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

Mumsnet has indeed been great.
It seems that, indeed, we have little choice but to end up in non preferred schools and/or on a waiting list.
But I am not giving up yet. People must move in and out of this county , do all newcomers have to start if at a badly rated school? I am continuing the hunt for under subscribed schools and as of next week, school places (although if there is one somewhere I doubt we could take it. Perhaps we have to move further out towards Wokingham, sandhurst, Oxford or Harpenden. Perhaps we will reconsider the weekly commute and DH rents a flat/room somewhere. I hate that option but if it means a good school and stability for the kids.....

Bucks county doesn't publish school places until 11 September (but I doubt we could get those places as there's probably waiting lists but it might at least give us a clue where our chances lie.
Hertfordshire has a current list, also found one for Slough area. No info at all on Oxfordshire schools yet.

Thanks SingaporeSling! Had not looked at those schools yet as not really looking for inner city living or schools (Waingels is the farthest out?). They all have decent ofsted reports.
Thanks so much

Wondering if it might be harder/easier to let the kids finish their current year (Y6 and Y8). then try and move in early summer so they can start a new school in September Y7 and Y9. Would be better for their mental health, I am sure
But the longer we wait the harder it might be to get him into a secondary school as we will miss all allocation rounds. So the choice of secondary will be even smaller if we wait. We'd be left with whatever school has spaces - and we know which schools those are....

But how hard is it to get anywhere near the top of the waiting list over the summer period when you want a Y7 spot? Allocation rounds will have been and passed. People will have accepted their places, all movement will have finished. I would imagine there is little movement in Y7.

So if I'd move to Marlow in the summer, GMS and Borlase would be full, I might be sent to the nearest within catchment, which I think is Bourne End Academy or Cressex (unless I can state a preferment and apply for more than one school, I can list Gillots, Chalfonts, Furze Platt etc etc whichever are preferable over Bourne End/Cressex)

I would imagine they would end up at Bourne End or Cressex but for how long? I know, nobody can answer that one.

Starting to think this whole thing might just cause too much stress to the kids and we should stay put and DH will have to find a flat ($$!!) somewhere.

As someone who has had to live apart from DH on a number of occasions over the years and is currently doing so, I would definitely advise against that option as a long term measure.

I would think better to move the boys sooner rather than later. Are they particularly sensitive/ anxious children do you think? Otherwise, I think most children are more adaptable than we think (barring obviously bad things like moving mid GCSEs/ A levels). I think you sometimes have to have short term pain for longer term gain, at least that is what we have been aiming for!

We are just about to go into a period of living apart because both DCs are in non-moveable periods in their education.

I'd second the 'move as soon as you can'. Y8 is a bit of a 'nothing' year in many secondaries - whereas quite a lot now start at least some GCSE courses in Y9 - and being in place to get your younger child in with a chance of being in the normal application round to secondaries (or at least the second, which seems to be a 'thing' in bucks whereas most places just have a single allocation day then random shifting around as places become available) will be invaluable.

In your place I would be looking to have an address in Bucks for application deadline day in the coming term, so with any luck (if you can get an 11+ exam in ASAP) your younger child can just progress primary to secondary as normal.

31st October sould be your deadline, as that should allow your younger child to be treated as a 'normal' applicant.

Mmmm yes I have one particularly anxious child (youngest) who is struggling with a lot of things (except school wok, he's extremely bright). Having to move him into another primary, having to go on a residential, moving to secondary (hopefully the one we want) will be be a huge issue.
I hate the thought of them having to go to a less preferred school for a period of time and then move schools again. I just can't see how it would not make my youngest have a backlash and my oldest would have to work hard to avoid getting behind (3 secondary schools wit potentially different books, methods, topics).
His anxiety might be a reason to win an appeal but if not I just don't know.
Long distance marriage not great either....it's 'only' 2 hours away though. DH could probably work from home one day a week but still. We don't have any other family around.
I will call the schools but can't imagine one them will say "yes we have a Y8 place and we'll keep it free until you've moved" (even if that was a short term rental) and a primary with the same answer.

:(

I should think your son in year 8 would catch up just fine at that stage but tricky for the younger one if he is likely to be so thrown by moves. I think moving him sooner and trying to get a late 11+ test seems best. We are seeing if our oldest can move up with DH first so that she can start her GCSE courses there rather than move mid course which is clearly a bad idea.

Thank you jempuddle! We are mulling it over, difficult one....

It is virtually the same anywhere you look at in this country - parents like good schools and shy away from the less good. Bucks is no different to anywhere else. It woud be fine if every school was good, but many of the secondary moderns have always fluctuated in terms of their quality and some have a long history of RI or worse and people tend to avoid them, if they can.

I think the Head at Cressex is doing a good job so if you cannot get in anywhere else, it is not the end of the world. There are also 6th form options when the time comes and grammar schools do recruit at that point. Chalfonts is not the end of the world either, and, although some people find it big, they often do not cope well with the difference between a small cuddly primary and a large secondary. There is also Holmer Green School which you could consider.

I suspect the reason Bucks do not publish their vacancy lists until 11 September is due to last minute and never-ending appeals. There are appeals against the 11 plus results and also against school allocations here and there are hundreds of them.

I would see what the options are for Y8 vacancies, be prepared to travel and get your younger child into Y6 and register as a late registration for the 11 plus. Again, be prepared to accept what you are given if he is successful. You will need to flexible on primary schools too.

