Please help! Which Cheshire village should we move to??

[Sunset54]

We have a dilemma I’m hoping someone can help us with.

We are currently deciding where to relocate to and after lots of good advice from MN it looks like it might be Cheshire!

We have two primary school-aged children but our eldest is currently in year 4.

We’ve been for a visit, love Chester and the villages we drove through were beautiful.

However, which village should we move to?? Christleton was highly recommended (and looked stunning) but it’s slim pickings on the housing market- are there other villages close by that fall in to the catchment for both schools where we wouldn’t have to be too concerned about them getting in?

Are there other areas, close-ish to Chester that fall in to the catchments for good schools that we should look at?

Saughall.

@Ohgoodlord thank you. Do you know which schools it falls in to the catchment for?

It all depends on your budget and what you're looking for in a village!

@rosesandlollipops we think our budget will be £550k max. We’re looking for a village with at least a shop, pub, community feel to it and close-ish to Chester.

Hi,

Christleton is beautiful but very cliquey. I lived there for ten years and despite the cliques I did enjoy living there and made some good friends.

The school is good if you have a high flying kid who's good at everything. For a child with sen I def wouldn't recommend though sadly.

People have a lot of good things to say about Huntington, Cherry Grove and Vicars Cross schools on that side of Chester, as well as some in Hoole. I'm uncertain which ones sorry.

Hoole is expensive, as it has a wonderful village with shops and restaurants etc.
For Cherry grove and Huntington you could look at Boughton, Huntington, Vicars Cross areas. Most of those feed into Christleton High School.

@justfornow1 thank you! Do you know which village primaries feed in to Christleton High school (and have a good chance of getting a place)? Would that be Boughton, Huntington and Vicars Cross? Also I’m guessing Littleton?

We’re just wondering how far we can spread our search for a property whilst feeling confident the kids would get a place at Christleton High School.

Likewise, we’ve read good things about Tarporley secondary but again the housing stock in Tarporley is limited so we’re wondering how far out we can look to still stand a good chance.

Sorry Ive only just got back to this @Sunset54

We left when my son was in Year 4 so didn't get into looking at the high schools. Certainly Vicars Cross, H'ton and Boughton are in teh catchment. Littleton is pretty much an extension of Christleton which is why I forgot to mention it so they will def get in the catchment from there.

Yes, Tarporley is supposed to be very good, but it depends how far you want to be from Chester itself, Christleton is such an easy hop in, and you can walk dow the tow path there and back which is lovely to do when you have time.

However if you go for Tarporley high school , Kelsall is a lovely village that feeds into it. My friends kids who live in Kelsall go to Tarporley. I always loved that village.

Tarporley is a lovely village, and again, depending how far you want to go from Chester, there is Little Bedworth, Cuddington, Whitegate, Hartford and Davenham. All have a mixture of village life and local community with decent schools.

@rosesandlollipops thank you. Are the villages you mentioned in the catchment for Tarporley secondary school (I’ve been looking at the council catchment maps but they’re a bit fiddly to use)?

I also recommend looking at Bishops High School. There is a lot of hype about Christleton but last time I checked it hadn't had on Ofsted in decades. Bishops is a caring school which gets great results. Hoole is a lovely neighbourhood and great fir when your DC are older because it is easily walkable into the city centre.

Bishops Heber is a very good high school. I'd be looking Malpas, Bickerton area.

Farndon would more than likely get you into Bishops Heber.

Upton by chester high school which is the "catch all" high school in the area. My DH went there and no complaints. Bishops Blue Coat High School which has been mentioned, is also catchment for Saughall as the primary school is a feeder school. Very nurturing for people with SEN so I have heard.
I don't live in Saughall myself, my inlaws do and husband did, but has the stuff mentioned (great pub - food amazing and their pub quizzes are a hoot, great village community feel, local co-op, great primary school - DS starts there this year). You could afford to live in Saughall with your budget 👍

Guilden Sutton is nice and Dodleston has a fabulous community feel to it.

I think Cuddington location may get you into Tarporley, if you were the right side. There are other good high schools though, and actually Sir John Deanes sixth form in Northwich is one of the best in the country. Kids travel a long way to go there and Davenham/Hartford are much closer to it, whilst having decent feeder high schools. It's a lovely area for country pubs, walks and lots of activities going on round about to be involved in.

@Liltzero thank you- is Bishops the Blue Coat School in the centre of Chester?

@rosesandlollipops thanks! Is Northwich nice?

I'd go for a village around Northwich, Davenham, Hartford, Lostock etc. They are lovely, have good access to Manchester, Liverpool & Chester. And Sit John Deanes is walkable/bikeable from some of them.

@Sunset54 yes that’s the one. Lots of nice neighbourhoods within walking distance of the school and also some bus services to the villages.

I would be careful going for the ‘best’ schools/ colleges in the area. I’ve learnt the hard way regarding Tarporley High and Sir John Deane’s. Go and get a feel for the schools/ colleges in the area you end up moving to. I’ve been given very bad impressions of both (in a professional capacity) and have now decided my children won’t be going to either of those places. You might really like them, but they’ve definitely not made a good impression on me.

@Anonymouseky thanks for the tip. Can I ask which schools you are considering?

I think you need to bear in mind that there is no such thing as a school.being in catchment, it's your personal address. I don't know the areas.yiu are.talking about so don't know how tight the catchment are, it's just worth making sure.that where you buy a house is actually in catchment for the school you are interested in. Obviously some of the primary schools will.be feeders which will.help with friends generally moving on to the same place.

@Wisenotboring we’ve just exchanged on a house close to a good school and the primary the children have been accepted to is a feeder which is the top criteria for the catchment.

To be honest, I’m really stuck at this point. I’m now considering County High Leftwich for a few reasons, but it doesn’t have a sixth form and most end up at Sir John Deane’s. It was for that reason that I had considered Tarporley High as they do have a sixth form, but communication there has been shocking. I think the basis of any good school/ organisation is good communication.

@Anonymouseky are you in the catchment for Bishop Heber? During our many house viewings we heard good things about that school?