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

No school can afford not to have buns on seats so outstanding grammar schools don't hold vacancies for arrivals. They may have a place or two if insufficient have got 121 in tbe 11 plus or got through the 12 plus. Sometimes Sir Henry Floyd in Aylesbury doesn't fill up. You could try them if Bucks admissions haven't ruled them out. I would move sooner to rented but it's very difficult to get a primary place at the better schools!

I think the co-ed grammar schools are not particularly liberal. Also my girls went to a single sex school and believe me, girls meet boys! Brothers of friends, neighbours of the girls, parties - all sorts of ways but just not in class. Doesn't seem to harm anyone. Generally the single sex schools get the best results so they must be doing something right!

I was assuming that if you were buying a 4 bed in Gerards Cross, Beaconsfield, Marlow etc, you had deep pockets. You could get the fees for school by moving further out and buying a cheaper house. You could easily save £200,000.

Thanks Marlowrocks! A 7 min drive into town sounds fine to me.

Thanks Bubblesbuddy! Not sure that would save me 2.5k a month though. It makes complete sense a school will not be having spaces if they can fill them! Yes, moving to rented is an option. I bet primaries are just as hard but must admit am less fussy about it as it's his last year anyway. It is all about the secondaries!

Of course good schools are full, there are plenty of other people wanting them!

If your youngest is moving into Y6 he would be taking the 11+ in a few weeks if he was in Bucks, he needs to prepare for that if you want to give him the best chance.

If you think both DCs would do well at grammars then you could post/search here in the Buckinghamshire forum to find out how often places come up:
www.elevenplusexams.co.uk

The Amersham school (not grammar) mentioned up thread does very well and has an inspirational head btw but I imagine has no spaces either.

Good luck.

thanks MarshmallowNougat!

Does one prepare for grammar testing by getting something from WHSmith? I did ask in that forum for a link to mock tests but got nothing. I was not going to get to do much but having seen some of these test before the real thing will no doubt help.

thanks for the heads up on Amersham School.

I assume the grammars administer tests themselves after 11 plus if they have a space. There are several very good non grammar schools such as The Misbourne, The Amersham School, John Colet, Waddesdon, Great Marlow and a few others. There are some to avoid too! You could see if any of these have places and transfer to a grammar for 6th form or when a space comes up. Although the Chalfont is huge, it is a decent school for many children and again, better than some of the others.

When the admissions legislation changed so that the grammars had to take out of county children, the spare places dried up. Far fewer children get 121 in Aylesbury Vale so the grammar schools there have many out of county pupils. The least popular is Sir Henry Floyd in Aylesbury so you could look at living in Thame and seeing if SHF has a space. Haddenham is a popular village just in Bucks but close to Thane. Or Long Crendon. Good luck with all this. I know it's difficult.

I do know people who live in and around High Wycombe for cheaper housing and pay for private schools. A larger semi around there is cheaper than a 4 bed detached in Beaconsfield or GX and they then release capital for school fees. London families can get a lot of capital by moving out.

We live near Thame and absolutely love it. Transport links are great with Fast trains to London in 40 mins, Birmingham is equally easy by train you can be at the Bull Ring in an hour. The town is on the Bucks/ Oxfordshire border so if you choose a village just into Bucks you can get into Aylesbury Grammar as well as Lord Williams. It is not as full of restaurants and boutiques as Marlow (but still an easy hop there for an afternoon of mooching). There are nice independent shops and free parking which makes it a very easy little market town to get to. There is loads for your boys to do - cycling on the Phoenix Trail, skate park, tennis , squash, cricket, football, rugby to name a few. It is a very friendly place - there are a few lovely art events such as Bucks open studios, Brill on the Hill art festival. Very easy to get into Ixfird for the museums.

Thank you BubblesBuddy. We are not set on grammars, just a good school for clever kids. Both my boys are good learners and in top sets. So a school that caters for that is important to me.
Do you happen to know why Henry Floyd is less popular? Lord Williams seems very good so might be just as good (but no doubt full although I imagine a large school will have more chance of getting spaces).

I will write down the schools you mention and see if they have spaces for my Y8 (and then hopefully my Y6 might get a place via the sibling route although he would be a a very late applicant). The problem is if they don’t get into, let’s say, Amersham School what would be our second choice/where will they end up. I am trying to keep as much control over the school choice as I can. Perhaps Clement Dane?

Thank you Olympicsrock! That is great to know. Lord Williams seems a good and nice school. I will see if they have any spaces for my eldest. I am hoping that it being a large school, places might come up now and then. It would be a bit further for DH to commute but am starting to think we are not going to get much choice! (and I love Oxford!)

The saga continues.... ;) You guys are brill!
Still don’t know where to drive to next weekend - too many places to see!! LOL I suppose I better just start somewhere and make a few weekends out of it.

SHF was seen as the poorer cousin; it was only founded in the 1950's as opposed to AGS appearing in the 1500's. AGS has a much more traditional feel (rugby, latin). It's horses for courses, some people strongly dislike one or the other. If you look at the allocation profile of Bucks Grammars 2006-2017 www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=50694 you will see that although SHF had been offering to everyone who qualified that is no longer the case. You will also see that this year AGS offered to people from further away than SHF did.

It does change! SHF was the old Technical High School and therefore the less glamourous cousin. It used to fill up with pupils who couldn't get into the High or the Grammar in Aylesbury ie second choice. Although some parents always preferred it. When my DD took the 11 plus, 29
Passed and one went to SHF. Aylesbury Vale also has a much lower percentage of children getting 121 than the Chiltern or Wycombe Districts and therefore had spare places in some grammars until MK children appeared in large numbers. It used to be a similar situation with Chesham Grammar. It was a Technical High School. You just have to take it year by year.