You cannot, I believe, register a preference for schools not in Bucks, on your preference list from Bucks CC. You will have to see what the admissions arrangements are for all the schools outside Bucks and there may not be central admissions system in those Local authorities.

thanks Bubbles! Yes, that is just it - are we going to be prepared to accept what we are given or not. I am not sure. It depends on what we are given. I don't mind driving/distance but I do mind making my kids unhappy/anxious/not doing as well as they could. I would rather have a weekend marriage than that. But it is hard to tell.
Am going to call schools to find out whether they envisage a Y8 place coming up this coming year (in a normal world we don't envisage moving until the new year) and see what answers I get. If all say 'probably not' and 'it will be difficult' we might not move at all. Not sure. Must visit places like Chalfonts etc to see how I like it. Have hopes that Sir William might have spaces as it is so big.
Thank you again - its all been revelatory!

If my kids pass a grammar school test, but the 'local' grammar is full and won't offer a place, what happens then? It seems mid-year and late applications are done by the schools themselves so does that mean we would have to apply to a different grammar ourselves?

I do think the schools will know earlier because they should have their roll for the first day but I also know appeals can go on very late. Certainly Lord Williams at Thame is a good school and I would ring them becasue you would not want to change from that school if a place is available.

Generally, as far as I understand it, if a child has the required score they will be offered a grammar school place if there is one. My local girls' grammar frequestly had 33/34 in a year group due to appeals so schools can be flexible. Not all are so popular and there should be a late place somewhere but with increasing numbers of pupils coming from outside Bucks, the whole landscape has changed. In my village, three late applicants got into Chesham Grammar 10-15 years ago, but times have changed. SHF in Aylesbury was also in that category and John Hampden in High Wycombe. There was always a pecking order of grammars! You may get lucky!

thanks Bubbles. will call them next week. Sent another email to the council and waiting for reply...

Also wondering if for mid year applications, can we actually list a preference? If we get refused in one school, can be apply for another, can they go down a list of our preferred schools or do they just straight away allocate you for the nearest one with spaces?

I've seen the mid-year application form for Oxfordshire schools and you can actually list 3 schools. But for Bucks I don't know.

Its mad as you can only apply 6 weeks before your move and if there is refusals/appeals/2nd, 3rd preferred options we probably could not tell the kids where they'd go to school until after the move. madness.

You can list three preferences for in year admissions in the same way as you do with normal round admissions. Note though that some of the schools you're looking at (e.g. LWS and other academy schools) deal with their own year admissions themselves, so you can either apply to them direct, or you can apply via the Local Authority, who will pass on your application to the school.

aha, thanks Virginia! I would imagine I can then write 3 schools down, grammar or not (or maybe even 3 uppers and apply for grammars at the same time separately).
thanks!

Have you managed to visit the area yet? I would really do that before selecting schools etc as it's important you like the area and there are quite a variety of different places in your search.

No, but hope to soon.... kids need to go back to school and there’s time yet. DH is not working there yet. The search area is still very big so will need a bit of time to visit all these areas.

Which of the mixed grammars (Burnham, Borlase, chesham, H Floyd) is known to be the kindest and good on pastoral, sports, science, languages and not too pushy and focussed on results?

I think they're all good - obv different people have different preferences.

My children are at Borlase so can only really speak for them but their pastoral care is excellent (my youngest is quite anxious and they have been excellent). Borlase is outstanding at sports competing at very high levels in a whole range. A number of students are selected to play at national/ international level - particularly in hockey and rowing but also other sports and a great many play at county or higher - the school is very supportive of them but also inclusive of all abilities. Sciences are very strong - there is a STEM coordinator and a wide range of enrichment opportunities are available- most students do CREST awards and there is a big STEM fair plus loads of other stuff. Languages- French, German Spanish and Mandarin - compulsory to do at least 1 to GCSE. They are focused on results - name be a school which isn't - but supportive rather then pushy. Their results are outstanding and that is the norm. They are a selective school and so there is tgat level of expectation. Dance, drama and music are also outstanding and all offered through to A level. They produce well rounded confident young people who work hard but also have fun.

I'm sure the above could also be said for all other Bucks grammars.

Oh and in year 10 they run a trip to Space Camp in Alabama.

space camp to Alabama - as in space - science, rockets and stuff? wow. Ugh I’d be worried sick, but that sounds really exciting. :)

thanks for that on Borlase. We know all about anxiety so that is good to hear.

Yes my friend's son went on the Space Camp and had a ball!

They are ALL focussed on results. They are grammar schools! However, I believe they are all supportive and are outstanding schools. Sports may differ from school to school and no doubt you can download a prospectus. Often schools have a lot of details about their sixth forms so you can see how the older children in the school are developed into adults. You really would not be unhappy with any of those schools. Yes, they do run expensive trips so be prepared to dig deep. That is the big difference between a secondary and a grammar in Bucks and why there is a pecking order of secondaries. It is the extra opportunities that the grammars seem to offer.

ooh good point, the parents would have to pay for the trip to Alabama! ugh, that would be a 4-figure sum....

Yes Space Camp as in zero gravity etc there are 40+ of them off at Easter all VERY excited!!

Yes trips are many and varied! MFL exchange trips, history trip to Berlin, German to xmas markets, there's some sciency trip to Finland, d of e through to gold (expeditions to Norway), politics to Washington, this years sports tour was Hong Kong and Australia- next years South Africa, ski trips and so on ....

Some children do all the trips, some none and most something in the middle but yes there are many opportunities!

I'm sure the others all offer similar. All schools do have an individual feel and their own identity so it's important to visit them (not at open evening though these are always jan packed and hideous!!)

Spanielmad Space Camp isn't the cheapest trip but they do get a lot from it