Commute to Hampton Boys ( If avoiding coach)

[mrDoubt]

Hi Parents,
I would like to hear from parents whos DS is at Hamptons boys and do not use the coach. ( Thats an extra 2K). Any areas to live where the DS can take the public transport or Dad drives for 15 min ( occasions where Dad needs to drive for events and afer school sports). We got a few suggestions like

Teddington / Strawberry hill - These arears might not have a lot of life - might be more rural someone said.
Can DS commute from Kingston or Richmond using TFL. People said Kingston or richmond have a bit more life due to their town centres.

We will be relocating from Canary wharf. So its a big East to west move.

Further afield is also possible.
My son commutes from Wimbledon to Hampton by train and bike. It's doable, and actually better than the school coach option which was always getting snarled up in Kingston traffic - he now gets home earlier.

Thank you everyone for your advice and support. We have fixed Hampton infant nursery now. Thats the one we received and are sticking to it. And as someone said, 99% of Hampton infant will move to Hampton Junior.as the top head is the same.

Had a cheeky question - Does any one pull of their kids during term time to go on holidays - Say a day or 2. In tower hamlets, the max fine is 60£ per parent per child if you take more than 3 days off.

My DS going to hampton boys will have more holidays ( 2 weeks half term and they close earlier in december compared to state schools) while my DD will still be in school till 20th Dec . I am not sure how many parents take a friday or thu friday off to create a max overlap.

Thank you @JustWingItLifeEyelinerEverything

We have decided on Hamptin infant. Happy with our choice for now

Looking at a school from outside is different to getting actual parental feed back. So we spoke to a few parents. All were happy with Hampton Infant.. They have their own curriculum and way of teaching. So sticking to it now.
We will figure out the R70 or 285 or 281 bus routes..

@mrDoubt , the fines nationally are increasing to £80 per child per parent from Sept but it depends if the school actions the fine.

I am happy to pay the fine ! But do parents take advantage of lower flight fares by pulling their kids off school by a day or 2. ?

@redrobin75 fines for what?

@mrDoubt from tHampton ( Hampton Infants ) to North Hampton ( Hampton Boys) goes 111

R70 is a bit further on Broad Lane and then turns to The Avenue that is extension of Priory Road

@JustWingItLifeEyelinerEverything , taking a dc out of school during term time. Attendance is a national priority with new guidance from Sept.

@mrDoubt , I don't know for sure but i think the highest absenteeism for holidays is linked to the ski season. Many dc don't like missing the end of summer term and all the school events etc.

@mrDoubt
We have decided on Hamptin infant. Happy with our choice for now

But in that case you have to move to Hampton, otherwise you will be outside of catchment

Not at all my friend. We got the school from out of catchment.
We will move closer to the school in August - Twickenham mostly.

Was it undersubscribed? Usually there is a waiting list as Hampton Infant and Jr schools are popular

The distance criteria has increased a lot in recent years, since both schools have increased their intake to 4 form entry!

@mrDoubt did you say your younger child is going into the nursery class at Hampton Infants? If so, you will need to reapply for the Reception year. Have you checked their admissions policy? Usually there is no admissions priority for nursery children.

@JustWingItLifeEyelinerEverything lots of primaries are undersubscribed now, due to a lower birth rate: https://5f2fe3253cd1dfa0d089-bf8b2cdb6a1dc2999fecbc372702016c.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/15682/LBR_Notes_to_parents_following_Primary_2024_allocation.pdf

I thought that influx of kids from Ukraine and Hong Kong increased the number of children. The catchment for Hampton Infants was 2.4 km this year.

For secondary schools all of the schools show waiting list. Even Twickenham Academy has a waiting list. Worse than last year. Although there were some shifts. Orlean Park offered 300 meters larger catchment and Waldergrave similarity slightly larger. Teddington school catchment significantly shrank as compared to previous years .

did you say your younger child is going into the nursery class at Hampton Infants? If so, you will need to reapply for the Reception year. Have you checked their admissions policy? Usually there is no admissions priority for nursery children

Ah this may be it. You are correct @urbanesque

@mrDoubt urbanesque is right. Please move as close as possible to Hampton Infant school to get to Reception class, less than 2 km

"I thought that influx of kids from Ukraine and Hong Kong increased the number of children."

It has. That's why the drop-off isn't as big as in some other London Boroughs where schools are closing.

@urbanesque
my DC is joining reception.

Great link @mrDoubt , just shows how much the falling birth rate has impacted the schools in the area. Best of luck to your dd.

@mrDoubt so you have lived within 2.4 miles, haven't you?

According to the LA (link posted by @urbanesque above), the position as at National Offer Day in April was that Hampton Infant School had only filled 108 of its 120 places from on-time applications. Assuming that there were 12 or fewer late applicants, all of them, from wherever, would have got places straight away after the 108 offers were made - and more could be accommodated if somr of the original offers were rejected.

Indeed! Very surprising.

In fact, I counted 12/23 of the schools listed had "all preferences met" which means there was no need for a waiting list (yet). That is a lot. Over half!

Then there was also the mention at the bottom of the document which included some of the religious schools, saying they also still had places available 😯

What surprises me more is that Hampton Infants is still taking in a 120 pupil cohort (looks like the only school in the Borough) despite these falling numbers.

Stanley has dropped right down to a PAN of 60 and I think Heathfield has also gone back down to 90, as both had higher numbers in the past.

Amazing. My is born in 2013, which was already a year with decline in the birth rate but the schools were packed with waiting lists on the top. At secondary school entrance all schools have waiting lists.

The population going to reception this year must be really small. Wow.

It's not just the birth rate, but also the post-Covid exodus out of London to cheaper areas, facilitated by hybrid working.

But if that is the case it would be visible in all age groups. And for secondary y7 entrance all schools have waiting list and catchment. For in year transfer there are lenghty waiting lists

The greatest impact is inevitably for first-time buyers - young couples moving further out of London so they can afford to buy their own home and start a family - rather than on people already settled here.

That would be visible in falling property prices in London then.