Info on Marlow, Henley, Thame, Chalfonts

[Spanielmad]

Hello, we are thinking of moving into South Buckinghamshire for DH's work. Been looking at the impossible school situation already and earmarked a few areas with good (but oversubscribed) secondary schools.
Before I drive over to visit the area (we are a few hours away) I need to narrow down which towns we might like, as I can't visit them all in a day or two.

We like to be near or on the outskirts of a small town with stuff for my kids (young teen boys) such as a leisure centre, sports clubs, we like hiking in the hills/woods, I'd like a nice town with boutique shops, cafes, art galleries, art clubs etc. Low crime and peaceful would be good too- goes without saying.

Can anyone tell me anything about these towns? What are they like? I already know most of them are pricey- but would like to know more about atmosphere, crime, shops etc....
I have only done online research so far.

Henley,
Shiplake,
Marlow (my fav at the moment but hard to find a house),
Chalfont St Peter,
Chesham,
Thame.

Any thoughts very welcome!! Thank you

So my catchment areas to move into are Gillots, GMS, Borlase’s, Sir william, CHorleywood and maybe Amersham School.

That looks like a pretty nice list to have. St Clement Danes (Chorleywood) is terrific but I gather that you have to virtually live on the school roof to get a place, rather than on the outskirts. Very pretty area though.

Sorry if I'm not being clear. It just seems that you are writing we can move to Marlow and go to Great Marlow which you absolutely can and I'm sure your children will be absolutely fine and get a good education. I'm just trying to say that GM is not a comprehensive school and you should of course try the 11+. For instance an application for secondary would look like this:

Pass

1. Borlase
2. RGS
3. John Hamden

Fail

1. Great Marlow
2. Cressex
3. Bourne End Academy.

Spanielmad yes of course it can be your first choice- and a great one at that! I know people with very bright children who withdrew from the 11+ and chose GMS as their first choice. I also know quite a few teachers who have chosen to send their children there. It is a great school, it is high achieving by anyone's standards. The only reason it is ever unfavourably commented on is because it doesn't achieve as highly as Borlase (which of course it won't because it's not selective). They are quite different schools- you need to come and visit.

WhatInTheWorldIsGoingOn TBH I think GMS has performed equal to and maybe above JHGS and RGS in some areas.

I wouldn't list Cressex or Bourne End on my CAF ever - you will be allocated Bourne End if you don't get anywhere else - I would not choose with of those schools. Icknield would be preferable to Cressex or BE.

You definitely need to visit. I'm just trying to explain that it isn't a comprehensive and you will see a huge difference between GM and SWB.

What areas are those Ollycat?

And for what's it worth I hate the grammar school system with a passion!

interesting!! thank you.
Yes, the second choices are something to think about.
I don't think I can choose schools AFTER a pass or fail. I'd have to apply to Borlase's,, they'd arrange a test, not sure how this would work in a timeline but I suspect the council/school would try and organise it within 6 weeks. If Borlase is a fail, then apply to GMS etc...

will research Icknield thanks.
(had a look at Cressex and was surprised to find it had these sort of stats: 41% free school meals, 22%SEN, 71% have English as second language. wow.... )

and if Borlase is a pass and they are full, we'd still need a plan B...
Same with GMS, if it is full.
Maybe Gillots as a second choice or I'll look up Icknield.

I am not sure yet if I hate the grammar system, LOL!!

Icknield is Watlington. My original suggestion!

Cressex is such a beautiful school. One of Labours new buildings. So fab. Unfortunately whilst people continue to refuse it and try so hard for other schools it's never going to improve on those statistics. High Wycombe itself is extremely multicultural with a high Pakistani Muslim population.

what a shame.

Watlington - very far out but as a plan B perhaps doable.

Will call the schools in September and see who has the shortest waiting list for Y8 (I am sortof hoping it is Marlow, LOL, but they probably have the longest). then find a house in their catchment.....

oh and sell our current house. small detail. ahem.

Just a couple of things to be getting on with! Watlington closer than Thame.

And there are hills....

On the Bucks form you cannot choose an Oxfordshire school of course.

The Oxfordshire schools are more comprehensive in nature because the grammar schools are in Bucks and a bit of a journey that lots do not want to make. Maidenhead schools suffer from the migration to SWB.

I do not think you can do much more now until next week when you may find school staff are in and you can talk to them about tests and possible vacancies. High Wycome is very different to Marlow! Completely different. The schools are ethnically mixed but educationally there is nothing wrong with Cressex but some people run from the ethnic mix. Great Marlow school was pants in days gone by but the influx of children fleeing from Wycombe now makes it seem white and attractive. It has a very high number of high achievers who migrate to it so it ought to do well. Better than John Hampden of WRGS? No, not really. Depends what you are looking at but the vast majority of parents whose children get into a grammar school take up the place and very few able children do not take the test at all.

