Pembury vs Brenchley & Matfield

[ksaravan]

continuing from https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 19&t=51116...

I am deliberating between Pembury Primary School and Brenchley & Matfield Primary School for my DS' admission into Y5 in September. Part of the plan is to rent & live nearer to the school.

I am relocating from overseas and I don't have any reasonable exposure to these areas. I narrowed down to these two schools after online searches, phone calls to councils & schools and short visits to the schools in the last few days. I spent less than a couple of hours in these two villages when visiting the schools and the initial impression is that both the villages & schools are good place to be in. Both places are within reasonable driving distance to Paddock Wood or Tonbridge stations. I have to decide on one of these two.

I am looking for advice & suggestions from the parents/families/friends who are familiar with the schools and neighbourhoods - to help me understand the Pros/Cons and the things to be aware of.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

[monochromecat]

In terms of the distance Pembury is closer to all the secondary schools in TW and Tonbridge for admissions so you are more likely to get in on distance where distance is one of the criteria. At yr5 stage I would select more by secondary school admission criteria than anything else. There will only be two years left of Primark, only one year before the 11plus. None of the schools prepare for the eleven plus so you can either do your own prep or get a tutor.

[Twinkle]

I agree with monochromecat. Please do look very carefully at the admissions' criteria for secondary schools you may be interested in for your son as certain Kent postcodes may fall outside the catchment of the secondary schools irrespective of distance. Skinners is I think the only boys' grammar school left in the area which selects purely on score. Judd in Tonbridge for example have recently introduced a catchment except for a very small number of very high scoring boys ( although those in catchment have to score highly in any event). Even if there is only a distance criteria, do check whether, in the area you are looking to live, boys from that area didn't live too far away to get a place in recent years ( you can probably get this information by telephoning the schools or KCC admissions).

[ksaravan]

Thanks a lot monochromecat and Twinkle.

I will check the Sec school admission criteria.

[monochromecat]

Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar has a 3 mile priority area, Pembury is on the edge of that. You might also want to consider the non grammar options too as not all clever children pass the 11plus and coming from a different country the curriculum might be different. Although there might not be many houses between Pembury and Brenchley, the radius going out the other way might include some more densely populated areas. In your position I would consider renting near to secondary schools. Do consider though that traffic around the A21 is awful at the moment due to road widening.

[Guest55]

You need to make sure you have a good non-GS available.

[ksaravan]

Thanks a lot to all for the valuable advice and input.

I have finalised the (primary) school and house in Pembury. Will be moving in by early August.

I will soon be looking for tutors and a piano coach in the area. Please let me know if you have any reference or info.

Much appreciated.