We’ve Been in our current house 6 years and we’re thinking about moving.

Three reasons we would like to move:
Kids (secondary) schools
Work commute
Bigger property

We’d like to get the kids into ‘better’ secondary schools. Where we are now, the primary school is ok but after that, we’re not too enthusiastic about the secondary schools.
Schools are well rated in the area we’re be looking at.

Kids are 6 & 8 so years 1 and 3.

Is their a good or bad time to do it?!

I believe you need to have lived in the new area for a certain amount of time before you can apply to those schools – is that right?

I just wondered if anybody had been through something similar and what your experience was like.

I think the general consensus is that kids are much more resilient and adaptable than we give them credit for. The benefit of moving to be in catchment for a great high school far outweighs the upset of moving their primary school.

A friend of mine has just done it, his kids are similar ages to yours. They were devastated for about two days then just got on with it. He got them involved in the the local football club and Brownies before they moved area so they knew lots of kids in their new school. That seemed like a sensible move.

Good luck

Kids are very resilient, but too many new things all at once – house, friends, school/secondary school – will make it that bit harder.

Be wary of “better” secondary schools. Our lad went to the “better” local academy as the other regular one in town was shocking at the time. 5 years later, new trust in the other school, his almost in special measures, choice would have reversed. His younger sister wanted to go to the smaller Catholic secondary as it was better than both, now it’s full of shitty kids whose parents thought they’d get into less trouble than at the bigger “rougher” schools. Yes, I’m aware of the irony.

The “best” state schools here in Derbyshire are in stupidly expensive areas, kids do well but poorer kids get bullied and don’t get the real good drugs that the rich kids get. Everythings a balancing act.

From our experience of doing this: the parents worry far more than the kids. They’ll be fine. You’ll worry.

You may need to find a new religion too – I hear that helps! 🙂

I believe you need to have lived in the new area for a certain amount of time before you can apply to those schools – is that right?

The only requirement is that when you apply, you have to put where you currently live. No other requirements.

Our experience is that it depends on the kids, and the kid you thought will be fine may not be, but moving in primary is easier than moving in secondary so they’ll probably be fine.

Primary schools tend to be easy, kids that age integrate without much thought, we see new ones starting all the time, no issues, it’s not until they hit secondary that they tend to have a bit of baggage and more difficulty integrating.

As others say, clubs and hobbies are the main thing, my girl loves her gymnastics, dance and kickboxing, school is a thing, but the clubs and neighbourhood kids are her main focus, just keep an eye on good clubs to join, other kids around the neighbourhood their age and so on.

Be wary of “better” secondary schools.

There is an element of that to consider – when we went through it a couple of years ago, a remarkable amount of parents at our girls’ school found god all of a sudden just to get their kids into the ‘best’ school at the time. It has just spectacularly failed an OFSTED inspection with the lowest (Unsatisfactory) score.

I think the general consensus is that kids are much more resilient and adaptable than we give them credit for. The benefit of moving to be in catchment for a great high school far outweighs the upset of moving their primary school.

I think this can be true, but in my own experience it was bloody horrendous. Went from a nice school I really liked to a really horrible school I hated. Long term it may have been the right decision by my parents, who knows.

The science around what benefits you accrue from a better school are also unclear.

Be wary of “better” secondary schools. Our lad went to the “better” local academy as the other regular one in town was shocking at the time. 5 years later, new trust in the other school, his almost in special measures, choice would have reversed. His younger sister wanted to go to the smaller Catholic secondary as it was better than both, now it’s full of shitty kids whose parents thought they’d get into less trouble than at the bigger “rougher” schools. Yes, I’m aware of the irony.

I’d also echo this, my wife was working at an outstanding primary school with a really good senior leadership team who’d worked hard to get it there, they then fancied a change and nearly all moved to a new school, didnt take long for the replacements to mess the school up and pee of the staff seeing more teachers leave, my wife left to go work with the previous head. Fast forward a few years and that school is rated needs improvement by OFGEM and the young head who took over is now retiring early…

as above, this can also happy at secondary level

My partners a teacher and thinks the “good” schools can be better than the “outstanding” ones as they can often be trying a lot harder to improve their rating. Depends on the trajectory of the school I guess.

As a child I got moved as to different places and schools 4 times, from a kids perspective the younger the better imho.

I would echo what Horatio said. The high school my kids are/were in is not rated that highly but they have a new building with lots of new tech, excellent sports facilities and a head that is very enthusiastic. My son has a place at Edinburgh University which he has deferred to concentrate on his sport for now. The school has a good relationship with the University and I think the University is trying to diversify and get more kids from less well off backgrounds. My partner has a friend that’s very pissed off as they sent their kids to one of Edinburghs most exclusive schools and couldn’t get in to Edinburgh Uni. Sadly the kids also experienced quite a bit of bullying at the posh school.

I think this can be true, but in my own experience it was bloody horrendous

Agree with this. I think the “kids adapt so easily…” trope ( tripe?) Is just something trotted out by/ to adults to justify their decision and make themselves feel better.

I hated moving schools, completely and utterly. Have sworn never to do the same to my kids.

Thanks for the replies. I’m aware schools ratings can change .. I’m not worried about the schools in the area we’d be looking to move to. Equally I don’t have a crystal ball. We can’t stay where we are and we need to move to reduce the commute time / distance. The kids school is absolutely the main push tho.

Agree with this. I think the “kids adapt so easily…” trope ( tripe?) Is just something trotted out by/ to adults to justify their decision and make themselves feel better.

This Comes across like I’m being unfair. Clearly it wasn’t great for you but Short of moving in the summer holidays right before secondary school starts (and somehow having a place in that school!) I don’t see another option.

My view is it’s a get it gone now job while they’re young and they can then move up to secondary school with their friends / make new ones. But I’ve posted on here for peoples experiences – good or bad.

I was in a similar situation when I moved last year. It all worked out.

Kids soon settled in the new school – all 3 of them.

From my experience I would Wang in the the school application asap/before you move. Then when you complete fwd the detail to the admin person. The school ended up sorting the application out because Bradford council didn’t bother.

Is their a good or bad time to do it?!

Speaking as a kid who moved schools every couple of years due to my Dad’s job – there’s never a good time to do it. So just do it when you need to but try to avoid moving during the school year.

The moves when I was younger were easier to adapt to than the ones in my teens. For my own kids we deliberately bought a house in the catchment area of a ‘good’ rated secondary school just after my youngest was born – they’re now 8 and 12, as primary matters much less IMO. We’re not moving until they’re done with their schooling.

We’ve just made a fairly major move and have a 14yo son (S2 Scotland). Luckily timed over the Xmas hols so that he started at the start of this term.

It was our major concern with the move and we wanted to do it before he got in to options and assesments for exams etc. Other than the first day which he said was horrendous and left my wife in tears and a sleepless night he’s settled in amazingly. Day two he came back raving about how great it was! Totally one extreme to another in two days, and yesterday he just had one of his new friends round for the day.

For North Wales I’d factor in the Welsh lessons thing as many have said. My FiL moved there and said it was a game changer for getting involved in things. He took 1-1 lessons as well as a night class.