Moving from SW11 to Dulwich - advice please

[ladydanger]

Would love some opinions / advice on East Dulwich and areas to live. I've read through a few posts on here already but hoping for some information that is more specific to our situation.

 

We're an overseas family looking to move back to London in 2024. We previously lived in Wandsworth between the Commons which we loved, however getting priced out and considering other areas to live with a similar feel. Obviously being overseas also means we're unable to pop over and look around in person which would've been ideal. 

 

We have two kids (5 and 3) and need to be within catchment to state primary and secondary schools. Ideally we would also want to be within 10 mins to the train line and within catchment for schools but is this wishful thinking?! Neither my husband or I grew up in London so we're still navigating the school system as well.

 

Would love some opinions on:

• Nursery schools/places in the areas
• State primary and secondaries (and for primary schools - any views on current availability of places as we would be applying in year / mid entry for our eldest). Are all state school admissions based on distance from the school?
• Suggestions of some streets to look at for housing (I know this is entirely subjective, but we like period properties on quiet streets, good community feel / neighbours etc). 
• Views from any other residents who moved from SW to SE London!

 

This forum has been immensely useful and I love the community spirit I can sense from here 🙂

[scarlettbanks]

We love our area, near the Belham Primary school. Our kids go to the Belham and love it. You need to live quite close to the school to get a place - the exact distance changes each year - might be best to contact the school if hoping for in-year admission - they do get spots available as kids move away etc. It's Peckham rather than East Dulwich - so the local high streets are Bellenden Rd and Rye Lane, rather than Lordship Lane - personally we slightly prefer this area (exciting, buzzy, rougher round the edges in parts especially bits of Rye Lane, but lots of nice shops, fun restaurants and bars etcs) although that's a personal preference, and others prefer Lordship Lane.  From the Belham it's a 7-minute walk to Peckham Rye station, which is well-connected to various parts of central London, especially once you learn the train timetable! There are lots of good state primary schools in East Dulwich too. Our kids hoping to go to the state secondary school Charter East Dulwich - looks like we do live close enough based on latest admission distances - the majority of Belham kids seems to go there. There's also Charter Herne Hill (you need to live close), Kingsdale (lottery to get in), some single-sex state schools, and then some private schools. I'm less in-the-know about nurseries - in our area have heard good things about The Villa, Little Jungle, Mother Goose Greendale (a bit further away) but I don't really know - and you probably need to sign up early. Lots of nice streets with community feel around the Belham - e.g. Avondale Rise and the parallel streets, Muschamp Rd and the parallel streets, Oglander, Ondine, etc - many others too I'm sure. 

[tomskip]

This forum has readers in Dulwich Village (postcode is London SE21), East Dulwich (London SE22), West Dulwich (also SE21 mainly) and Peckham (London SE15) and house prices tend to vary rather a lot across the post codes. So it would be helpful to know what sort of house or flat you have in mind and what is your budget?

I would recommend joining Mumsnet and posting on there. It's a huge site and you'll get lots of responses from people living in SE London. This forum is nice but a lot quieter. 

[ladydanger]

Thanks scarlettbanks and tomskip - appreciate you both responding!

scarlettbank: Lots to consider about Belham and really pleased you enjoy it there. Thank you for your school suggestions to - I will look into them.

tomskip: good advice about mumsnet, I might head over there and have a read too!

 

[alex_b]

My understanding is that for last year there was an oversupply of school spaces and that even The Belham (which had been massively oversubscribed in the past) wasn’t completely full. I’d call them about mid year entry, in our son’s year group there always seem to be a couple of kids joining each year and a few leaving to move away. Once your 5 year old is in all schools give priority to siblings so your 3-year old will be fine  

For nurseries our son’s friends at the Belham seem to have mostly been at The Villa or Little Jungle. 

For public transport I think it’s better to be near Peckham Rye than East Dulwich because there are far more lines. There are loads of roads that would get you into The Belham and be 10 mins walk from the station, anything North of Amott and West of Copplestone is probably ok. 

[Forest Hill Climber]

Fairlawn Primary School (Honor Oak Road) is towards Forest Hill rather than East Dulwich, but is well-loved by local parents and kids.

[Sineadaz]

The Infants school and the Hamlet junior school in Dulwich Village are both outstanding and really  fantastic schools , highly recommended 

Also the Half Moon Lane nursery is really great 

Lots of great family streets off Halfmoon Lane between North Dulwich station and Herne Hill in Catchment for both 

North Dulwich and Herne Hill stations within minutes walk 

As is The Charter North secondary school 

Edited January 5, 2024 by Sineadaz