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!

I love my area (Petts Wood) which is zone 5 London / Kent border. Lots of trains to London, £6 peak fare in Oyster so not expensive. 25 mins to London Brisge or also trains 38 mins to Cixtoria or 35 to Charing Cross. Lots of family friendly clubs, football teams, etc A modest but typical suburban family home ten minutes walk to the station @ £2,400 https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143505236#/?channel=RES_LET

Good state schools for boys include Darrick Wood (co-Ed) & Ravenswood (all boys) but as others have said it depends where there are spaces. If you are considering Petts Wood feel free to message me.

Victoria, never heard of Cixtoria!

I was reading now on one of the schools website “Hair must be kept clean, tidy and above the collar” 🥲. My boy wants his hair long. This is a bit disappointing.

https://www.twbs.co.uk/uniform/

That may just mean he has to tie it up. Private schools may not allow long hair on boys but most state schools are more flexible but he may have to wear it tied up all the time.

OP if you want to look at academic comparables this tool is useful: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/

it won’t tell you the ethos or fit, but may be helpful. The Windsor school you link to comes out as average.

Different schools shave different policies on hair and appearance and many will malow the long hair if it is tidy, a skin head might be more problematic!

If your son goes to a co-Ed school (mixed boys and girls) then it’s extremely unlikely they would insist on short hair for boys because it would be sex discrimination - unless they had that rule for girls too (completely unheard of). However, there are some all boys schools that get away with having a rule stating, ‘hair must be above the collar’ precisely because there are no girls there! There’s a mumsnet thread about this issue in boys only schools.

Personally, I would not send my son to a school that specifically prohibited long hair for boys… in fact I would not chose an all boys school anyway (but that’s another issue).

Have a look at Mumsnet discussion on schools banning long hair for boys

Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire is a lovely town with two good co-Ed state secondary schools and rentals just inside your budget.

Most of England has a primary schools where you start at age 5 and secondary that you start from age 11.

A few areas have three stages, so you still start primary at 5, but you go to a middle school at 10 and then to high school 3 years later at about 13 or 14.

So all children in that area are moving schools at 13/14 which is year 9.

Oh the hair thing. Schools can be a bit dickish with their uniform. Most don't allow 'unnatural colour', hair over a certain length must be tied up or back.

I live in an area with a lot of Sikh people so you often see boys with a rumal or patka as part of their school uniform.

Thank you @Nenen . I am not particularly looking for a boys school. In Sweden where we live there are only mixed schools and no requirements on dress code. Of course the kid needs be clean.

The school linked is a school that starts at 13th and I could not find a mixed one that also starts in year 9. 😅

If we are randomly assigned a school we could also end up in a boys school. I hate having 0 control on this.

My kid will not feel good about cutting his hair because the school says so. It is his right to decide.

@Slubulino

In the UK children have to be educated, but that does not mean they have to be in school, you can home ed, either completely or until the end of the school year.

On the having to send you child where there is a place, as well as single sex schools there are a lot of 'faith' schools, you can end up with a place in an RC school.

Even if you do get a 'secular' school there is compulsory, "daily worship".

There is a Swedish school in London, it is private but not as expensive as most. Again it might be an option until the end of the school year while you wait for a place at your chosen school.

I'm not from the Windsor area you were recommended but I just used the snobe website to help me find schools in this area for 13+ and there are several mixed schools with lots of useful information, so perhaps try searching there.

There is also a UK government school search to help you find the nearest school to any particular address. Select the ‘Location’ option, and enter your address (or use an address nearby the place you hope to be living soon). You will receive a list of schools, starting with the closest. This will give you a list of all types of schools, as well as their address, their latest Ofsted rating (if eligible for inspection), and the approximate straight-line distance from your home to the school.

Use the tick boxes on the left of the page to select just primary schools, schools of a particular denomination or faith, single-sex or co-educational schools, or to exclude independent schools from your list. For families living near the border of a local authority, this is a particularly useful site, as it lists schools in all local authorities. You may find that the nearest school to your home may be a school managed by another local authority

You can also find a list of all state schools in any town in England by searching for the LEA (Local Education Authority). Every state school in England comes under the control of its area LEA. For example, I just googled 'Which LEA is Windsor in?' and quickly found this link to the LEA for Windsor . From there, I can see a list of all the state schools within a certain age range and lots of information about how to apply, the process etc .

Finally, while searching, I found a very useful Guide to in-year transfers in the Windsor area - specifically written for children who are moving into a new area and need to find a school.

I hope this helps - good luck!

There are going to be cultural differences. Some of them will be fun (lots of interesting things to visit in the UK) and some of them will be annoying (school rules about hair). When I visited Sweden as a teenager in the 1980s it was a real eye opener. Two mental health nurses who owned a lovely house with a sauna! (My hosts). Even as a 17 year old I was aware that people doing those jobs didn't own such nice houses in the UK. And I had never seen a sauna. Different buildings (I was astonished to find the brick colours were actually like Lego); different food (edible Ryvita!); different weather; different humour. It was an orchestra tour. They told us they were really moved by our music. We'd never thought about it that way.

Treat it as an adventure and you'll be fun.

I've actually not been back to Sweden since although I have been to other Nordic countries. But look at all that I can remember 35 years later. It will be exciting for your son.

Where I live, the rental market is flat (not that many properties coming up and so there is not much choice and the prices are ridiculously high). I think you will probably need to find a suitable property first (that fits with your job commute) and work out the school situation afterwards. If you want your child to be in school (as others have said you could home educate), frankly you won't be able to be picky, you will only be offered what is available and places will more often come up at the less popular schools. However, you can get on waiting lists for other schools (that you prefer) and keep your fingers crossed! Good luck!

Windsor is a lively area for a family and not too bad for adolescents. Trains to Paddington via Slough and London water.

Also maybe look at Coach service to Victoria
https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/windsor-express

Travel by rail from Windsor is fine. If needs be take the Waterloo train and change at Clapham Junction for Victoria.