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Bringing children into the world in Brixton

Interesting that replies to this thread have so far concentrated on the OP's secondary question. The gist of their principal question seemed to be 'Is Brixton too much of a headfuck to subject children to?' (Sorry if that's not what you meant.)

We've got a one-year-old - he was born at home in Brixton - and live just off the Hill. For the time being I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather live (if it has to be in London): there's Brockwell Park, lots of actiivities/support for people with babies/young kids, and the markets are a great place to wander around.

Ultimately, the vague plan is to get out of town to somewhere less challenging (in the bad sense) for teenage boys. But for the time being, it's a brilliant place to have kids, I've found.
 
King of Prussia said:
It's not either / or. A private school will give them the former, not the latter. A poor state school will give them neither. A decent state school will give them both.
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Er, just to make this entirely accurate, and not as an apologist for private schools per se but:

A poor private school will probably give them the former, not the latter, a decent private school will give them both. But both will be damned expensive.
 
ashie259 said:
Interesting that replies to this thread have so far concentrated on the OP's secondary question. The gist of their principal question seemed to be 'Is Brixton too much of a headfuck to subject children to?' (Sorry if that's not what you meant.)

We've got a one-year-old - he was born at home in Brixton - and live just off the Hill. For the time being I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather live (if it has to be in London): there's Brockwell Park, lots of actiivities/support for people with babies/young kids, and the markets are a great place to wander around.

Ultimately, the vague plan is to get out of town to somewhere less challenging (in the bad sense) for teenage boys. But for the time being, it's a brilliant place to have kids, I've found.
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I think you pretty much exactly got the jist of what I was getting at :)

Brockwell Park is awesome for sure and I had no idea windmill gardens existed - I were there last Sat and it was completely empty on a hot sunny day, I guess it's just so hidden nobody knows about it
 
I think, by and large, Brixton is a great place to bring children up in. IME people at the swings in Brockwell Park and at Holmewood Gardens are very friendly, and the 1 O Clock Club in Brockwell Park is good too. My eldest boy goes to the Windmill Nursery and I'm very happy with that, and Holmewood Nursery is excellent. We went over towards Tooting the other weekend, and the atmosphere at the swings/playgrounds was very different - gangs of kids roaming around, not the same friendly atmosphere you get at Brockwell swings at all.

But then I really like Brixton and feel comfortable here. If the OP finds Brixton Hill a headfuck, then they shouldn't be considering bringing up kids here. It's hard enough, without feeling that you're in stressful environment too.

What are the schools like in East Dulwich? Frankly, I'd make your decision based on the fact that you won't get into Sudbourne.
 
children are pretty resilient

if you like brixton and will make the most of it then chances are your children will too

if it stresses you out and gives you anxiety then chances are your children won't thrive either


small town/village could equally apply to either statement above

my daughter's 16, brought up in hackney, now moving to herne hill/tulse hill soon with me

she's got so much from being in hackney and going to school in tower hamlets (even if she didn't like the teaching at her secondary school she enjoyed the friendships) and being in london generally

some people rush out of london to bring children up somewhere mythical that doesn't exisit (IMO)

not directed at anyone on this thread - its been my experience to watch a lot of people leave london to find 'a good school' and it hasn't always (or often) worked out that way
 
Southlondoner said:
I've been a long time lurker but have decided to register finally :)

I recently sold my flat and am looking to buy a house around bleinham gardens.

My question is who here lives in brixton with very young kids and how have you found it? I've lived on leander road for a while and haven't had any trouble but I somehow feel wrong "forcing" brixton hill ect on a small child :hmm:

also what are the options primary school wise, preferable ones without metal detectors...?
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I think anywhere in Lambeth is pretty adequate for Primary schools (within reason), as stated Brixton Hill has some very good ones but it's a bit of a scramble to get your kids in them.

I use to live off Brixton Hill but moved to Streatham fairly recently, the decision to move to Streatham was made from both a financial point of view (I wanted a bigger house and a smaller mortgage) and for schooling reasons as I have a young daughter, the schools in Streatham are generally of a better standard than in Brixton at Primary level and there is more of them to choose from.

You also have Dunraven as a Secondary School in Streatham, it's pretty much the Secondary school of choice for Brixton/Streatham kids unless you trot your kid off to private school. Brixton doesn't have any Secondary Schools does it?

I really don't think bringing your kid up in Brixton Hill or any of the surrounding areas should be viewed as something as a punishment or something your forcing them to do. In a ideal world, Brixton, Streatham, Stockwell etc aren't perfect places if we want to compare them to idyllic villages but there are families of differing financial scales & cultures who are happily bringing up kids in the area. It is what you make it.

For the record I was brought up in a fairly "Unattractive part" of Stockwell :D went to underachieving Primary & Secondary schools, but still managed to land a job working in a fairly prestigous financial institute in the City so it's not all bad. ;)
 
I am atheist and deeply against the whole area of secular schooling - which rules out some of the better schools.

We are very lucky in that we have 1 child in Holmewood Nursery school and one in Streatham Wells - both of which we (and more importantly, the kids) think are great.

