Best state secondary schools in Hampshire and can we afford to live in catchment?

[NellyJames]

We are relocating to Hampshire. DH needs to get back into London just 3 times a fortnight so commute not really an issue.
Our eldest will be finishing GCSEs when next DC moves into Y6. Youngest will move into Y4. So we’d like to be in catchment for an excellent senior school for the younger 2 and where older one can do Alevels. I understand there’s far less pressure on 6th form places.

2 snags: we need 5 bed as it’s very likely that infirm MIL will move in within a couple of years max (she has no property so can’t contribute)
We have a max budget of 700k which I know will limit choice in very expensive SE.
DH has suffered a mini breakdown and whilst work have been phenomenal with regards working from home on a permanent basis (he’s quite senior) he’s very keen to be near the coast. Not to live on the coast but to be able to access it within an hour or so.
But schools will really determine where we end up.

@Bassettgirl where are you from originally?

Its odd because we moved to Surrey/London suburbs but Stubbington is definitely still my home and I dream of moving back. I still have friends there and visit a lot

DD got the local grammar though so no moving for us.

@Murmurur

See, I am a bit concerned that you are building a dream rather than the reality of being here. I love it where we live but I think it might be more similar to where you currently live than you'd think. We do have woods on the doorstep, which is great, but it is very middle class suburbia. Moving halfway across the country to Petersfield could get you a similar vibe to your current town, with a lake. When people say a town is "lovely", bluntly there is an element that it means the town centre has some pretty buildings, there are lots of coffee shops and a Waitrose. A beach would be a lovely bonus but if you could put a beach into your current town would it really solve everything? To such an extent that it is worth moving away from your friends, your husband's friends, your children's friends?

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope you appreciate that I'm saying this kindly as a devil's advocate, and not to run you down. It's a nice place to live but where you currently live also sounds nice. (Also I have swung dramatically from hating our house and being desperate to move, to being very happy here. The difference wasn't that I moved. It was that I started taking antidepressants.)

You're braver than me. But I thought the same.

Is 'the sea' really going to overcome your DH's MH issues?

What if it doesn't? What if it makes you resentful having uprooted the family, everything you, and they - know, for what might amount to a bit of desolate grey water lapping in and out?

I'm sorry to sound harsh, but I struggle see any scenario where the presence of 'the sea' will warrant such upheaval.

@Miljea and @Murmurur

Sea has an incredible effect on my mental health - it makes me feel calmer and grounded. I try not to go more than 2-3 months without seeing it and that does it for me.

Lockdown was the longest I have ever been without seeing the sea and it was tough by the end. When we did manage to go I felt instantly calm and at peace and much better.

If I suffered a mini breakdown part of making me feel better would involve moving back to the sea

@Murmurur, don’t worry. I appreciate all opinions. As I said, following his breakdown, DH is longing to live near the coast. We went to the sea a few weeks ago when lockdown first ended and whilst he hated the crowds, he found being close to the sea very therapeutic.
And yes, we are in a similar area; suburban commuter belt, Waitrose, good schools both state and independent, Range Rovers etc. Where we are is more similar to somewhere like Guildford or St Albans if that makes sense. DH is convinced that the Hampshire coast would be a step back from that and he’s desperate to move. He’s in a high pressured career and has been very lucky that due to his seniority and the fact he’s very good at his job, they’re allowing him to work mainly from home. At the moment, he’s working the mornings then walking or pottering in the garden each afternoon then doing a bit more of an evening. I just think he needs this, or at least believes he does, in order to slowly get better. Yes, we’re leaving good friends but they’ve all told us they can’t wait to visit. I’m nervous of course especially as we’re all townies! But as I want to do what I can to help me husband get better.

@NellyJames the railway line between Portsmouth and Southampton means you are never far from a city!

Thank you @Quartz2208. Yes, for as long as I’ve known him he’s always loved the sea, always found it calming and invigorating. I like it but it’s almost visceral for DH. He was born near the coast although they moved when he was 3yrs. He doesn’t remember living by the sea but maybe it’s in there somewhere.

Ref the east side of the New Forest towards Fawley, I think the refinery is being made into a huge development and the old trainline being opened.
Fawley train line will never happen - it runs right through the refinery

I have my doubts about that whole development too
look at Bargate and East Street in Southampton to see how the wind is blowing

Nelly
Have a look at the houses I linked right at the start of the thread

@NellyJames it is the same for me - I hadnt realised just how much (I visit Stubbington 4-5 times a year and go on sea holidays) until lockdown and I missed 2 planned trips.

It’s funny, whenever you know about something, what you read is preposterously wrong. Miljea posts correctly and so did one lady upthread. Many of the other observations are ridiculous!

