Moving from the US to the UK and need advice/tips/sanity check

[Transatlanticpanic]

We're in the process of moving from the US to the UK with our two kids (13 yo girl and 11 yo boy). My husband is British and the we've spent a lot of time in the UK over the last decade, but I'm also aware that living there will be a different experience altogether. I'd love to minimize the bumps as much as possible and find a location/school that can make the transition easy. With that said, can anyone recommend areas/villages/schools that they've been happy with? Some parameters that we're hoping to follow:

-While we're looking to live in a village, we'd like to stay within an hour or so of London.
-We live in a very diverse area right now, and we'd love to see that in where we end up as well.
-We'd love a co-ed secondary school where they could attend together. Also, I know that uniforms are fairly standard across secondary, but if anyone can recommend a school that don't require them (and aren't in London!), it would be appreciated.

Thank you!

You won’t get much diversity in a village, I’m afraid. Maybe a leafy suburb of London, sure, but a village outside the M25 will be mostly white.

As for areas, which part of London do you want to be an hour from, will you or your spouse be working there?

My immediate thought is that "village" and "diverse" might not be as easy as you think.

Neither will non uniform secondary unless you are looking at a particular type of private.

For your starter for 10 though I would suggest Thames Ditton and going to ACS Cobham. Work out what you love or hate about that option and that will help narrow the field.

Are you looking at state or private for schools?

There was a thread on here a few years ago listing non-uniform schools but I’m afraid there aren’t many!

Are you looking for a private (paid) school? (Nearly) All state schools will require a school uniform. If you're open to private, St Christophers in Letchworth is worth a look Home | Hello and Welcome to St Chris, they don't wear uniform. Letchworth is a lovely area, and quite diverse, but not a village. It has a decent train service to Kings Cross, London. Pirton, a village nearby, might be worth a look, it's a commutable distance to St Chris. If you're wanting a state school, you'd be near The Priory School – Educating Students for Success in Life. You'd be a 5 minute drive from Hitchin which has a station and a decent train service to London. Hitchin itself is a lovely place too, but again, not a village. All three are less than an hour from London.

Where I live in the Chilterns is an hour or less from London (assuming you'll go by train and avoid the traffic) and has co-ed schools but there are no non-uniform schools anywhere remotely near that I know of. Our village is very much NOT diverse but the town it's about 4-5 miles away is. I doubt you'll get everything on your list in one place but I'm sure you can find a nice compromise 😊

I second what @wordywitch says, which part if London do you want to be near? Also, when you say ‘diverse’, do you mean in terms of ethnicity/race, or lbt…?

London is generally diverse.

anything that is actually a village will not be diverse.

most schools in England are coed very few are single sex.

the vast vast majority of schools in England, private or state have uniform. I don’t know any that do not but there’s probably a list.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/school-swap-uk-to-usa

Not sure whether you can access this programme. A group of US and UK school students spend time at each others school. Unfortunately, they’re not like-for-like (ie not both city schools, for example), but it may give you an idea.

Villages and diversity don’t really go together so you might be better looking at market towns. There are lovely ones that still have a community feel. I don’t know of any secondary schools that don’t have a uniform outside of London, but they must exist somewhere. Depending how important that is to you, you might be best finding a school you want and then looking at the catchment area for somewhere to live.

Also, what sort of budget can you afford? That will determine where people recommend as well.

If you’re looking for a state school you will be limited to schools which have space.

As others have asked, are you looking at private schools? Because it may be tricky finding places for both your children at the same state school (at least a well regarded one). But private schools outside of London are likely to have places (at least they do in our area). Is there a particular reason you don’t want a uniform? Tbh it makes life easier when the kids don’t have to decide what to wear in the morning.

British people are extremely wedded to uniforms. DD was at a non-uniform primary and there are a few round here (south east London) but all secondaries have a uniform.

St Paul’s Girls in the only non-uniform secondary I can think of (private, extremely academic and high-powered).

Agree that village and diverse is an oxymoron.

If you want non uniform you’ll really need to look at that criteria first, then see if you can slit of the rest of your requirements around it

oxford had one state school as secondary - but in reality Oxford isn’t diverse and you’d need to live close to the school to get a place

in all honesty I’d ditch the non uniform and look at the other requirements on your list, unless it’s your biggest priority

between Birmingham and London you’d be an hour to an hour and 30 minutes from London on the train

as others have said, you’ll not get much diversity in a village

But your BUDGET is the key thing about where to live.

Depends what your after.
You have a couple of private schools - TASIS (does have a school uniform but quite chilled uniform ) or ACS I don’t believe have uniform?

I have friends who have children at both schools as day students and seem happy there!

Not sure on state schools that don’t have uniform. Can’t really help on diversity , friends that live near TASIS their area seems diverse - but not sure about the school.

You say you want to make things easy for yourselves, but honestly your list of wants will make things monumentally more difficult! Village + diversity = rare as hen's teeth. Villages in the SE aren't diverse, they tend to be very white.

As for a non-uniform school, I realise you're just trying to maintain what your DC are used to in their American schools, but pretty much ALL schools in the UK have a uniform. It's just the way it is. And to be honest, it's hard enough making an international move without complicating things in the way you are. Just accept that your DC will be wearing a uniform, get them used to the idea, and then start looking at places to live.

Many schools in the SE are over-subscribed, so even getting your two DC into the same one is not going to be straightforward. And if you're living in a village you may not have many choices of school anyway, unless it's a village in the middle of several towns that all have secondaries to choose from.

Why do you want a village in particular?

There are areas in London that have a "village" feel - they are not cheap but may be what you are looking for? Highgate, for example.

Genuine villages will not be diverse at all, they will be complete opposite.

Edited - non-uniform school are rare, and why would you want that anyway? Also, as people above said, in a village you would be generally limited to one school only.

https://www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/400/welcome-from-the-headteacher

Oxford school without uniform

https://cherwellschool.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/document/The-Cherwell-School-Catchment-Area.pdf?t=1742840207

this is the catchment

Also I agree that a London suburb would be better if you’re looking for a smoother transition and more diversity. You will probably feel like you fit in more as an American there than in an English village.

If you could share the reasoning behind your criteria we might be able to help more.

I can definitely see why you'd want a non uniform school but given that there are so few it seems a bit odd to narrow your choices based on it. Surely things like location and academic choices and results/ pastoral care / sports facilities are more important in terms of your DCs likelihood of success and you being happy with where you live. Then when you've got a group of schools you like based on those criteria, look at the uniform policy and see if it is reasonable to narrow it down further (eg my DD goes to an all-girls school that has a relatively relaxed uniform policy with no ties. The uniform policy helped push it to the top of our list but it wasn't the deciding factor or the main reason we considered it in the first place)

I think you need yo drop the non uniform requirement. It will be hard enough getting two places in a good secondary school. I live in a village 50 miles west of central London and all the villages are very un diverse and all the school have uniforms