Good primary schools in Horsham

[Jo2508]

Hi there,
I just posted on this forum about moving back to the UK and how to get a school place mid year. Now I'm looking for some advice about schools in Horsham (I'm very demanding, I know!)
I have identified 4 schools that I like the sound of (their philosophies, values, good ofsted reports, good after school activities etc) and wondered if anyone has or had children there....The schools are North Heath Community Primary, Leechpool Primary, Northolmes Junior and Holbrook Primary.
We haven't committed ourselves to exactly where in Horsham (or even outside it) we are going to live yet, so any other suggestions also welcome.
Many thanks,
Jo

[Lulabellarama]

Heron Way is also a great school, as is Kingslea. In fact lots of people say theres no such thing as a bad school in Horsham. Having said that, Northolmes is not great. They are going through a lot of change and I'm not sure how effective the head teacher is. So probably not a school to seek out, if you see what I mean?

[Jo2508]

Thanks, I meant to include Heron Way as well in the list of schools I've looked at. I thought there might be an issue with Notholmes actually as their website is 'under construction' and they didn't reply to my email.

[christmasjo]

As Lulaellarama said schools are good in Horsham. Northolmes is not overly popular.
Holbrook and Heron Way are very popular schools.
All Saint's Primary is close to Holbrook too.
Southwater has good schools if your thinking of being on the outskirts of Horsham
I would also have a think about your secondary school options when you move. If you were thinking of living close to the schools you listed then your catchment secondary school is Forest School for boys or Millais for girls. If you live on the other side of Horsham your catchment school is Tanbridge House which is mixed.
There is a lot of housing going up near to Tanbridge so there is talk a new secondary will be built.
Hope that helps

[Jo2508]

Thanks Jo, that is also very helpful information. I have an 8 year old dd so the Millais secondary school is a possibility, I guess, depending on the part of Horsham we move to. What is the area called where the schools you mention are?!

[Lulabellarama]

If you have a daughter you should definitely aim or Millais catchment as its an outstandingly good school. I'm not sure of the boundaries, but its on the East side of town.

[christmasjo]

Millais is a very popular girls school. Many parents choose it over private.
Millais is on Depot Road. I think they call it East Horsham?
My children are not at secondary yet but I think the catchment for Millais includes living close to any of the schools you first mentioned (North Heath, Holbrook Primary, All Saints, Kingslea,Leechpool, Heron Way)
If you lived in Southwater then your catchment school would be Tanbridge.
Primary schools in the West of Horsham like Greenway, Arunside, St Mary's are catchment areas for Tanbridge.

[Jo2508]

Thank you for all your help and suggestions, I hadn't really given any thought to secondary schools as here in Holland the system is different and admission is not about catchment areas.

[AlwaysHoldingOnToStarbug]

My Ds1 went to Northolmes. It was quite a few years ago, but I wasn't overly impressed with it. The atmosphere didn't seem welcoming and I got told off for taking him to the doctors because he would miss a test! Such a shame as Littlehaven, the feeder infant school was lovely. He was only there for a year as we moved.

Leechpool is supposed to be good, as are North Heath and Holbrook. Pretty much all Horsham schools are good, the only other one I used to hear bad reports about was Arunside, but that was years ago, so no idea what it's like now.

Millais is supposed to be excellent. I went there but that was very many years ago - though the Head was there when I was there (he was Deputy back then)

[Jo2508]

Thanks! Will be going to look around Horsham in December (not schools, but just areas) so looking forward to that. Then I guess it's seeing which schools are in those areas and keeping fingers crossed that the one(s) I think is best for my DD has a place for her mid-year.

[badgerhead]

I think it is worth asking the schools what sort of mid year places they have, I know Kingslea have a few in Juniors, years 3 upwards, but none or hardly any in Infants. I agree the north & east of the town are best for Millais, although there are a lot of girls who go into school from the West & some parts of Southwater.
I believe Holbrook & All Saints don't have any spaces, but North Heath might have some, don't know about Leechpool or North Holmes though. Arunside & Shelly in Broadbridge Heath are due to increase in size due to the extra building going on in that part of town, I hear mixed reports about Arunside. There is also St John's, opposite Arunside, & a Catholic school, but they do take non Catholics & have a good reputation.

[Lulabellarama]

There are no places in Yr5 at Kingslea! I'm waiting for one. Ditto Heron Way

[Jo2508]

Again, thanks for the information - I think my DD would be going into Yr 4 (she's 8) but not entirely sure as I have no experience of the English school system. I did email some of the schools but they told me to contact the local council. I did this, but they said they couldn't tell me which schools had places and even if they did now, they may not in 4-5 months time.
I could get quite stressed out about this but I have decided not to! I am sure something will come up closer to the time we move and it's just been great getting some suggestions and advice from you all.

