Would you move house to get your child into a good school's catchment area?

Person_one

minerva_windsong wrote: »

I'd definitely consider it. We're hoping to buy our first home later this year and schools are something I'm looking at as part of the decision, even though we're years away from having kids. But as others have said I don't think it's the be-all and end-all - you could have the most academically brilliant school but if it wasn't right for your child then moving to the area would be a pointless exercise.

It seems OTT to be taking schools into consideration at such an early stage. Why pay over the odds for a house when any number of factors might change before you're ready to send your future kids to school?

As an example, the comp I went to had a pretty poor reputation by the time I left its sixth form in 2003, people were appealing in droves to get into the one down the road. 11 years later my old school has turned around, its had a complete refurb and is getting the best results in the area, while the one own the road has just had a terrible Ofsted.

I bet a few families who moved 11 years ago when their kids were babies to get into the 'good' school are kicking themselves as September approaches.

marisco_2

I have known plenty of people pay well over the odds for their properties, in an attempt to try and get their children into top rated schools. Interestingly what many fail to do is to check a chosen school's admissions criteria. You can do this through your local authority, and it's worth doing as catchment boundaries can and do change. It is not an overnight process, but if you are buying a property now, there is no guarantee school catchment boundaries won't have changed in say five years time.

poet123

Person_one wrote: »

It seems OTT to be taking schools into consideration at such an early stage. Why pay over the odds for a house when any number of factors might change before you're ready to send your future kids to school?

As an example, the comp I went to had a pretty poor reputation by the time I left its sixth form in 2003, people were appealing in droves to get into the one down the road. 11 years later my old school has turned around, its had a complete refurb and is getting the best results in the area, while the one own the road has just had a terrible Ofsted.

I bet a few families who moved 11 years ago when their kids were babies to get into the 'good' school are kicking themselves as September approaches.

You can only work with what you know, if things change radically you change with them if at all possible. Kids only get one shot at education.

meer53

There are 13 years between my kids.

My son went to an excellent first and middle school, my daughter went to the same ones. My son then went on to the local Grammar school, massively oversubscribed and had to pass an entrance exam. I was pleased as at that time, the local high school had a bad reputation.

My daughter now goes to that same high school, in the intervening years, it has improved a huge amount and she is really happy there. She did sit the pre entrance exam for the Grammar school but after looking round and attending the open evenings, i decided it was completely the wrong school for her. My children are polar opposites and one school wouldn't have catered for them both, despite the age gap.

I'm saying this as a word of warning for those who don't yet have children and are choosing houses based on local schools. By the time your children are at school, many things can change, my advice would be to wait until you're in the position of registering children for school before deciding where to move to.

bylromarha

Secondary yes - we have done. We were moving house anyway due to relocation, but we only looked in a specific area for the new house due to a 9 year old son.

FWIW, I quit my teaching job at an OFSTED "Outstanding" primary school at Christmas, after starting there in September. I was one of 5 teaching staff to leave at Christmas, in a school with 13 classes.

One of the many things which made me quit was the way the bright kids weren't challenged, as the SEN and lower ability got everything thrown at them. Bright/average kids weren't pushed at all or challenged and were left to get on with it, as they weren't going to make the difference to the "value added" of the school - which Ofsted rate. Best example of this is that ALL year 3 had to have phonics lessons - majority of kids don't need phonics in year 3.

The school also had an expectation that a 7am - 9pm work day was reasonable. It was frowned upon if you left the building before 6.30pm. Often got emails through at 10.30pm which I was expected to respond to before the next school day (I didn't). I was falling asleep on my feet in front of the kids by the end of the week, as I often finished work at 11pm. Colleagues got up at 5am to keep on top of the paperwork the school demanded was "essential" - which was just a waste of time and solely an Ofsted exercise.

Another 2 teachers leaving at Easter...

...Ofsted outstanding isn't all it's cracked up to be folks!

