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Original poster

relocating to colchester

18 replies

Kportable · 29/04/2015 11:33

Hi All,

My husband and I are planning to relocate to a city /town with grammar schools from Coventry.We are thinking of Colchester,Reading or Kent because of the good grammar schools out there.My daughter is in year 1 and we are looking at moving when she will be going into year 3. By then my boy will be going into reception.Is that a good time to move or do we wait till she will be going into a higher class say year 4 or 5?

How is living in Colchester?We plan to visit soon though.We don't have any family member out there but noticed house prices are reasonable compared to other mentioned cities/towns. We will also be looking for jobs,houses etc.Any advise on nice areas to live?Your advise will be highly appreciated.

OP posts:
Momagain1 · 29/04/2015 13:28

My husband grew up near there in Alresford and attended the Grammar. Decades later, we lived in nearby Wivenhoe briefly, our son was born there.

Pretty town, though over run with soldiers and students weekend nights. Big bar and club scene.

Limited shopping in town, if you don't drive that is a big problem. You can get to reasonably close options like Ipswich or Chelmsford by train, or, you might as well go all the way to London. Or shop online. That was a big surprise to my husband as he recalled there being every sort of store as it is a good sized town. A lot was at some edge of town developments, not really easy for a mum with pushchair taking 3 busses! They have a Waitrose now, if that indicates anything to you, used to be a rare trip to Sudbury for me to shop anywhere but the gigantic tesco on our end of town.

I dont know much more about it really, being unable to drive and being so far out meant I was isolated more than I realised I would be. If I were moving there now, I would want to be way over on the other side of town and I would get a UK driving license!

EssexMummy123 · 29/04/2015 13:53

Are you going to be looking at private or state schools? hardly any state schools prep for the grammar and the ones that do are oversubscribed.

Have a look on the local board for colchester.

Original poster
Kportable · 29/04/2015 20:38

Thanks Momagain1 and Essexmummy 123 we will be spending bank holiday weekend over there so that should help i think.Thankfully i drive so getting around shouldn't be a problem. Will plan a trip to Reading as well as Kent to see other options available.
@Essexmummy 123 we are actually looking at the State schools.Targeting Hamilton primary and CCHS as I noticed they have good results on the league table.

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googlenut · 29/04/2015 21:33

Awful place to live - sorry but so happy when we left.

Original poster
Kportable · 29/04/2015 23:02

@googlenut wao thats an eyeopener!can you shed more light please Hmm

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TheBeekeepersDaughter · 30/04/2015 14:34

Colchester's our nearest town and we are in a really nice village, but would agree that Colchester's not a great place to live. We go in for events at the Arts Centre and perhaps for shopping a couple of times a year but that's about it. The shopping is dreadful and the traffic dire. The hospital is in special measures, if that's relevant to you. We prefer to drive to Cambridge/Norwich or head into London to shop/eat etc. We also tend to head to London and Cambridge for most cultural events. The coast and countryside are nice about here and our village is a lovely spot, but there's no way I'd live in Colchester. Actually, I'd prefer to live in Chelmsford. I think that Chelmsford is unfairly maligned.

Be careful counting on the Colchester grammars. The Colchester grammars are super-selective as they have no catchment area (unlike the Chelmsford ones), so children come in from London. They are extremely difficult to get into. DD is at a prep school and we will nonetheless consider it an achievement if she gets a place. All children are prepped a great deal for the tests and this is not done in most state schools. Mu daughter will start being tutored in year 3 for the exam in year 6. If you do not get a grammar school place, then the state options are not great and the private options aren't either. We will probably move away for secondary, as I worry a lot about the quality of the secondary schooling about here. The move will be either towards Saffron Walden or Ipswich (for Ipswich school).

SunnyBaudelaire · 30/04/2015 14:38

i also think it is a horrible place to live, after two years in Wivenhoe when my children were small. I mean do not move there just because of schools that your children might not even get into!

Cockbollocks · 30/04/2015 14:46

Well I have lived in Colchester all my life, moved away briefly and came back.

As most town's do, it has its issues. However I like it and won't be moving. I live a a village on the outskirts, thus year three of our state primary kids got into the grammar.

Cockbollocks · 30/04/2015 15:12

Sorry, posting whilst feeding!! Will add more later.

Original poster
Kportable · 30/04/2015 15:19

Thanks everyone,I better have a rethink then.Especially if the grammars don't have catchment areas they would be really tight to get into.Will research into Reading and Kent then!Any information on these 2 would be highly appreciated Thanks a lot.

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googlenut · 01/05/2015 21:24

It's just such a depressing place - nothing happening culturally, just dire. Sorry but would run a mile.

Original poster
Kportable · 05/05/2015 09:00

Hi All, went to Colchester for the bank holiday weekend. Very quiet place I must admit..Big Asda,nice new developments going on around as well but quite an old town.I think we will settle for Chelmsford instead.Any thoughts please?

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fluffapuss · 05/05/2015 21:47

Hello K

Slough cheapest
Reading area is expensive
Windsor has castle, but extremely expensive !
Jobs round heathrow airport & business parks
Traffic is bad

Colchester is nicer & there is a zoo & castle

Ipswich has a slower pace of life & cheapest

I would suggest investigating jobs before you move

Original poster
Kportable · 06/05/2015 18:35

@fluffapuss Thanks for your comment.Will look into Slough. Like I mentioned earlier we are after a good location for grammar school for our daughter and definitely good job opportunities for us.

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Hillingdon · 06/05/2015 18:58

Slough is pretty horrible tbh. There is a reason why it's cheaper that surrounding areas! The train station gets crowded but on the right train you can be in London in 25 mins

Original poster
Kportable · 06/05/2015 20:25

Thanks Hillingdon. We have somehow managed to narrow our search to Chelmsford/Kent.Any thoughts?Does anyone know a website to source for information on Grammar schools and their catchment areas?

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nessus · 07/05/2015 08:07

For grammar schools in the part of Kent I am familiar with, you will ideally want to be in north Kent for Wilmington etc or west Kent for TWGS etc. It's going to be smarts + proximity to secure a grammar place in west Kent definitely. You will want to look at housing in Dartford or Bexley or Bromley for north Kent and Sevenoaks or Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells for west Kent.

Without knowing your industry, in terms of work Dartford would be a good bet as is T.Wells and if in a specialist role, London is a easy commute.

Original poster
Kportable · 07/05/2015 15:02

Thanks Nessus.we are both with the Nhs.will check house prices in those areas.

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