Do you have a kid who loves their state secondary anywhere in UK?

[skymap08]

I've just returned to the UK after 20 something years away, along with my husband and 9 year old son. We are starting again at the bottom of the property ladder so looking for affordable areas. We are open to anywhere in the UK, but since our son will be in secondary school soon I wanted to see if any of you would highly recommend your kid's state secondary school as a sort of starting point of where to look? I'm less concerned with Offsted and results, and more with whether your kid actually likes their school, and whether you are happy with it too.
Even better if you love the area you live in, and it's affordable and friendly to newcomers.
Thanks so much for any help you can give!

what is “affordable” to you?

DD complains the corridors are too busy and that boys are silly on class... but otherwise seems to quite like her school. Its just outside Doncaster.

I don't believe perfect schools exist. They need compromise to do the best for the majority of their students.

I think that one kid will absolutely love their school and another kid in the same school will be miserable - largely it is down to them having friends, getting on with the teachers and the academic level being about right for them. Much of this is down to luck and personality. All you can do it help them develop skills to give them the best chance of rubbing along okay with others socially, being able to withstand inevitable knocks along the way and a work ethic that will mean they don't have a miserable time getting in trouble for not doing homework etc.

I agree. DD is at a secondary in the SW area which is generally not considered a good school. However she loves it and is thriving. Other parents have complained of bullying issues etc but that hasn’t been her experience at all!

Yeh agree with others, different kids will experience school differently. I live in Derbyshire and there is a highly rated school near me which I would overall recommend - but i am not convinced it is the perfect school for an academically weak child.

Also yy what is "affordable"? Houses in the area of the school I mention above are notoriously more ££ than those elsewhere in the area. But all of those would be affordable if your housing budget was, say, £750k.

As it goes my kids broadly enjoyed their time at secondary. There is another very good school near me and I also know a number of students there, current and recent, all of whom seem to like attending.

DD absolutely loves her school and it's perfect for her - even if I won the euromillions I wouldn't look elsewhere - but she's a very confident and assertive kind of kid and it specialises in her particular interests. A different kind of child could be completely miserable or just meh there.

It's in South East London, local houses are 7 figures, but it's also lottery entry unless you get a music or sports scholarship, so you can't really buy locally to ensure a place.

Best to find an area you can afford that has a decent selection of potential schools none of which are awful.

Work out if you want particular subject specialisms, whether you are looking for liberal or draconian on the behaviour front, small or large etc. Then visit as many as possible and go with your gut feeling (way more useful than reading Ofsted reports).

I'm happy with my children's secondary in my little corner of the NE. Houses available for under £150k. Job opportunities probably not as good as other parts of the country, depends what you do.

I live in the NW in a grammar area and everyone loves the grammars unless your DC has SEN but the town comprehensives are not so universally loved. But there are village comprehensives that are well liked.

My son was extremely happy in year 7, miserable in year 8 and dropped out in year 9, mainly because of a huge change in staff, so I think it can even change from year to year in the same school. Sorry, I know that doesn't help much.

Going by my own experience I think it might be worth choosing a geographical area, then asking an education psychologist to look at your child and choose a school, and if you are coming from abroad, specify which year to go into. They would do a good job of judging.

All the schools in and around Winchester are amazing. Perins in nearby Alresford is excellent. Amery Hill and Eggars in Alton are again very good.

I’d say look for a school that plays to your kid’s strengths. I work at a state school which is very small and nurturing. School down the road has great extra curricular for things like debating. Previous school I worked at was all about the team sports. See what fits.

Thanks so much everyone...all very good points. I know it's so subjective, and each child will respond differently to a school, but firsthand experiences are somewhere to start at least.

Our budget is under 350k for a house.

@skymap08 , your challenge will be your budget not the school. Where are you from in the UK? Maybe start with an area you know.

My DD ADORES her secondary school, and we are so far very happy with it too - but she only started in September, so it's very early days.

We are in St Albans, which is great for excellent state schools generally.

Oh, St Albans is not exactly affordable though.

Hey @skymap08 I agree that budget will rule out some areas - but rules in plenty.

Can you literally work and live anywhere in the UK? Do you have family or friends you want to be near? tbh there are good schools in most areas (she generalised).

£350k would buy you a house in Derbyshire near some of the schools I mentioned.

It's all very subjective. My Dd loved secondary school ('comp') and my Ds not so.
Same school, parents, teachers etc..

If they have the stable home, sports and support, they'll be fine.

As long as they're happy, not stressed.

I'm in South Wales. Affordable housing, the best beaches and space.
We're a bit more chill here, less grammar school and hot
housing kids!

If I had to start from scratch I'd go to York, Broadstairs or Bath

@ScribeSev Thank you! I like all those places, though am pretty sure Bath is out of my budget. Beautiful place though...I was there last weekend :-)

@Ribenaberry12 yes, totally agree! Do you have any tips for how to get a sense of that when doing a school search? Since I'm looking at so many potential areas it's becoming a bit overwhelming and without firsthand reporting from parents it's often hard to get a real sense just from offsted or the school website.

@AnnaKing81 ooh...good to know, thank you! And yes, you are right of course...stability and lowered stress will help...hoping to provide more of that soon.

@redrobin75 I grew up in North London, so our budget is totally useless...can't even afford to breathe the air there now. No hope of living anywhere near friends (who all cleverly bought their homes in the 90's while I was gadding about in foreign lands) and family all moved overseas years ago.
Husband is a chef and I work online, so we are pretty flexible with where we settle, which is why we're casting our net so wide. Unfortunately all the areas I know well are way out of our reach financially.

@WeneedSamVimesonthecase that's so wonderful, that your DD loves her school! If we could afford to live in St Albans I would be asking which it is, as we had family friends who lived there when I was growing up and I loved it.

@clary - thank you, that's really encouraging! I think we'll go and visit Derbyshire and see how we like it!

Have a look at Dornoch academy. It might not look very pretty but it's a good school and the town itself is stunning.
Lovely beach and about an hour from city life (Inverness)

My son loves it and the staff and kids seem great.

Not sure if rural life is for you but I always think Dornoch has a nice cafe culture and is touristy in the summer with the golf so usually a few jobs for teens etc.

You would get a 3/4 bed new build type detached house for £350 or an smaller character property for your money.

@Loafbeginsat60 thank you so much...that's exactly the kind of info I am seeking...will go and research Dornoch right now!

@Topofthemountain do you mind telling me where in the NE you are?

@PuttingDownRoots I'd love to know more about how you like living in Doncaster, if you wouldn't mind sharing?

It's worthwhile knowing that uni wise - there is a limited uni / college in Inverness (can get a bus) but if she wanted to study anything like medicine she would have to go to Glasgow / Edinburgh. Generally most teens who are looking for a professional career do go away and it's 4 hours down the road.

If you want to know anything elsw, just send me a message