Possible move
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What about Coulsdon / Purley / Kenley / Whyteleafe / Caterham areas. They are all close to M23 and about 20 minutes to Gatwick and good commute to London (if necessary). Although in the LB of Croydon and therefore no grammar schools plenty of boys travel to Wallington, Wilsons and Sutton Grammar all in the neighbouring borough of Sutton which also has Nonsuch and Wallington Girls. Parts of these areas will probably be cheaper than LB of Sutton.
Just a suggestion - have a look at one of the property finding websites, they are usually linked to google maps or such like so will give you a good indication of distances etc.
Good luck - don't envy you!
Plum
Just a suggestion - have a look at one of the property finding websites, they are usually linked to google maps or such like so will give you a good indication of distances etc.
Good luck - don't envy you!
Plum
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Tunbridge Wells could be an option. My DH works at Redhill Aerodrome and commutes daily (40-45mins). If you live in Tunbridge Wells or one of the surrounding villages you should be close enough to get a place at TW Boys Grammar.
And if you do go into Sussex there are some very good comprehensives - look at Wadhurst (Uplands) or Uckfield (also OFSTED outstanding). These are within commuting distance.
And if you do go into Sussex there are some very good comprehensives - look at Wadhurst (Uplands) or Uckfield (also OFSTED outstanding). These are within commuting distance.
Sutton area is easily commutable to Gatwick but the grammar schools are effectively superselectives and therefore heavily oversubscribed although occasional places come up. However at least Wilsons (would need to check others) will let you sit their exam at any time in the year and you would go to the relevant position on their waiting list depending on your score so your year 6 boy could take the test. Wallington grammar takes some extra boys into year 9 when they start their GCSE courses and has another exam then.
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Thanks for all this info and good comprehensives are a viable option but am I to assume that house prices would be higher in those areas and do they have over-subscription issues as well. In the present climate a move would take time so I would be trying to place two secondary age children. I would also need a good primary for my youngest children urgghhh. Is it any wonder why I am loath to do this
Having a few hiccups with my internet so appologies for the delays in responding.
Having a few hiccups with my internet so appologies for the delays in responding.
Tolstoy,
I would suggest that you contact schools and try to sort out provisional places somewhere before you decide on where to live/ look for a house. I had to do this when moving back to the UK and found that as I was not applying for a place at the normal point of entry it was not necessary to have a local address before talking about vacancies. This might be different if you can't find any suitable school with places and have to go on a waiting list of course.
Be prepared to make a lot of phone calls as this is going to be hard. I suggest that you look at the website for the grammar schools association (or whatever it is called) and also at local authority websites and draw up a long list of every secondary school within commuter range which looks vaguely suitable. Contact them all and then go and see any with spaces (which is likely to be very few). If you find any runners you then need to start calling primary schools within travelling distance of those schools...
Good luck.
Can your son's current school give you any advice or support at all?
I would suggest that you contact schools and try to sort out provisional places somewhere before you decide on where to live/ look for a house. I had to do this when moving back to the UK and found that as I was not applying for a place at the normal point of entry it was not necessary to have a local address before talking about vacancies. This might be different if you can't find any suitable school with places and have to go on a waiting list of course.
Be prepared to make a lot of phone calls as this is going to be hard. I suggest that you look at the website for the grammar schools association (or whatever it is called) and also at local authority websites and draw up a long list of every secondary school within commuter range which looks vaguely suitable. Contact them all and then go and see any with spaces (which is likely to be very few). If you find any runners you then need to start calling primary schools within travelling distance of those schools...
Good luck.
Can your son's current school give you any advice or support at all?
Hi Tolstoy
The areas that I mentioned before (Caterham, Warlingham, Whyteleafe, Kenley, Purley etc) are very fortunate in that they have two very good comps - Riddlesdown & Warlingham, also Oxted School has a very good reputation but is in a very expensive area. In Coulsdon there is Woodcote High School (and primary school). Beware though, there are a few stinkers around too, especially in LB Sutton (although it does have some good ones as well) and further into LB of Croydon!
My advice would be to have a look at the local council's websites, they usually have maps of catchment areas as well as Ofsted Reports.
Good luck.
Plum
The areas that I mentioned before (Caterham, Warlingham, Whyteleafe, Kenley, Purley etc) are very fortunate in that they have two very good comps - Riddlesdown & Warlingham, also Oxted School has a very good reputation but is in a very expensive area. In Coulsdon there is Woodcote High School (and primary school). Beware though, there are a few stinkers around too, especially in LB Sutton (although it does have some good ones as well) and further into LB of Croydon!
My advice would be to have a look at the local council's websites, they usually have maps of catchment areas as well as Ofsted Reports.
Good luck.
Plum
In the Kent area, west Kent has some good school BUT these schools are superseletives and I think they are much harder to get in. Also house prices are much higher with Sevenoaks being the most pricey, followed by tunbridge well the tonbrige more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/i ... l/29uk.stm
You also get quite a few decent primary schools too in west kent and from Sevenoaks you can get to gatwick in 30mins....but this comes with hefty price tag. I remember not long ago when Sevenoaks was the most expensive town in England outside london. Not sure if it still holds that title
If house prices are an issue then my neck of woods may do. Maidstone has 2 decent gramma schools and prices are much cheaper than west kent. Its a bit of a dooddle going to Gatwick and a bit of a lottery. Without traffic it takes about 45mins...but with the clacket lane services traffic jams it can take anything up to 2 hours. It will really depend with the time your DH starts work, if its early then he will beat the rush
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/i ... l/29uk.stm
You also get quite a few decent primary schools too in west kent and from Sevenoaks you can get to gatwick in 30mins....but this comes with hefty price tag. I remember not long ago when Sevenoaks was the most expensive town in England outside london. Not sure if it still holds that title
If house prices are an issue then my neck of woods may do. Maidstone has 2 decent gramma schools and prices are much cheaper than west kent. Its a bit of a dooddle going to Gatwick and a bit of a lottery. Without traffic it takes about 45mins...but with the clacket lane services traffic jams it can take anything up to 2 hours. It will really depend with the time your DH starts work, if its early then he will beat the rush