OP, you won’t get a nice house in Winchester for your budget. Nor in New Forest/Lymington Way, nor Petersfield. People can find in-budget houses on Rightmove for you, but, believe me, if a 4/5 bed house is £700k then it will be a cramped effort on a main road or housing estate with no garden. Or in the “wrong” catchment. Plus most of Hampshire is not anywhere near the sea.

Lol at Thornden being a den of drugs. And people pulling their kids out? Piffle! It’s true that some people will swear blind that it’s a dreadful place... and then reveal that they live, ahem, “the other side of the tracks” and their kids go to another local establishment (or that they are shelling out unnecessary megabucks to go private).

Anyway, OP, I think the place for you is Alverstoke. It’s a doable commute three times a fortnight. Bay House School is good and I believe still has a sixth form. There is a dinky village and lots of nice, big mature houses. The prices are much more reasonable than in the real commuter towns or villages. Gosport is crap but you can 100% avoid ever going there. You can get the ferry to nice restaurants/shops at Gunwharf in Portsmouth and nice small shops in Southsea. I would live there if the dcs were not at school where I currently am!

Sorry, there are a number of posters who have it right - I was just annoyed by some people spouting crap and suggesting awful places to live or ones where you wouldn’t get a manhole for £700k...

quartz - you have a friend in Palmerston Way? I would love to live in that road. I could play crazy golf every day!

@IrmaFayLear, thank you for your comments. We are deliberately not looking at commuter towns. We live in such an area now and we have done before (St Albans) Of course if we’d stayed in the SE originally our budget would be 3 or 4 times what it is now! We could up the budget a bit as we’ll effectively be downsizing but with things they way they are both with DH and the economy, I’d rather have the nest egg. Schools are obviously a big concern especially for DS1 who is currently at a very high achieving school and predicted 9s&8s in his GCSEs next summer. But it seems there are lots of options for 6th form so well look around. It is what it is I guess. 🤷‍♀️

I'd go with Bishops Waltham (biased). 20 minutes from Fareham and Winchester, 25 minutes from Southampton and Portsmouth, 30 minutes from Southsea and Chichester.

Rural but easy access to the motorways. Train station in Botley only 5 minutes away.

@IrmaFayLear yep a school friend (many years ago) we could get to the crazy golf via her back garden. It was an amazing house!

Bay House is definitely a good option for Alverstoke and for DS1.

6th form college I think though would suit your sporty DS2 Fareham College and St VIncents both offer very good vocational options.

Try Fleet or Odiham/Hook - basically the area of Hart District Council. Robert Mays School in Odiham is good (some brilliant teachers there) and also look at Calthorpe and Courtmoor in Fleet. Good, safe area with good train links to London. Another area is just over the border into Berkshire- Crowthorne has a great secondary school with a 6th form (Edgebarrow). Housing prices in Crowthorne aren't too bad and it has a station.

@Dilovescake21, thanks but those places are just like where we live now (affluent Cheshire commuter belt) There would be little point moving. We’re moving because he wants desperately to be near the sea.

@Quartz2208 I am from the west country - probably totally outing myself with this usersname that I luckily just made up for this thread! The lovely woods and nice beaches, and proximity to Dorset do help but it took a while to feel like that and we are v happy with schools so probably not much change we'll move.

@ListeningQuietly I love your Southampton/Hampshire insights!

I agree with Alverstoke and the Bishop's Waltham area. I live in the north of Hampshire and wish we were nearer the sea.

Yeah @NellyJames I think Alverstoke is definitely your best bet with Bay House for your DS1 and looking at Fareham/St Vincent College for your more vocational DS2

I linked a house earlier within your budget that I think would work.

If he could drive or get a lift to Fareham Station its around 2 hours to Blackfriars. I did the commute when I did work placement at home to Aldgate and visited on the weekend its fine as you should get a seat on the train

Thanks again @Quartz2208. You’ve all been so helpful on this thread; really! My husband would also like to express his gratitude as this is so very important to him.
Can’t wait to visit in a couple of weeks! We all feel much more positive about it.

How about this? 4 beds but one downstairs room could be converted. 5 minutes to the New Forest, 30 minutes to the sea. Catchment for Mountbatten and Barton Peveril.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83330503.html

You are very welcome.

Alverstoke/Stubbington is still very much in my heart as being my home and were it not for being very settled here would move back in an instant.

Hope you find something on your visit

That last house is also possibly in catchment for the grammar schools in Salisbury...

why on earth would anybody go through that stress if they were in Mountbatten catchment !!

@Ces6, thanks but that’s not for us. Firstly it’s just 3beds with a large snug landing they are suggesting could be a 4th. That would mean going through one bedroom to get to 2 others. Also, if we converted the sitting room into a 4th bedroom then 6 of us would be crammed into effectively a kitchen diner downstairs. I’d feel like a student! I appreciate my budget doesn’t go far and the school is important but the house needs to work too. Even without MIL, that one would be tricky.