone calls to asses the chances to get a place at a school of choice (and do not wait until July, as we did)...you'll be surprised.

What I would do based on our experience (and pain) after relocating to the UK? I would live somewhere outside London where the rent is lower and would consider private schools for at least one of the daughters who will not get a place at a decent school.

I am sorry if this sounds a little pessimistic, but we went through a very painful experience (we had no choice but enrol our bright child in a "good" primary school which later was downgraded to "needs improvement"). It was so painful that later, even if we had the chance to have him in an "outstanding" secondary, we considered private school (indeed, a very good and famous one).

Good luck and I hope things will go better for you.

One more idea: I think that the chances to get a good place for the oldest daughter are the smallest, as having her in good (selective) private schools or even state schools would be difficult. So I would focus on her and chose where to live based on a school for her. I know of an outstanding catholic school in Guildford (St Peter's), where it does not matter where you live and also where from time to time there may be places, as parents from this school tend to relocate more than parents from state schools. If the location is convenient (train takes 40 mins to Waterloo station), call the school and mention that the daughter is g&t.

There are several relatively good state primary schools in Guildford (St Thomas, Boxgrove etc), and some very good private secondary schools (Guildford High School, Tormead etc)

Or look for catholic schools in other areas

Look for ofsted school ranking and start from there....

Good luck!