Sandhurst, Wokingham, Bracknell?

[Spanielmad]

DH will work in Stoke Poges. Schools and house prices are a nightmare - so I am just widening the net to see what we can get further out.

Does anyone know anything about these places, what the secondary schools are like (Edgbarrow School has a good ofsted), what the towns are like?

Looking to be near a nice small town with boutique shops, facilities for my 10 and 12 year old boys (clubs, leisure centre), galleries, cafes and perhaps driving distance to a larger mall with department stores, cinema, train station to London etc.

Is Sandhurst totallly military families?

Thanks!

My parents live in Wokingham and really like it. very pleasant small town, and close to Reading for shopping. My niece and nephew went to Embrook School which my SIL really rated.

thanks SarfEast1cated! good to know

Bracknell gets bad press but it's really not that bad! There has just been a shed load of investment in the town centre, which was in need of a facelift. You can also get into Windsor easily. Loads of great facilities locally.

I think in certain areas of Bracknell you can get into Charters- although the house prices will be affected by catchment. Ranelagh is another one with a good reputation if you meet the faith requirements.

thanks so much.

I live in Sandhurst and it's a perfectly nice small town/village. It's not a barracks town in the same way as, say, Aldershot. You will have contact with families from the Academy through the schools but no more than usual anywhere else. With regard to leisure and activities, you're not far from Camberley/Wokingham/Bracknell or even Reading at a push. Yateley is next door to Sandhurst and appears to be a perfectly pleasant place to live. Crowthorne is a mile down the road and probably has the better amenities.

Schools are all pretty reasonable. I will only talk of the ones I have experience with but please don't take this in isolation. Other parents may have differing opinions. Primary wise, my children attended College Town Infant and Junior schools (separate schools, same site). Never had any problems with either school and I know from personal involvement that the Junior school put in a huge amount of effort to improve their OFSTED standing. The catchment area means that College Town take most of the children of the non-officers from the Military Academy. At the moment this means that there are quite a few children from the Nepali community who attend the school. Whilst this can be a challenge for the school to have so many children with English as a second language it has also provided huge opportunities for all the children to interact with a discover other cultures.

Owlsmoor School and St. Michaels are also good primary schools but I would contend that Uplands Primary school is probably the best of the bunch in the area. It's single form entry though so you would definitely have to live within the catchment to even be considered.

Moving onto Secondary Schools. My children attend/attended Sandhurst School. It's perfectly fine and their results are on the up. Not the best in the world but as my daughter has this very day achieved 9 A*/A grades (or equivalent), I'm pretty happy with the education she has received.

Yateley school has achieved better results than Sandhurst in the last couple of years but they are just going through a change of Head. May not be an issue at all but worth mentioning. Edgebarrow School in Crowthorne is always highly sought after and seems to be a very good school. Consistently gets great results. You also have Frogmore School in the area too. Not sure it's got a great reputation at the moment though.

Sorry for the long note. Hope it helps at least a little

Oh, also worth mentioning that Sandhurst, Crowthorne and Wokingham are all on the same railway line. You can easily get to Paddington via Reading and Waterloo via Wokingham.

Chapwithwings, that is brilliant, thank you so much!! Really good info. I have never been there and know nothing so this is really wonderful.
Crowthorne seems like it has some nice houses and a good school.
thanks!

We lived in Crowthorne for a couple of years and really liked it. Useful little High Street and great to be able to walk out into Swinley forest from your doorstep.

We lived both north and south of Junction 7/ 6 for many years and I definitely preferred the area to the south. To me it has a more down to earth feel which I liked and it isn't Slough. However, your DH will have to be prepared for traffic crossing the motorway everyday. All the roads around the junctions get backed up at rush hours.

ah thanks for that. Yes, the commute to work will be quite substantial. But one gets more house for your money and perhaps schools without endless waiting lists.... so we’re considering all options. I work from home though and with two young lads would like (the moon on a stick) amenities, green areas for walks, good schools, access to London...well, like I said: the moon on a stick..LOL

Have you looked at West Reading? The area around J12 is nice and if your DH could join the M4 before rush hour it's an easy run down to J7.

thanks! will have a look!