Secondary school advice - Hassocks/Hurst/Ditchling

[cominghomefinally]

Hello, I am looking to moving to a village in the area between Hursterpoint and Lewes with my family, we currently live abroad. My children are 9 and 7 so I am researching secondary schools (state) as a main driver of exactly where we should move to in order to be in the right catchment zones.
Would love to know recommendations or advice on the schools in the area.
My kids are very sporty and do a lot of extra curricular sports so I’d like a school that supports their interests with good facilities and clubs… or at least make sure we choose a location where we can offer this for the kids easily as extra curricular clubs.
Primary schools I am happy to go for any village school we can get into, secondary seems to be the main thing to consider I have been advised…

Thanks in advance!

The only secondary in catchment for Hassocks and Hurst is Downlands. I've personally not had a good experience there with my daughter, but it coincided with lockdown years and her being diagnosed with SEN. I liked the teachers, SLT not so much.

You do need to look at primary places as well though, Hassocks and Hurst have both been oversubscribed in the past as despite growing PAN to 90 each year at both schools, more houses have since been built. And then you'll be offered schools in Burgess Hill with spaces.

Ditchling is East Sussex not West Sussex, so different catchment schools, not sure exactly which.

@WhatsitWiggle thanks so much for this info, that’s really helpful. I’ll do some research on this school and East Sussex.
And a great flag that Ditchling is a seperate county with different school catchment etc.

@WhatsitWiggle I wondered if you had any knowledge or thoughts on what Burgess Hill is like, perhaps we should cast our net to include this area from looking at the map. So hard to do this from abroad!

Burgess Hill is a dying town. The 1970s shopping centre was sold years ago by the council to New River Retail who promised a fancy new shopping mall, cinema, arts centre. None of it has happened and instead the old arts centre was bulldozed and most of the shops are empty.

There's lots of houses being built but the infrastructure isn't there to support it. There are two secondary schools. St Paul's College which is Catholic and very well respected, and Burgess Hill Academy which used to be awful but I believe has improved significantly in the last 5 years under new leadership.

If you were going to live in a town, I'd choose Haywards Heath over Burgess Hill. I've never lived in either but HH has more in the way of shops and restaurants.

You might also want to consider Cuckfield, a bit further north. Warden Park is a well respected school and we did consider this one but public transport from our house was too challenging.

@WhatsitWiggle Thanks so much for this info - it’s so so helpful, I really appreciate it! I’m not that excited about Burgess Hill now :)
I’ll look into those places and the school…
Lots to think about…

Hurstpierpoint College is v sporty

But private! And OP specifically mentioned state ie non-fee paying schools.

I live in this area. I have one at Albourne Primary School and one at Downlands.
I have been delighted with Albourne - it's small and the teachers have been great - DD went there and got pretty much full marks in her SATS, DS is there now and been very well supported - he should also do well.
DD is at Downlands - she is very sporty and it is an excellent school from both academic and sport perspectives. I'm really pleased with it.

Ditchling is in East Sussex but still catchment area for Downlands. Some kids also go to Chailey from that way although I've no personal experience

Thanks a lot @Blake77 if our situation was to change I’d love to consider Husterpoint College.

@Yuja thanks for this info. I’ll check out Albourbe.
Great to hear other experiences at Downlands too as that seems to be the main school in the area we have been looking to move… I will email them!
Great to know Ditchling could be in the zone as they’ve said the have primary places…not having much luck with others as I was warned above!

If you would have recommendations of other villages in the area that are great for families and welcoming communities (we could could go north or slightly east of Lewes)
We are looking for a place that’s easy to meet new families for us and our kids as we’ve lived abroad for nearly 20 years so it feels like we’ll be rebuilding our social network of friends!

thanks so much again

My son went to Chailey and was very unhappy there, found it very cliquey. He's at Burgess Hill Academy now and much happier. Not my first choice, but he's happy, and we can top up with tutors if needed.
He found Chailey to be very sporty though so if your kids are in to that they might be fine.

I went to Downlands, as did my husband…but that was…ahem…quite a long time ago 😂

My nephew is there now though, and is very sporty. He is doing well and is happy there. My brother and SIL are happy with the school.

Chailey is a pretty good secondary and Chailey also has a primary school which is quite a good one. Newick is a great village and also has a primary school. One of the issues we found was that the catchment is huge and our kids best friends all lived in villages miles away.

Thanks a lot @TheMerryAquaBird @vdbfamily I’ll look up Chailey and schools and the area. I haven’t visited or researched this area before so that’s great to know about another area.
School friends being scattered far is something we’ll note, we currently live in a reasonably isolated village where school friends are scattered miles away, so I know what a pain that can be! I dream of being in an area where the kids can hop on bikes and knock on friends doors!

@Waitingfordoggo great to hear this experience about Downlands, thanks. Very reassuring! Would you know, is it reasonably easy to get a place there?

It's not the most cosmopolitan area unless things have changed.

I live in the area and have one child about to start year 9 at Downlands and one who's just left Year 11. It's been a great school for both so far and they have been happy. My child in year 9 has recently returned from the most incredible trip to Cape Town with the school netball team. The teachers are great. Hoping for some reasonable gcse results next week from my Year 11! He hasn't been the most motivated student but the teachers did their best to push him through and he's made some brilliant friends.

Downlands is a very popular school which is oversubscribed. To answer your question on how easy to get a place, if you live in catchment and apply at the usual time for yr 7 entry (so October of year 6) then you should be fine. If you live out of catchment or apply at another time will be luck as to if there is space. I have heard anecdotally of kids who moved to Hassocks in year 7 or 8 and never got in.

@Smithstreet thank you this is great to know, and l reassuring.
Great to know it’s so popular really!

@boredwithfoodprob this sounds so fantastic, what an experience for your netballer. And exciting to hear these kind of trips are on offer. I’m really liking the sound of Downlands.
We would be moving mid Yr5 for my eldest so hopefully we can find a primary place close by and make sure we are within Downlands catchment and keep our fingers crossed!
Good luck for the GCSE results :)

Would anyone have any experience knowledge on The Priory if we ended up further West nearer Lewes? Compared to Downlands?
Thank you :)

Albourne is a lovely school although it’s worth noting that they have had to mix the year groups in years 4/5/6 due to low numbers (there are two classes of 4/5 and 5/6, rather than three individual classes IIRC). It would also be a total nightmare to get through Hassocks AND Hurstpierpoint high streets in rush hour traffic so I wouldn’t plump for it unless you end up in Hurst.

@AlarminglyAwful Great advice thank you! And good to know about the composite classes.

@boredwithfoodprob - my son was on the South Africa trip too with Downlands playing rugby and loved it!

@cominghomefinally - I have one going into year 9 at Downlands and he's having a blast. A great pastoral focus, concerns addressed quickly, sporty and pretty strict on behaviour. In comparison I have one waiting for GCSE results who just finished year 11 at warden park in Cuckfield - also a really good school, sporty, academic and good pastoral system. I have been equally impressed by it.

@teenagersandatoddler this is fab to hear, thank you for the intel. We are very fortunate with good secondary options where we live right now, so to hear these positives about these local schools is reassuring and a relief :)

Great to hear rugby was on the SA trip as well. What a brilliant adventure for the kids.

Wow - small world!!
Glad he enjoyed the trip too - it was the most incredible trip wasn't it!!

Thank you! Yes it was such a positive experience.
My youngest is going into year 5 so maybe they'll cross paths at some point if you end up round here!!
Thanks for the gcse wishes - we find out today 😬