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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

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

60 replies

Transatlanticpanic · 24/03/2025 17:42

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!

OP posts:

iamnotalemon · 25/03/2025 12:28

xmasdealhunter · 24/03/2025 17:57

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.

Edited

@xmasdealhunter

I grew up near here and agree with Hitchin being a nice town but I don’t think any of these areas are particularly diverse.

TurquoiseDress · 26/03/2025 14:44

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 25/03/2025 11:04

Why on earth would you want a village with teenagers?

We live in one that is less than an hour from London. The only diversity is the Indian takeaway and their staff.

There is nothing for the kids to do locally - most of the teens seem to sit and smoke dope and flirt with each other in the churchyard, set fire to things and shoplift in the local shop. I've already called the police 6 times so far this year for antisocial behaviour issues.

Nearest school is almost an hour travel by bus that goes all round the villages.

Your children will not thank you for chocolate box views, and you will be a permanent taxi service.

Ditch the non-uniform idea, you won't have that much luxury of choice. Just getting both kids into one decent school will be hard enough.

I definitely think you win the most honest/realistic post on this thread!

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 26/03/2025 14:51

TurquoiseDress · 26/03/2025 14:44

I definitely think you win the most honest/realistic post on this thread!

Show quote history

Sadly I am not exaggerating.

There is a reason why we stump up several thousand a year for DD's season ticket for the train and she has a 90 minute each way commute for a decent school.

ginasevern · 26/03/2025 16:12

The words village and diversity do not go together in the UK.

TurquoiseDress · 26/03/2025 19:21

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 26/03/2025 14:51

Sadly I am not exaggerating.

There is a reason why we stump up several thousand a year for DD's season ticket for the train and she has a 90 minute each way commute for a decent school.

Show quote history

I grew up in SE London and remember first trips up to central London with my schoolmates on the train, feeling almost properly grown up!

Still live in SE London area now, have never been inclined to live in a country village but that’s just mine & DH preference

I don’t view village life as some utopia… especially for teens!

Also yes, village and diversity are not two words that go together! IMO

Blueocean11 · 26/03/2025 21:34

OP - do you mean ‘village’ like, for example ‘Greenwich Village’ as an area in New York? I can’t imagine why else you’d think villages in England would be diverse?

SquidgibleDirigible · 26/03/2025 21:50

Within an hour of London city centre is basically still in London or at least very suburban. Unless you mean an hour on the train and you're prepared to add travel time to your station and tube time in London when you arrive, so actually more like 1.5-2 hours. Non-uniform - it's just not our culture so unless this is a hill you really want to die on I'd just not bother. As everyone upthread has said, village and diversity just don't go together in the UK. So you really need to decide what your dealbreaker(s) are as you won't get all of those things.

AmpleGoldOtter · 16/08/2025 15:17

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

OsmiumPhazer · 17/08/2025 12:35

Hove could be a good choice. OK, it’s not really a 'village' more a seaside town, but it has a nice vibe, good houses, growing diversity, and is close to London. Secondary schools there all have uniforms though. If you do want more of a village feel, Portslade Village is only about 2 miles away and you could still send the kids to Hove schools easily!

Iloveeverycat · 17/08/2025 12:54

Think you should ditch non school uniform idea. What is your budget. Woking and Guildford surrounding areas have village type vibe but near town for teens. Only about 30min on mainline to Waterloo.

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