Emmala

If we were going to move now then I would take schools into account as my eldest is going to secondary in September......BUT if we wanted to get into the 'best' school round here, we'd be looking to pay around £200K more for the same size house we currently have!!! Having said that, I know someone who has just bought a house for £900K in catchment for that school, and know someone else who will be renting in catchment in time for applications next September (and will be maintaining the charade that their own house needs 'work' because they know that anyone who gets a whiff of what they're up to will report them.......)

GobbledyGook

bylromarha wrote: »

Secondary yes - we have done. We were moving house anyway due to relocation, but we only looked in a specific area for the new house due to a 9 year old son.

FWIW, I quit my teaching job at an OFSTED "Outstanding" primary school at Christmas, after starting there in September. I was one of 5 teaching staff to leave at Christmas, in a school with 13 classes.

One of the many things which made me quit was the way the bright kids weren't challenged, as the SEN and lower ability got everything thrown at them. Bright/average kids weren't pushed at all or challenged and were left to get on with it, as they weren't going to make the difference to the "value added" of the school - which Ofsted rate. Best example of this is that ALL year 3 had to have phonics lessons - majority of kids don't need phonics in year 3.

The school also had an expectation that a 7am - 9pm work day was reasonable. It was frowned upon if you left the building before 6.30pm. Often got emails through at 10.30pm which I was expected to respond to before the next school day (I didn't). I was falling asleep on my feet in front of the kids by the end of the week, as I often finished work at 11pm. Colleagues got up at 5am to keep on top of the paperwork the school demanded was "essential" - which was just a waste of time and solely an Ofsted exercise.

Another 2 teachers leaving at Easter...

...Ofsted outstanding isn't all it's cracked up to be folks!

That is one of the reasons I think considering schools years in advance is pointless. All it takes is one change in head teacher and a school changes dramatically. Staff turnover can increase massively and the general ethos of a school changes.

When my DD1 was due to start school we looked around and really liked one. Just a few months later we were praying we didn't get allocated it as there was a new Head whose way was massively different and the school is a completely different prospect.

minerva_windsong

Person_one wrote: »

It seems OTT to be taking schools into consideration at such an early stage. Why pay over the odds for a house when any number of factors might change before you're ready to send your future kids to school?

As an example, the comp I went to had a pretty poor reputation by the time I left its sixth form in 2003, people were appealing in droves to get into the one down the road. 11 years later my old school has turned around, its had a complete refurb and is getting the best results in the area, while the one own the road has just had a terrible Ofsted.

I bet a few families who moved 11 years ago when their kids were babies to get into the 'good' school are kicking themselves as September approaches.

As I said, it's not going to be the whole decision - I wouldn't move to an area just because it had good schools, and I fully expect that we will end up falling in love with a house in an area that may not be ideal for lots of reasons. But personally I think it's worth at least thinking about, even if things do change with the schools in the area. Especially with property prices in London as they are now and the likelihood we'll have to stay where we choose to buy for several years...

Kaz2904

We bought our house because it was in our price range (because it needed tonnes of work) and the area looked nice. We didn't know the road but DH had always wanted a Victorian house "up on the hill". We got that in a cheaper area.
Once we moved, I asked the neighbours about schools. I looked at the uniforms worn by the littler ones and asked their parents.
We got DD into the "sought after" school for our road. 2 years later, DS got into the same school. We weren't impressed. Thankfully, the school was an infant school- or so we thought! DD's year was the first to go full primary and the school was very sneaky and didn't give us the info for the children to transfer to the middle school they should go to- hence, DD had a bit of an urgent transfer to the other school AND THRIVED! Only two from her year went. 2 years later, 10 from DS's class left for the middle school.
Secondary school wise, the boundaries kept changing due to different housing estates popping up all the time!

FBaby

When I moved with my partner and I asked about schools, he said the local ones were very good...until I learnt that they were so good, everyone had been playing the system to get in, ie. parents putting their kids in the feeder schools to get priority to the primary school, meaning that those arriving to the area, even if only next door to the school had no chance to get in, so being in the catchment area doesn't mean you will get a place.