Jump to content

House move and catchment areas

Lucy10

By Lucy10
in The Family Room Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Lucy10

Lucy10

Posted
Posted

Hi there, My husband and I are thinking of moving to Dulwich/ East Dulwich/ Hearne Hill. I am pregnant so at some point we will need to think about schools. We thought it would be best to move into a catchment area of a good state school. Have heard that Dulwich Infants and Hamlet are great (and have outstanding ofsted reports). The catchments seems to be tiny though and the houses in the catchments very expensive. We are worried about paying over the odds for a house near the schools but still not getting in due to changing catchments etc. Does anyone have an opinion on which direction would be best to go to have good back up options (e.g.

- if went to Danecroft Road area we could maybe get into Jessop if don't get into the village schools.

- if went to Croxsted Road area we could maybe get into Rosendale if don't get into the village schools.

(Both have outstanding reports from Ofsted).


Do you think those would be a better options than going Beauval road direction where if we miss the village schools it looks like we would be aiming for Heber, which has a "needs improvement" rating.


It is our first child so we are very new to all this (and can't believe we are having to think of school catchments etc already but everyone keeps telling us we need to take it into account for our move). Not sure how much reliance to place on ofsted reports either.


Any advice would be much appreciated!!


Thank you

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/40858-house-move-and-catchment-areas/
Share on other sites
mbennett

mbennett

Posted
Posted

Also bear in mind that you may move but the headmaster of the school may change and standards may drop, similarly often the schools that need improvement gets lots of funding and attention and can often improve dramatically over a 3-4yr period.


Therefore I would say schools can change so don't invest too much into it!

sillywoman

sillywoman

Posted
Posted

Headmistress. And they tend to be long-stayers, or homegrown at DVI & Hamlet. And they are just lovely schools - I speak with some 14 years continuous experience of both under my belt now.


You could do worse than look at the houses in the small enclave opposite ED hospital. We are little known of, but in the catchment for both DVI & DHJS, slightly cheaper than more popular ED/HH/DV roads, and a lot bigger square footage too. Our gardens are small but we the added benefit of being 10 mins from Lordship lane shops one way and 10 mins from Dulwich Village the other. To my mind this is the best place to live in SE London. I can't believe others haven't cottoned on to it! :D


P.S. I'm prepared to be disagreed with ;)

hellosailor

hellosailor

Posted
Posted

I agree with you Sillywoman! it is a brilliant location!

But?.you are unlikely to get into DVI or Hamlet from here based on recent years, or certainly, if you did, it would be last offer on the waiting list and by no means a certainty. You were one step ahead when you moved here years ago!

hpsaucey

hpsaucey

Posted
Posted

canela Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> also bear in mind (as you can see from searching

> threads on the forum) that there a lot of parents

> with children at Heber who are very happy with the

> school. Ofsted is not everything.


I'll second this. Despite the 'myth' of choice these days, I looked around a lot of schools because we weren't sure where we were going to be living and put them on the list based on where I thought my son would 'fit' best and be happiest - this was not the one with the 'best' OFSTED report. Hard, of course, to add this into the equation before they're born...

  • 2 weeks later...
Lucy10

Lucy10

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks very much to you all for replying. I really appreciate the advice. We are now thinking maybe North Dulwich/Hearne Hill or the streets between Dulwich Village and Lordship Lane if the right thing comes up there. It is a big decision and a lot to think about. School-wise I am beginning to think it is a little early to make the decision based mainly on that. Either of these areas seem ok for schools so I think we will now look for a house we like there and re-assess the school decision later on.


Thanks very much

Carbonara

Carbonara

Posted
Posted

Bear in mind that catchments areas will probably continue to shrink year on year, so being equidistant between two schools but on the doorstep of none may not be a smart tactic and could leave you in a so-called 'black hole'. Better to be very close to one school and had a 'dead cert' with options to try for others.


Somewhere on this forum is a map showing the overlapping circles of catchments for all the schools.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Advertise Here

  • Latest Discussions

    • malumbu
      Oh David / Is David Lammy Toast?

      By malumbu · Posted

      The current wave of xenophobia is due to powerful/influential people stirring up hatred.  It;'s what happened in the past, think 1930s Germany.  It seems to be even easier now as so many get their information from social media, whether it is right or wrong.  The media seeking so called balance will bring some nutter on, they don't then bring a nutter on to counteract that. They now seem to turn to Reform at the first opportunity. So your life is 'shite', let;s blame someone else.  Whilst sounding a bit like a Tory, taking some ownership/personal responsibility would be a start.  There are some situations where that may be more challenging, in deindustrialised 'left behind' wasteland we can't all get on our bikes and find work.  But I loathe how it is now popular to blame those of us from relatively modest backgrounds, like me, who did see education and knowledge as a way to self improve. Now we are seen by some as smug liberals......  
    • Dogkennelhillbilly
      Dell Autos is closing tomorrow

      By Dogkennelhillbilly · Posted

      Kwik Fit buggered up an A/C leak diagnosis for me (saying there wasn't one, when there was) and sold a regas. The vehicle had to be taken to an A/C specialist for condensor replacement and a further regas. Not impressed.
    • HeadNun
      Oh David / Is David Lammy Toast?

      By HeadNun · Posted

      Yes, these are all good points. I agree with you, that division has led us down dangerous paths in the past. And I deplore any kind of racism (as I think you probably know).  But I feel that a lot of the current wave of xenophobia we're witnessing is actually more about a general malaise and discontent. I know non-white people around here who are surprisingly vocal about immigrants - legal or otherwise. I think this feeling transcends skin colour for a lot of people and isn't as simple as, say, the Jew hatred of the 1930s or the Irish and Black racism that we saw laterally. I think people feel ignored and looked down upon.  What you don't realise, Sephiroth, is that I actually agree with a lot of what you're saying. I just think that looking down on people because of their voting history and opinions is self-defeating. And that's where Labour's getting it wrong and Reform is reaping the rewards.   
    • malumbu
      The economy, a sensible debate in advance of the budget

      By malumbu · Posted

      @Sephiroth you made some interesting points on the economy, on the Lammy thread. Thought it worth broadening the discussion. Reeves (irrespective of her financial competence) clearly was too downbeat on things when Labour came into power. But could there have been more honesty on the liklihood of taxes going up (which they have done, and will do in any case due to the freezing of personal allowances).  It may have been a silly commitment not to do this, but were you damned if you do and damned if you don't?

East Dulwich Forum

Established in 2006, we are an online community discussion forum for people who live, work in and visit SE22.

Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...