Moving closer to London - Kent/Essex

[Chubbycheeks18]

I have accepted a role near St Paul’s in London. Single mum and have two children one in year 5 and other in reception. I am looking to move closer to London and initially considered Ashford. There aren’t many school places for my older one there, being in year 5. She is academically bright but not sure she is ready for the competitive Kent exams. I am worried the move could affect her academics overall. So looking for areas which have grammar school but not super selective. How is Ashford and what are your thoughts on Rainham? Rainham seems to have a Grammar school but is that highly selective? I am open to moving to Essex but I have heard Essex grammars are harder to get into. Any help would be appreciated?

Can't advise on Ashford buyt Rainham is the nicest of the Medway Towns and has a decent community. None of the Medway grammar schools are superselective you just need to pass and be close enough to get a place. Rainham Mark is popular as it's mixed sex but some from Rainham go to Chatham Grammar.

@BadgerWatch

Can't advise on Ashford buyt Rainham is the nicest of the Medway Towns and has a decent community. None of the Medway grammar schools are superselective you just need to pass and be close enough to get a place. Rainham Mark is popular as it's mixed sex but some from Rainham go to Chatham Grammar.

Thank you for your response. I find Rainham closer to St Paul’s through train and it seems to have some nicer new builds (redrow). We are leaving a beautiful house up in Wiltshire and I am recently single and trying hard not to make the changes in DCs life seem too drastic. How is Rainham with activities/walks for children? I have read some bad reviews on nearby towns. Is the area generally safe?

Bexley? There are quite a few grammar schools, some areas in zone 5 or 6 takes around 45 mins into London.
Sevenoaks is also lovely.

You've the options of a either the standard mainline or high-speed to London. Medway has a lot of issues but on the whole Rainham is a reasonably safe area if you avoid the Twydall end.

We're in a nearby village but Rainham has a couple of parks and there's plenty of walks near the river.

I have friends that live in Ashford and it probably has more facilities and more going on but the train costs would are a lot more.

Maidstone area might be worth a look too if you're looking a new builds.

I agree Sevenoaks and Bromley areas are nicer but that's reflected in the price of housing.

Maidstone is a bit of a mixed bag but house price wise is definitely a lot cheaper than the Sevenoaks and Bromley. It has some nicer parts but also some rough areas and problems with drugs and homelessness. Having said that, I’d prefer it to Ashford which is a bit grim. Maidstone has 4 grammars, all non super selective and they tend to be less subscribed than others in the area. If your DC didn’t pass the Kent test though the Maidstone secondaries are really not great.

Only 25% of kids pass the Kent test so it’s really important to locate in an area where there are also good Secondary Moderns which can be quite hard to find!

Areas you may also want to consider that are affordable and nice are Borough Green and Wrotham (45 minutes into London, on the doorstep good for Kent Secondary (Wrotham) and in catchment for the Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells grammars) and West Malling (50 minutes into London, big new build estate on the edge of town at Kings Hill, very pretty town, in catchment for the Tonbridge and Maidstone grammars).

Rainham I don’t know but Medway is pretty mixed and has some really run down areas.

I agree that Maidstone has some mixed areas but I think that is true for many of the towns in Kent. Canterbury for example looks lovely around the Cathedral but suffers lots of antisocial behaviour/homelessness/drug problems etc. Outside of both towns are lots of lovely villages that are a short bus/drive away. As 'whohashiddenthebiscuits' mentioned. Maidstone has 4 grammars ( 2 boys, 2 girls) and there is usually room for appeals if your DS/DD was close to the pass mark ( the school has to be happy that a child will be able to handle the faster pace of a grammar school education). All the Maidstone grammars are good. Maidstone grammar for boys and Oakwood are both good schools. Maidstone boys doesn't really do that much better than Oakwood as mentioned further up. At GCSE, It gets approximately 2 per cent more 5 and above. This is around 4-5 children. Considering it used to require a score of 390 for children in more outlying villages ( e.g the ones who are currently sitting GSCE's). It really hasn't/doesn't do that much better. Oakwood, however has a reputation of being much more nurturing and focused on the whole child. There are also some good non-grammars in Maidstone including Valley Park, School of Science and technology, Simon Stock and Maplestone Noakes.

I know parents with DS’ at both Maidstone Grammar and Oakwood, both of which are very happy with the schools but Oakwood where I live is certainly the more popular choice of the two thanks to its nurturing reputation mentioned above. @Lampshade1 mentions the room for appeal with the Maidstone Grammars which I’d agree with from what I’ve seen, I don’t know about Invicta but Maidstone Girls definitely seem to take girls at 2/3 rd offer stage who’ve narrowly missed passing.

As for the other Secondaries, St Simon Stick is excellent but is heavily oversubscribed and you’d need to be a practising Catholic to stand a chance. Valley Park we looked at (huge school with a farm in it) but performance wise it didn’t seem that great and DD didn’t like it. Maplestone Noakes we were out of catchment so I can’t comment!

Overall, Kent has a reputation for being pretty expensive which does drive people to look at areas like Ashford but honestly, if you look closer there are less expensive areas which are commutable to London that are a whole lot nicer!

Stock not Stick!