Good Primary Schools

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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nmal
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:40 pm

Good Primary Schools

Post by nmal »

Hi, We're living in London at the moment but looking to relocate to Bucks largely due to the grammar schools and the distance to dh work. We have no friends or ties in the county so are completely open as to which area. dh works by Heathrow so perhaps closer to there than not would be good. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for good primary schools, I am getting quite dizzy trying to narrow down search areas especially as I realise league tables and even ofsted doesn't tell the whole picture. At present 2 of my children go to a good church school with excellent results but also a very strong emphasis on kindness and good behaviour, I am terrified of moving them to a less kindly school. All my children are boys so something in the likely catchement for a boys grammar would be good, also we are catholic although they go to a CE school at the moment.

Thank you for any help. The prospect of moving is daunting.

nmal
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Welcome!

Do bear in mind that the better the school, the more difficult it may be to get a place. This is especially true if you are not applying in time for the 'normal point of entry' because it means the year group will probably already be full, in which case your application would be refused. In this situation you would have the right of appeal. I have no idea what age your children are, but - as a result of legislation on infant class sizes - appeals for Reception, year 1 or year 2 are almost impossible to win if the class has already reached 30. Appeals for other years are more of a balancing act (the strength of the school case for refusing further admissions against your reasons for needing for a place at the school in question).

If you intend to move in time to join a school at the normal point of entry, you would need to give the LA written proof that you have moved and are already living in your new home by the cut-off date, otherwise your new address would not be used for the first round of allocations. (As an example, the cut-off date for the first round of allocations for entry in September 2010 was 13th November 2009.)
Etienne
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Welcome from me too!

Another important point to bear in mind is that the alternatives to the grammar schools, should your sons not pass the 11+, can be pretty bad in some areas.

In the south-west part of the county however, you do have some reasonable alternatives - Chalfonts Community College is very popular, and the Amersham and Misbourne schools do a pretty good job.

The ideal could be to buy something that puts you firmly in catchment for Dr Challoners Boys school in Amersham, but also in catchment for the Chalfonts CC. Unfortunately just about the only area that is "safe" for both schools is Chalfont St. Giles, and house prices there are not exactly cheap. There is also one primary school in the area that is in a bit of a mess at present, and I fear that it could be one of the few with spaces.

A cheaper alternative could be High Wycombe, which puts you within range of the Royal Grammar School and also St. Bernard's Catholic Upper School. However, to be sure of getting in to St. Bernard's you would probably need to live very close to the school - perhaps within a mile - depending on whether you have solid proof of Catholic commitment.

You can check the distances for allocations for senior school here - this year's figures will be added shortly, but there were no radical changes:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11-plu ... rofile.php

I suggest that you make an initial decision based on your preferred senior schools (grammar and upper) and house prices, and then see where that takes you on primary schools. Any primary school in the top half of the Bucks league table should be OK, broadly speaking.

Sally-Anne
Dad40
Posts: 359
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:40 pm
Location: Chiltern District, Bucks

Post by Dad40 »

Hello nmal,

The two Kingshills (Great and Little) are worth a look. So is Great Missenden CofE.

I'm keeping mindful of upper school and grammar school choices when pointing out these three.

Your budget for a house may well have a big influence the decision on where to buy.....i.e. you may have to get into the realms of allocation profiles/risk to get a relatively low cost house but still access to good schools....

Cheers
nmal
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:40 pm

Post by nmal »

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, I'll have a look at the areas, its just great to have a starting point. My children are in Yr3, reception and one to start in 2011, hence why I feel this Summer may be better than next in that we will be in place for ds3 aplication to reception, but I'm getting worried about finding a school with 2 places available. Where we are at present there is a high turnover with approx 2-3 children leaving per class each year but I'm starting to realise this may not be the case out of London.
Sally-Anne, good point about alternatives, will definately factor this into decisions, with 3 children there has got to be a chance at least one of them won't make it.

thanks again, lots of research to do here before we even look for a house.

nmal
crabster
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:21 pm

Re: Good Primary Schools

Post by crabster »

Re the comment "The ideal could be to buy something that puts you firmly in catchment for Dr Challoners Boys school in Amersham, but also in catchment for the Chalfonts CC. Unfortunately just about the only area that is "safe" for both schools is Chalfont St. Giles, and house prices there are not exactly cheap. There is also one primary school in the area that is in a bit of a mess at present, and I fear that it could be one of the few with spaces."

Not quite sure what is meant by the above comment on Chalfont St Giles primary schools. Both the Infant School and the Junior School in Chalfont St Giles are rated as Outstanding by Ofsted!!
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Good Primary Schools

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi Crabster
crabster wrote:Not quite sure what is meant by the above comment on Chalfont St Giles primary schools. Both the Infant School and the Junior School in Chalfont St Giles are rated as Outstanding by Ofsted!!
If you re-read my comment you will see that I state "in the area", and not specifically Chalfont St. Giles:
Sally-Anne wrote:There is also one primary school in the area that is in a bit of a mess at present, and I fear that it could be one of the few with spaces."
The school I was referring to is Bell Lane Combined School in Little Chalfont, which is only a couple of miles from Chalfont St. Giles. The school has been in OFSTED special measures since May 2009, and progress towards addressing the issues at the school was deemed inadequate after a further inspection in March of this year.

As the original poster was moving to the area, and many of the schools in the vicinity are indeed outstanding (and therefore heavily oversubscribed), the likelihood is that the only school with vacancies would be Bell Lane, and I wished to warn the OP that they should do their research.

Quite why you presumed that I was making that statement about either of the schools in Chalfont St. Giles is beyond me.

Sally-Anne
Tree
Posts: 536
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:19 pm
Location: bucks

Re: Good Primary Schools

Post by Tree »

At the risk of sounding like an estate agent i would like to aquaint you with our area here in mid west bucks just into bucks from the oxfordshire border at thame, there are a number of villages in this part of bucks that all have good primary schools but also the specific advantage of being in the catchment for the comprehensive secondary in thame (oxfordshire) which is a good comp particularly as you don't have a selective system in oxfordshire and so the top 30% are not syphoned off to grammars, but also has the advantage that because the primary schools are in bucks you have the option of doing the 11 plus and going to the various grammar schools in aylesbury as in county applicants and so you have a great choice of grammar or v good comprehensive either as a choice or as a fall back position if you aren't succesful at 11 plus although i am sure this wouldn't be a problem now you have found this website :wink:. It is also convenient for the excellent range of private schools in oxford.

Quite a few people who work at heathrow live here so i assume the commute is not too bad its only 5 mins or so to the M40

and also properties will probably be a bit cheeper than these really exclusive south bucks areas :)
Dad40
Posts: 359
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:40 pm
Location: Chiltern District, Bucks

Re: Good Primary Schools

Post by Dad40 »

Tree,

Yes, Long Crendon always struck me as a good bet for the reasons you describe. And it's a very attractive place too.

Cheers
Tree
Posts: 536
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:19 pm
Location: bucks

Re: Good Primary Schools

Post by Tree »

Thanks Dad40 although not only long crendon a few other villages have the same unique advantage shabbington/oakley/brill/chilton and they are all really nice
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