help do you live in mountain ash wales

[samb1971]

we are planning to move to south wales and found a house we love in mountain ash, can anyone help with a few questions please? is this a good place to live? are the schools good? and is the thigs for kids to do eg scouts, skate park , spaces to ride bmx bikes, other clubs ect. This is a big move for us so need my boys to be happy so any help will be great

[goingtobefree]

Why Mountain ash?
I used to go there for work. Try posting in cardiff section.
I know only a little from what i heard from work
There is a big move for supercomprehensive school with 1000 plus pupils.

[samb1971]

thanks goingtobefree we need a big houes on a limited budget and found the perfect one there will try the cardiff section. What do you think of the area or what have you heard ? dont mind hearing good or bad

[burberryqueen]

there are good reasons why the houses are so cheap there.....
are you English?

[burberryqueen]

also Welsh secondary schools are not all that great.

[poocatcherchampion]

bit of a generalisation Burberry?

[ComfortablyDumb]

I wouldn't pick Mountain Ash out of all of south Wales personally, but all Welsh secondaries burberry??

[burberryqueen]

actually no, academic articles have shown that 50 per cent of Welsh schoolchildren leave school with fewer than 5 a-c GCSEs.
a whole GCSE is wasted studying compulsory Welsh, in many schools RE is also a compulsory GCSE subject, and only a single science is offered at GCSE.
link
in addition funding for Welsh schools is lower than in England, by £600 per year per pupil.
I also have personal experience of Welsh secondary schools...and it is not impressive.

[Thyeternalsummer]

Not prejudiced much there Burberry!

Welsh schools do offer dual award science, and separate sciences for those who want it. And there are lots of good secondary schools. I attended secondary school in Wales in an area with quite of lot of deprived families etc, but still left with 3 good A levels in 2001. Good enough to secure a place for law at University of Durham. Something a lot of kids from 'good' private schools have difficulty achieving. So IMO nowt wrong with Welsh schools!!

[burberryqueen]

no i am not 'prejudiced' which would suggest i have
"pre-judged" - am simply reporting real life experience.

none of the schools around here offer more than ssingle science.

i know many Welsh people do not want to know this but...Wales is currently showing the worst results of ANY UK region.

I am showing you links with facts such as this, and you tell me i am 'prejudiced'?

I know of perfectly intellectually 'normal' children put into special ed class cos of physical disabilities, something that might have happened 40 years ago in England.

Sorry to burst your little Welsh bubble....

[samb1971]

hi yes am english , thanks for the link burberryqueen the schools are a worry maybe just hoping all schools are that bad can anyone reccomend good schools , nice areas please

[BullieMama]

Fabulous sweeping generalisation of every school in Wales, Cheers for that I'll throw my daughter on the scrap heap now shall I

Op if you can tell us roughly where you are coming from in the country I can see if Mountain Ash is the place for you iyswim!!

[samb1971]

Bulliemama come from a large village in Oxfordshire it has lots for my boys aged 13, 11, 7 and, 7 to do excellent secondary school but primary in special measures.Family circumstances mean we need a bigger house but cant afford it here looked in lots of areas in England and wales and choose south wales but need to find right area on budget but still with things for boys to do as they need to be happy

[burberryqueen]

bulliemama mine are already on it

[jinglebellmel]

Don't know it too well but live near by and I haven't heard great things about it sorry (someone who knows it better may have a different opinion based on experience though).

I'm English living in Cardiff and there are some great schools around, not sure if you're tied with work in terms of where you're looking but have you tried Cardiff, Llantwit Major, Monmouth or Usk in South Wales? Mid and West Wales have some lovely affordable areas. Also areas around Bath, England? My brother and his family just moved to a lovely village outside Bath and got a great house much cheaper than it would have been in Cardiff.

Maybe if you would be willing to give an idea of budget, if you want town, village or city and where you need to be for work people could make some suggestions?

[MrsApplepants]

Mountain Ash is a run down, deprived area. I wouldn't live there. It's cheap for a reason. I have relatives who live there.

[MrsApplepants]

Try the areas around Cardiff High School (highly regarded school) in Cardiff, nice places to live with Roath park on your doorstep and the city centre a short drive away.

[kimmy121]

deprived, run down, sad town.

Pontypridd just down the road has nice areas, busy town centre.

Merthyr (where I live) has lovely parts )heolgerrig, cefn coed) and awful parts (avoid the gurnos)

Caerphilly is a nice town, closer to Cardiff so more expensive for similar properties up in the valleys.

[AuntieBrenda]

There is a new school being built near aberdare but if your e in mountain ash you won't be in the catchment
Burberry person, you are a twonk
OP, look at Brecon, Merthyr, aberdare, llantrisant, llantwit major

[TheFutureMrsB]

I wouldn't go to Mountain Ash, I too live in Merthyr and it does have some nice parts, schools are fine, there is stuff to do here. There's a cinema, skate park, large park with splash area (Cyfartha) but like kimmy said avoid the Gurnos lol!

[AuntieBrenda]

Check out all these wonderful people from Merthyr! Me too!
OP, do you want to buy my house?

[TheFutureMrsB]

'Tis a good place to be in the sun AuntieBrenda Just wish we had a nice beach too lol!

[AuntieBrenda]

Come on OP, come to the tyd!
On a serious note, my boss lives in m. Ash and his house is huge and lovely. A lot of my work colleagues live there.
Go with your heart

[Theironfistofarkus]

There are lots of lovely places in Wales. I don't think mountain ash is one of them. Cardiff is a really wonderful place to live. As is Penarth - great schools and v close to Cardiff with lots going on. West Wales is stunning with fantastic beaches eg Tenby. Don't know what the schools are like tho. Burberry - sorry if your Dc did not get the education they deserved. But not all welsh schools are bad by any means. As with anywhere there are good and bad.

[BullieMama]

I think you may find Mountain Ash rather a culture shock, unless you have job prospects or family ties to the area OP I would gently suggest you look elsewhere. There are some fabulous areas in Wales, I would recommend you look at some of the larger towns as you will have all of the amenities you require.

With regards to the state of the Welsh education system, I am sorry that you have had a bad experience Burberryqueen, but along with lots of other posters my experience is positive, my daughter is excelling at her primary in a very deprived area, Welsh Gov have informed me today that she is performing 'considerably above the national average' in both numeracy and literacy (hmm how many more threads can I shoehorn that into

[burberryqueen]

Burberry person, you are a twonk
just reporting my experience and linking to articles with hard facts of Welsh secondary schools makes me a 'twonk' how exactly?