If parents hate the grammar school system, I cannot see why they choose to live in Bucks. It is not far to other counties and comprehensive schools! It's not as if the grammar schools are a new phenomenon.

On the Bucks form you cannot choose an Oxfordshire school of course.

The CAF? Yes you can - I did (twice) as did many people I know!

Great Marlow has no influx of people fleeing from High Wycombe- it only has students from its catchment in recent years and that does not include High Wycombe.

I disagree totally with the insinuation that the only reason why people don't send their children to Cressex is they're scared of the ethnic mix. I wouldn't send my children there because it was, until v recently in special measures, the only course it offers in Tge 6th form is childcare, there has been a high staff turnover and whilst it produces good outcomes for those in the early stages of learning English I don't believe it stretches high achievers - from their website (curriculum section) it would not appear that triple science is offered and the only language offered to gcse (for non native speakers) is French.

OP this morning's errands etc have taken us from Marlow to Burnham & onto Slough. In case it hasn't been mentioned, your husband doesn't want to have to go through Slough on his commute. It gets ridiculously congested.
I know you've got another thread asking about Sandhurst etc. I work in that area. From junc 8/9 of the M4 to there takes me 35 mins to arrive for 8.30. The traffic going the other way is much worse and often stop/start. There are back routes if he were going to Stoke Poges but they're fairly windy and, as quite rural, about 20% of the time you get stuck behind something for part of the journey (or maybe I'm really unlucky). My journey home (leaving at 5pm) is faster but, again, the other way is congested.
The above times don't include the A404 as you wouldn't be doing it if coming from Sandhurst. Marlow to junc 8/9 takes me 15 mins in the morning; usually less in the evening.
Do you work? If so, where will you be based? There are some nice villages around Stoke Poges etc and all of them are easily accessible to countryside for dog walking, bike rides as well as Windsor, Marlow, B'field for shopping etc although you may have to be more of a taxi service for your DC.

Thank you Penstemon, that is really helpful and kind of you to share. We'll have to make sure his commute does not involve Slough. Sounds like Sandhurst - SP might not be great, and definitely longer than 35 mins. I know all about getting stuck behind farm traffic - we got that here as well...;)
I work from home (one of the reasons we need a fairly big house)
but the main thing is really the schools. We will go (within reason) wherever we can get our kids into a decent school, without having to go through too many waiting lists, appeals and upsets. DH is willing to commute for that...well, up to 50 mins or so....
SP doesn't seem to be in the catchment of a great school.....:( so I ruled it out. My dog would love it there, I am sure!!
thank you again - very kind!

Anyone got any feedback on Furze Platt school - I think Ollycat mentioned it is 'ok'. Cookham and then south into Maidenhead has decent houses but is in the catchment of Burnham Grammar and Furze Platt....

Drove through the area earlier. How often is dh likely to be based where? Is proximity to SP or an easy commute into London more important. Many people will commute there from well outside the area.

Personally like Gerrards Cross and the area around, and towns along the river. Chalfonts and Chorleywood a bit meh, but commuting convenient. Dh grew up in Amersham and a 3 bed semi could now set you back £700k, with no land or character (Met houses). You really need to spend time down there as the area varies enormously and a seemingly nice looking house may well be in a less attractive area or on a busy road, for example. Likewise you can be close to Slough/Wycombe yet feel out in the country. I don't think many of the schools are particularly bad but those in Wycombe and Slough will tend to reflect the local ethnic diversity.

Thanks for commenting Lizs! We don't need to commute to London at all. DH will work in SP so we need to live within 40-ish minutes of that.
Schools are vital and will probably decide where we'll end up.

Interesting to hear your take. Many people find Gx a bit meh and love Chorleywood! LOL
Thanks so much. Yes I agree I need to spend some time there. I don't think I'll have enough time though, hence I am trying to reduce the search area a bit. Driving around from Amersham to Henley and SP and exploring town centres etc is a bit much perhaps. Maybe we should rent first as then we would have time to sort things out. It would mean moving twice but it might give us a bit of breathing space... Not sure yet.

I've lived in Marlow for 27 years. I can't fault it. Have a couple of the best schools in the country. Buying is getting very hard though, the house prices have got so high.

I don't know it myself but hear good things of Furze Platt

My friends with children at Furze Platt are very happy

Btw which not very good schools were you looking at in Stoke Poges that weren't very good? As far as I know they are CCC which has already been discussed & Burnham Grammar which is good. There is the Khalsa School which rather confuses the issue, of course - I think it means you wouldn't get free transport to elsewhere.