Relocation: help needed to find a good secondary school

[Slubulino]

Hello there!

We are relocating from Sweden to UK with a 12y old boy. Please help suggest small towns, villages around London or London neighbourhoods that I should look at when moving that will give the best chance for my 12y old boy to enter in a good sencodary school.

Is it worth paying a relocation consultant to help with the school registrations and appeal?

Thank you!

@Slubulino I wouldn't take that much notice of the actual results because they depend on the quality of the intake.

My kids went to a school with an average intake and slightly above average results. But the school was good and they were motivated so they did well and are now both at top universities.

That data is not for in year places though!

How do you find out which areas have the middle school system? Is there a list somewhere? I'm UK born and bred and have lived in a few different places and have never come across a 3 tier system, so it must be very area dependent.

I think it's smart advice to go for middle school though. The school system and the rental market are both really overstretched here. Better to choose a senior school when you've got more idea of the country, the transport routes etc.

Sorry - meant to add that I've got an 11 year old who will be starting secondary in September and her year group is the peak of the 2012 baby boom. The schools are really full.

How do you find out which areas have the middle school system? Is there a list somewhere?
Windsor do, & Leighton Buzzard, possibly? I think I read they were abolishing it in Leighton Buzzard.
I found this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-tier_education#:~:text=Three%2Dtier%20education%20refers%20to,progress%20through%20the%20education%20system.

Very good suggestion with middle school and upper school. I started looking at Windsor and it seems like a lovely place to live. I also started looking at houses close to the Windsor Boys School. We will go and visit the town when we have the next school vacation.

The commute will be close to 1h and 15min 😅. My office is close to the Victoria Embankment Gardens. But I only go once in a while … I should be ok.

Such a good idea about the 3 tier whoever suggested that. Good luck op

Looks like Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Windsor/Maidenhead is the answer. Thank you Wikipedia!

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_middle_schools_in_England#:~:text=Statistics-,In%202019%20there%20were%20107%20middle%20schools%20remaining%20in%20England,Biggleswade%20Academy%20in%20Biggleswade%2C%20Bedfordshire.

Beds and Herts are north of London but good commuter links by train. Windsor is a London Borough so you have more options there due to population density (but getting a rental will be hard and expensive).

I live in the London Borough of Bromley. It takes 1 hour 15 mins to get anywhere else in London from here! (unless it's directly on the correct train line). On the plus side we don't have Swedish winter weather...

@Phineyj pff this winter is particularly hard. 60 days of snow and still counting but the worst part is -20C and the darkness 😅

I have been! Also to Finland and Norway and Canada and Northern China near the Russian border.

Well, you will be most entertained to watch us softy Londoners run round panicking when we see a flake of snow on the roads.

Windsor is most definitely not a London Borough. It is part of Windsor and Maidenhead which comes under Berkshire (not even Surrey like I first thought)!

I stand corrected! Got to be a better commuting option than deepest Bedfordshire, however.

blog.poormansmath.net/images/london_borough_tube.png this may be handy. Shows London boroughs and train lines. Windsor's off to the west - near Slough.

Maybe look at Sussex if you need to get to Victoria. The big towns like Crawley are horrid but Horsham and Reigate are better. If you can find a village nearby so much the better.
Schools are a lottery. My nearest is sought after and has kids who parents were in a position to have gone private. Plenty of high achievers, Oxbridge candidates and business successes. From the Facebook chat you’d think the school was in the Bronx or something.

You could look at Chiswick area, two good state schools with West London Free School and Chiswick School. Chiswick School has improved a lot with very good academic results recently. Easy commute to Central London and popular with families.

I live in Bromley too. I used to live in Windsor. Transport links in Bromley far faster, cheaper and easier than Windsor.

Happy to answer any questions re Windsor/Windsor Boys School-pm me if you want!

And the Elizabeth Line a game changer for Windsor commuting

And we need the transport links due to the local authority's crap school planning and SEN provision. I'm having to send my DD out of Borough because of that.

OP, we have got train strike issues currently, although hopefully the election will bring a resolution.

Thanks @MrsMitford3 ! I might DM you with more questions on Windsor Boys School once I get my thoughts in place. We plan to visit Windsor and a few more areas soonish.

One question: my boy has long hair, I know there is a dress code in schools but is there anything with boys not allowed to have long hair in English schools? Thanks!

Potentially yes. Each school has its own dress and uniform policy. Many may expect hair above the collar. It is usually published on the school website.

I teach in an Outstanding comp and we have no hair code at all and barely a uniform. Tbh I would rather see less of the 6th form's boxer shorts...

Just avoid Harris Academies.

Yeh I have never come across a secondary school with a rule about hair length - apart from the very reasonable "long hair must be tie up for PE/tech/science lessons".

I don't see how a school could reasonably enforce a long-hair ban tbh - would it just apply to boys but not girls? That's not OK at all.

School I taught in banned unnatural hair colour (pink, blue) and shaved-in patterns but that was all.

In London schools are very diverse in many areas and they are wary of strict hair rules as these can be viewed as prejudiced.

Have a look at the website photos. See what the kids look like. Lots of badged blazers can be a warning sign.