It would be a long commute (although M1 - M25 so might not be too bad if go early) but Harpenden in Herts could be an option. Has 3 outstanding schools and any of them would be good if you got into them. Also really lovely town with nice shops, Waitrose & M&S food, prezzo etc. Links to London and Luton airport. Might be a bit far though.

Thanks for the info on Henry Floyd! Wondering if those grammars (if mixed) are worth moving into the area for? Or would a Lord Williams be just as good? That said, Amersham might be a nicer town than Thame...
And all will be full no doubt... ;)

Which grammar would be the nicest of that lot? Or perhaps which area would be the nicest to live in? SHF area, AGS area or Chesham?

Thank you WhatisMrToddDoing - I had not looked that far out but Google says Harpenden is a 45 mins drive. I wonder how often it really would be just 45 mins though. The M1 and M25 are not known to be quiet. But will certainly look into it, thank you!!

Is Luton very noisy there?

Anyone know of the Sandhurst, Wokingham, Crowsthorne area? Further out but you get more house for your money... would be an M4 commute I suppose.... Edgbarrow School seems well rated.
Never been to that part of the world either...

Has anyone suggested Princes Risborough. It's Between Aylesbury and Wycombe, unspoilt town centre. It has a secondary school and is in catchment for the grammer schools in Aylesbury.

There are some beautiful areas around Princess Risborough but PR Upper went into special measures quite recently.

Harpenden would be quite a drive! I used to work in St Albans and the traffic (M40 / 25) was horrendous and tgst was 14 years ago.

Unfortunately for the OP I think any half decent school in the south east is going to be full so would require over subscription appeals.

Re Bucks 11+ - yes do prep - there are no past papers- Smiths not best place to get books - go to 11+ forum and read about CEM. Your year 8 may have CEM or may have curriculum based depending on the school so speak to schools concerned.

My friend has recently moved to Bracknell, not quite sure exactly where but you don't have to go M4 to get to Stoke Poges. You can go through Ascot and Old Windsor.
You get much more for your money over Bracknell way.

thanks! What is CEM?

I better speak to the schools.....

Council lady called me today, she couldn’t help much really except to say if we know where we are moving to we can apply my youngest for a secondary school from our current local council. We probably won’t get a place as we live too far, but at least we’d be on the list and can appeal once we moved....

Also realised that my fear of ending up in a really bad school is unfounded as we can request up to 6 (?) schools for both (?) boys and they would work down our list first before offering a random other school. So if I make sure all 6 are decent schools we should be ok - worst case is we move to Marlow and up at a school in Henley or High Wycombe and it would be a long drive. But this way there is little chance we would end up at a bad school I don’t want. Phew.

Not sure this also applies to my Y8 mid-year change as well but I assume so.
Knowing this gives me a little hope....

Towns like Thame don’t have many other schools in the area (so perhaps an appeal would work) but places like Marlow do have others around.

i was also told that Chalfonts Comm College will probably have spaces. You guys say it is not really the perfect town life I was after and the school is not super-duper either, but if it has places and if we find a nice house there....perhaps it is still in the running. depends how ‘bad’ the school is I suppose. I don’t fancy bullies, chavs and no stretching of clever kids and little pastoral care.

I don't think it's a 'bad' school, it's just not a first choice round my way for some reason. Not one of DD's year 6 classmates is going there this year but then we've got Khalsa and Beechwood now so more choice.

I grew up in princes risborough. Unless you are certain of a grammar place, I wouldn't move there. Princes Risborough school is not great. In that area, Thame has a much nicer feel, High Street and better school.

thanks everyone! I only ever drove through bracknell on the A Road to get to the M4. always busy.

There seems to be new houses and some other stuff for sale in Lane End - which is catchment for GMS and Borlase's ? I know its a tiny hamlet (by the look of it) but a nice hamlet?

Lane End catchment for GMS not Borlase (Frieth cross roads the boundary). There are some lovely bits to Lane End and some less lovely- you wouldn't want the primary. The new houses are near the main road but on the ok side.

Lane End quite big - doctors, shops, 2 garages, pub, take always.

Lots of Lane End kids go to Frieth school, though, depending on how full they are. My son went to Frieth and at least a quarter of his class lived in Lane End at that time.

Prices in Lane End are much lower, as there's a very large and slightly rough estate in the middle of it. It's much bigger than Frieth, has a couple of pubs, and at least 10 shops/businesses. Parts of it are fine, there are some quite nice larger houses on the outskirts.

Bracknell centre has recently undergone a massive redevelopment, with lots of new / big shops. Schools wise, there's Ranelagh that's supposed to be excellent - but it's a CofE secondary and has quite strict admissions rules I hear.

Wokingham is supposed to be the happiest /best place to live in the country according to articles I've seen in the last few years Lots of secondary schools and smaller villagey places if you're not in Wokingham proper. The town centre is quite small and not as nice as places like Henley or Marlow IMHO.

Personally if I could choose from your list, I would steer clear of Bucks because you've missed the first round of the 11+. A late sitting would put your yr 6 son in the second round of allocations and I don't know how likely it is to get a place in your preferred grammar school (assuming you have one).

Have you looked at Wargrave? Near a lot if the places you seem to like, The Piggott School is well regarded. Still within Reading Boys catchment if you want to try for a late application / mid year entry.

There is a knack to the 11+ and there are a lot of small prep schools as primaries that prepares the kids.
I live in the gerrards cross area and really dislike it. It is tedious and suffers from being near London, so there isn't much to do. Plus the 4x4 drivers unable to drive or park well.
Keep in mind Marlow and some areas are close to water and flood periodically.
I am not the person to ask as I had to move there for work and am grumpy about it.