[15Liam20]

My daughter is a similar age and we moved to Horsham last year. We had naively thought that we would get a choice of schools. We didn't get a place at any of the schools we put on the Council's form so my daughter walks past three schools with better OFSTED ratings to get to school, half an hour each way.

She's going to Northolmes where the teacher's attitude seems to be that it's OK to reduce their workload at the expense of the quality of the children's education. Getting far away enough from Northolmes puts you at risk of being outside the catchment area of Millais so you may have to tolerate the quality of education your daughter receives for the next couple of years.

Be prepared for the possibility of having to take up the slack yourself with after hours tutition.

-Grumpy Liam

[Jo2508]

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good Liam :-( Sorry you and your dd are having a bad experience with school. Is she happy there outside of the educational side of things? I really don't want my dd to have to move country, house, school etc and end up with the possibility of not going to a reasonably good school. It seems so complicated in England...
We wouldn't really be able to afford after hours tuition either, so I may have to rethink areas. I understand it's pretty much a lottery whether she gets a place at one of the schools we want, but it just makes it so difficult to figure out what to do and where to live.
As if moving back wasn't stressful enough...!
Thanks for taking the time to give your advice and experience though.

[Magping47]

Hi there everyone. I'm a mum of two boys age 4 and 7. Both ,y kids were born in the Cayman Islands where I have been living for the past eight years but we are returning to UK in next few months and have chosen Horsham as a great place to live. However as I have been out of England for so long I feel like I don't know where to start! I also recently got divorced so will be just me and he boys. I need a good primary school where they an both attend the same one and I will also need an au pair. Not to mention finding somewhere to live! Feeling a bit overwhelmed and would appreciate any advice, tips, that anyone can give me!! Please help!
Thank you!

[Spindelina]

Not sure there's much to add to what was said a year ago! The infant / junior / primaries are all perfectly fine, and it'll be a lottery which one you get anyway. So focus on secondary: Forest Boys (which doesn't have the same fantastic reputation as Millais for girls) or Tanbridge.

[Jenhon]

Hi All,

We too are looking at moving to Horsham, or near by, to follow my husband's job, and have two girls (three and five). It looks like most of the schools are good there, but does anyone have any current recommendations on which schools I should start looking at?

Many thanks in advance!

[judypoops]

Hi I have heard that the Southwater schools especially Castlewood are great. Also St Marys and Heron Way are supposed to be excellent.

[badgerhead]

There isn't really any bad schools in Horsham, however there is a lack of spaces, with the Southwater schools even they have problems with space.
I agree think about secondary school catchments if you are looking to stay in one house long term.
Also what sort of housing do you like, modern, victorian,mid 20th century, 70's & 80's, we have all of those in the town but they are mainly in specific areas (depending on when they were or are being built. If you like older properties like victorian or edwardian then those are mostly in central Horsham with Kingslea, Trafalgar/Greenway, or parts of Roffey, either Leechpool or Littlehaven/Northolmes being their catchment schools. If you prefer 70' & 80's then you are looking at the rest of Roffey, North Heath Lane area, Hills Farm Lane and off Comptons Lane/St Leonards Road, those catchment schools are: Leechpool, Littlehaven/Northolmes, Arunside, Trafalgar/Greenway, North Heath Primary, Heronway, Kingslea, but if you are looking at mid 20th century then Trafalgar/Greenway & possibly Arunside or Heronway with the new builds being North Heath Primary, Holbrook & All Saints. There are 4 faith schools in Horsham, 2 catholic which are St John's & St Robert Southwell and 2 C of E which are St Mary's (no catchment as such, church attendance a necessity & only 1 form entry) & All Saints, which also has a catchment & only a % as church attendance.
The new housing in west Horsham between the A24 & Hills Farm Lane comes under Arunside catchment & Wickhurst Green is Broadbridge Heath so Shelley Primary, but not enough space there for everyone until the new school is built in 2015/2016.

[happyyo]

Hi all,

We are in the process of moving out of London and Horsham is one of the possible destinations (we have just ruled out Reigate because the primary school where we can afford to buy is not so good). We like the west area of Horsham with all the new builts but just wondering how good/bad is the Arunside primary school? We have heard mixed reviews although the last Ofsted report is 'Good') - does anyone have any recent experience with this school? My little one will be attending school in 2 years time.

Any other advice on primary schools or Horsham overall would be more than welcome! Feeling very anxious about the whole move

Thanks in advance!
Cheers

laura

[Kat8019]

Hi Laura, did you ever move to Horsham and if so how are you finding it? We are in the exact same situation moving out of London and tyring to find a lovely house in catchment of good schools, as we have a 15 month old. We were looking at a new build in the centre of town, but that is expensive so we are now considering Southwater but worry that the new developments mean it will be very busy in terms of traffic at school times and rush hour. Hope you have settled well. Any advice would be great thank you.