Relocating to UK after 10 years at short notice - where to move - Kent, Sussex or Bucks?!

[Dusty14]

Hi Mumsnetters, I have three boys, two of whom are school age (will be in Years 6 & 2 in September) and I have to return to the UK due to husband losing his job. Feeling rather overwhelmed at all there is to think about and do in such a short space of time, chief of which is deciding where to move. Mum is in East Sussex, so thinking West/Mid Kent or Sussex to be near her for support, since at this stage I have no idea where my husband will be or how often he'll be around (that's another story...).

I'm told my eldest would be a grammar candidate, although we've not been preparing him for the tests except some basic familiarisation with the format . However I really don't want to send him, or the others, to a single sex school, which I believe leaves us with very few state secondary options in that part of Kent, i.e. Cranbrook Grammar, which I'm not so keen on since it has very limited subject options like no music, DT, ICT... Hence Bucks also became a consideration since they seem to have more Co-Ed grammars, and are not too far from London, which might be useful for jobs (either mine once I work out what to do and have some time to do it, or my husband if he moves back too). But obvs I won't have the option of my mum's support so much over there, although I do have a couple of friends there......

Obviously I need to find them both a primary school place for this coming September, but I'm focusing right now on targeting an area with good secondary options for the older one, since I'll need to be applying for places very soon anyway. My head is spinning from spending far too long trying to understand the whole system (i've been out of the UK for 10 years), looking at Ofsted, league tables, Good Schools Guide, school websites etc etc.

Does anyone out there have kids at co-ed state secondaries in those areas who would care to share their views / advice? Kids currently go to a British Curriculum School and are feeling very sad at having to leave and so I'm anxious to try and soften the blow by finding a school(s) and area where they have good academic provision and music etc as they are both academic and musical. I also should add we are not religious, so very religious schools would not suit, although I'm not against having a gentle Christian framework per se. Thanks in advance.

Make sure you register them for the Kent test during this month (June) via the Kent county council website if there is any chance you will want your eldest to sit the 11+ test or that option will be closed to you

Most selectives in Bucks are also single sex. You could look at South London grammars but again single sex.

Thanks - I've checked with Kent CC and since I'm still overseas I'm unable to register for the Kent test until I've moved back and have an address. But I understand that doesn't rule my son out for taking the tests, just he won't do the first round. I just wish more of these grammars were co-ed all the way, rather than just in the 6th form for some!

I wasn’t aware there was a second round of tests in Kent but they must have some mechanism for allowing for people out of the country I guess

I thought you could register for the Kent 11+ test as a non resident. Obviously you would need a uk address to apply for a place and be in with a realistic chance if he passed but that is not until October.

Aside from the whole grammar school debate thing, Sussex must have some really good state comprehensives mustn't it? It's a very affluent county... you then would just need to worry about admissions, not test+ admission.

I did, however, think there were mixed sex grammars in Bucks : such as The Royal Latin? But that may be the wrong part of Bucks.

I live in Kent too , my daughter is doing the Kent test this September. I've never heard of a "second round" either- I wouldn't rely on that! I think they are really strict if you miss the registration period (this month). aren't you allowed to register even just with a correspondence address you could use in UK, - a friend or relation? It's not as if you have to live in Kent , to take the test.

Ps my friends locally are really happy with the education given by the single sex grammars in Tonbridge - my view is that as long as your DCs do a variety of mixed sex activities outside school, they should be ok.

My nephews are at Cranbrook and like it but yes it's suffered severe funding cuts recently which have hugely decreased the subject choices.

If you're looking at Kent, make sure you're thinking of all three of your children, not just the oldest one who sounds likely to get into a grammar. If your others are Year 2 and younger then it's presumably too early to know yet how likely they would be to get in - and you need to make sure there's a school you're happy with if they don't. Around here in West Kent, a lot of the 'best' schools are grammar or faith. Bennett Memorial in Tunbridge Wells (CofE, co-ed, non-grammar), for example, gets very good results, and has a particularly excellent reputation for music - but it is reasonably church-y. And it's not just about the ethos - it's about the entrance criteria. If you're not a regular church attender, then unless you live practically on the doorstep you're very unlikely to get a place.

Chis&Sid is a co-ed grammar in NW Kent.

Knole Academy has a grammar stream, is co-ed, Sevenoaks way.

The problem with Bucks is that the secondary modern schools do suffer as a result of the 11+ system.

Best place to live in Bucks would be Waddesdon if schools are your only criteria. Catchment for Sir Henry Floyd Grammar (co-ed) and Waddesdon School (ofsted outstanding C of E secondary modern).

Lots of competition for grammar schools means that a huge number of kids taking the 11+ will have been having tutoring since the end of year 4.

The exam is during the first two weeks of year 6.

I wouldn't move to an area without family/that you don't know well.

I've known some very clever children not pass the 11+, and then you'd be stuck in an area looking for good comprehensives.

I'd go somewhere with both so you have a good back up plan.

I'd avoid Kent like the plague, the consequences if your kids don't get those places aren't great.

Tanbridge school in Horsham is very good, as is Oxted school, and the comprehensive system means your kids can reach the top streams without the crunch of 11 plus. Less stress all round.

Look at Warden Park School 8n Cuckfield in Sussex. Cuckfield primary is good too.

Thanks everyone for all your perspectives and advice - lots to go on!

Most of the non grammar schools in Bucks are fairly reasonable because it is such an affluent area. The local non grammar is certainly better then the nearest comprehensive. (Which doesn’t lose pupils to grammars. It’s just in a worse economic area)

I think in Bucks you can sit the 12+ and switch to a grammar at Y8 if you miss out in Y7 so that would be my recommendation.

Don’t worry about all those scare stories about tutoring. Lots of kids get into grammars without tutoring. And I’m fairly sure most who get in with tutoring would have also got in without. Tutoring can only bump you up a very few points. VR and NVR are basically IQ tests. Tutoring doesn’t help much with them.

I'd look at the fully Comprehensive counties such as Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. Where so much doesn't rely on passing an 11+ exam, but overall they do just as well with their brightest pupils.

If you do chose to go for the 11 plus you don’t need tutoring as such, what you need to do is familiarise your son with the format of the test and get him used to doing tests against the clock, you can get practice papers online.

Do be very careful about Kent. There is not a second round S such. It is true that you can apply to individual schools post Kent Test and theoretically get in - the schools will have their own tests But you have to remember that even if you pass, there has to be a place for you. And unless someone leaves, that is pretty unlikely-the grammar schools are significantly oversubscribed. Also, many of the Kent grammars have quite tight carchments, so you need to think carefully about where you decide to live.

The Kent non grammar schools will never improve while the scare stories continue or rather their reputations . It seems comprehensive supporting posters, see collateral damage to local Kent schools as acceptable to further their goal !

Despite what some posters think, many people I know . This despite 'reservations' brought on by Chinese whispers are satisfied with Kent High schools their children attend .

I am very happy with the Kent secondary modern that my ds attended and he did well at it. But the OP was asking for a good fit school for an academic musical child. There are many comprehensives which would suit., but no Kent secondary moderns, however excellent they may be in other ways. The OP was asking for recommendations, not debate.

If you want your DC to get a place at the right school for them in the highly stratified and differentiated Kent secondary schools market, you really need to be strategizing ages before year 6. I think you are too late to play the Kent game. Look for a good comprehensive in another county.

What about West side of milton keynes, in catchment for outstanding comps eg Denbigh, but outside catchment but possible if bright for co ed Royal latin school in Buckinghamshire ? MK good for commute to London also.