Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

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smitha
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:08 pm

Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by smitha »

My DD has been admitted into Kendrick and will be moving to Reading in July ,as i am new to Reading i wanted some advice please.
I also have a son who will be going to year 2 in September and i am right now doing a research on the primary state schools of Reading.
1. Would somebody be able to tell me in which area the majority of the good comprehensive primary schools(ofsted rated good or outstanding)are located so that i can look for a house there for rent with the hope that my son will get into atleast one of the good schools.The area should also be a nice one.

2.The other criteria is , it should not be far from Kendrick
,
Advice will be greately appreciated.Thanks in Advance.
aliportico
Posts: 888
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:19 pm

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by aliportico »

Sorry, I don't really know anything about primary schools because my kids were/are home educated through the primary years. The only one I have any experience with is Oxford Road Community School - my dd1 spent a term there aged 10, and her teacher was great with her, and the school were very welcoming. Just looked at Ofsted, it gets a 2 (Good), whereas the other 4 nearest primary schools to me are all 3's. This area of west Reading is cheaper than some others as well, but not to everyone's taste!

Caversham is usually considered to be the 'nice' part of Reading :) I like the university area too - easy walking distance to Kendrick - where house costs may be dropping due to worries about secondary school catchment areas. (Had a woman at a kid's party rant at me for ages about how RBC 'owed' her 30 grand because her house was now in an undesirable catchment area! Could not muster up much sympathy and did point out that if she and all her friends and neighbours sent their kids to the 'bad' school it might not be so bad after all!)

There's nowhere particularly awful in Reading, I don't think, and as Kendrick is so close to the town centre, pretty much everywhere has good transport links. I guess you will just have to spend some time reading Ofsted reports and studying bus maps :) Do you have a commute to factor in as well? Good luck :)
Reading Mum
Posts: 1841
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by Reading Mum »

Unsurprisingly (given my name) I am a local :) We live less than a mile from Kendrick / Reading School.
My first question would be where do the adult(s) need to commute to as it would affect recommendations. I work from home but OH has to get out of Reading and go south by car so for us Caversham was totally out of the question due to the traffic. If you need to get to Reading station then that opens up more choices.

Can I also apologise in advance if I make comments about a school where your DC is. OP asked for opinions and these are my own. I didn't like the look of my catchment primary and chose to send my only DC to an Indie. My comments are based on friends and neighbours opinions.

Caversham has good primaries, East Reading not so much. If you want to stay a little bit out on the East side (for easy access to A329M and M4) then moving just over the edge into Wokingham BC gives you Aldryngton and Early St Peters as good options but the house prices (and I assume the rentals) will reflect this. Caversham is also a generally expensive area. I have no experience of West Reading apart from saying that I chose not to live there.

If you want to PM anything specific then feel free. Well done to your DD by the way. We hope to be joining her the following year :)
Reading Mum
Posts: 1841
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by Reading Mum »

aliportico wrote:I like the university area too - easy walking distance to Kendrick - where house costs may be dropping due to worries about secondary school catchment areas. (Had a woman at a kid's party rant at me for ages about how RBC 'owed' her 30 grand because her house was now in an undesirable catchment area! Could not muster up much sympathy and did point out that if she and all her friends and neighbours sent their kids to the 'bad' school it might not be so bad after all!)
It wasn't me - but I have gone from Maiden Erleigh catchment where my DD could walk to school to now being Bulmershe School catchment which she certainly could not walk to. I don't even want to think about what this has done to the value of my house :( but its irrelevant since I am only leaving it feet first :D
smitha
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:08 pm

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by smitha »

Thank you all for the prompt response ,really helpful
aliportico
Posts: 888
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:19 pm

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by aliportico »

Reading Mum, tbh, I am generally sympathetic re the catchment area changes, but she went on and on so much about the money that I was rather put off!
Reading Mum
Posts: 1841
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by Reading Mum »

That would be boring whatever the subject
aliportico
Posts: 888
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:19 pm

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by aliportico »

True :lol:
darell
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 11:04 am

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by darell »

Suggestions for close by, well regarded schools, but I have no idea what Ofsted rating they have.

Town/Uni area: Redlands (Can easily walk to Kendrick in 10-15 mins)
Caversham: Caversham Primary
Earley: Radstock, Aldryngton, Earley St Peters (has faith criteria priority but gather has quite a few coming and going )
West Reading: Oxford Road Community (yes aliportico, I have also heard good things)

But the vital thing to factor in is that the most popular "best" schools will have waiting lists even in Y2, and those waiting lists will prioritise siblings. You absolutely need to check with RBC, and perhaps West Berkshire and Wokingham Councils about how they will handle a Y2 admission, if there would be a waiting list and where he would be on the W/L .
smitha
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:08 pm

Re: Parents who reside in Reading Kindly Advice

Post by smitha »

Thankyou so much Darell,Really appreciate
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