FWIW we did the whole OFSTED research thing and got very stressed out, but be aware that these are based on past performance and miss out a lot of soft factors.
This bit is entirely anecdotal opinions and shouldn't be taken as fact: My neice went to Sudbourne 7 odd years ago and it was great. I have heard since then that there have been a number of changes in head, some of which have been less successful than the others - I have heard rumours of parent revolts etc. This kind of thing isn't in the tables. Is an improving school rubbish and dragging itself up or has it just had a wonderful new set of staff? Is an excellent school about to spiral due to the retirement of a superb head? etc etc. Go visit the school and see if it feels right to you and your kids.

Oh - and the other part of the question. I think living in Brixton (and recently Tulse Hill) is great and the kids have loads of nearby friends and facilities. They are currently 5 and 3. It could be that when they are older we may need to revise the decision, but at the moment it works for us.
 
nick said:
We are very lucky in that we have 1 child in Holmewood Nursery school and one in Streatham Wells - both of which we (and more importantly, the kids) think are great.
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From what I understand, Streatham Wells is a great school. I'd be very happy if my boys went there, but I think we live just a bit too far away. I've been told that if you live the Brixton Hill side of the south circular, as I do, that you don't have much chance of getting into Streatham Wells.
 
Yeah Streatham Wells is on palace road and is quite a small school.

We identified it as a place we would like Nick minor to go and it was one of the factors in deciding to where we moved a few years ago (we used to live on Holmewood gardens where the closest schools were Christchurch (faith school) and Holy Trinity (strong religious ethos + mixed reviews)).

TBH the whole school selection / catchment area seems to be semi random. Catchment area is not fixed: factors such as the number of local kids of the same age and the number of places already allocated to siblings etc can impact it. I am guessing that the choices you put on your form (order, number of choices etc) can have a big impact - we have friends in Streatham Hill who didn't get anywhere local and their boy gets bussed up to Vauxhall or somewhere every day !

It's a dreadful system for so many reasons (no I don't have a better way of doing it)
 
nick said:
Yeah Streatham Wells is on palace road and is quite a small school.

We identified it as a place we would like Nick minor to go and it was one of the factors in deciding to where we moved a few years ago (we used to live on Holmewood gardens where the closest schools were Christchurch (faith school) and Holy Trinity (strong religious ethos + mixed reviews)).

TBH the whole school selection / catchment area seems to be semi random. Catchment area is not fixed: factors such as the number of local kids of the same age and the number of places already allocated to siblings etc can impact it. I am guessing that the choices you put on your form (order, number of choices etc) can have a big impact - we have friends in Streatham Hill who didn't get anywhere local and their boy gets bussed up to Vauxhall or somewhere every day !

It's a dreadful system for so many reasons (no I don't have a better way of doing it)
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Although I've not had first hand experience of the schooling system yet, plenty of friends of ours pretty much state what you have, that the schooling selection system is quite random for the number of factors you've stated.

Saying that, one way of getting your kids into a decent school is sending them to the nursery of the school, if the school has a nursery attached to it so to speak of....though it's not always as simple as that due to waiting lists and the like.
 
Cowley said:
Saying that, one way of getting your kids into a decent school is sending them to the nursery of the school, if the school has a nursery attached to it so to speak of....though it's not always as simple as that due to waiting lists and the like.
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Actually Lambeth now run a centralised admissions system independent of the schools, so being in the nursery has no effect either way on whether you get into the school proper.
 
nick said:
Yeah Streatham Wells is on palace road and is quite a small school.

We identified it as a place we would like Nick minor to go and it was one of the factors in deciding to where we moved a few years ago (we used to live on Holmewood gardens where the closest schools were Christchurch (faith school) and Holy Trinity (strong religious ethos + mixed reviews)).

TBH the whole school selection / catchment area seems to be semi random. Catchment area is not fixed: factors such as the number of local kids of the same age and the number of places already allocated to siblings etc can impact it. I am guessing that the choices you put on your form (order, number of choices etc) can have a big impact - we have friends in Streatham Hill who didn't get anywhere local and their boy gets bussed up to Vauxhall or somewhere every day !

It's a dreadful system for so many reasons (no I don't have a better way of doing it)
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It's mad because Holmewood Gardens is still quite near to Streatham Wells. So how close to the school did you have to move?

We're in the same position as you used to be. Although our nearest schools are Holy Trinity, Christchurch and Richard Atkins.
 
My daughter has just turned 5 and I feel Brixton is a great place for her at the moment. She is at Stockwell Primary which is a lovely school. Brixton Rec is excellent and there are sports facilities on ferndale rd. You are 20 mins from central London. She loves shopping at the market after school and there is a great range of other shops. There is the cinema and loads of other facilities. I am unsure of what the situation will be when she gets to secondary age, but at the moment it suits us.
 
Winot said:
Actually Lambeth now run a centralised admissions system independent of the schools, so being in the nursery has no effect either way on whether you get into the school proper.
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Really?

I always thought attending the nursery was a loophole to getting around the selection process of attending the school, at least in some of the religous schools anyway?

It doesn't directly affect me as my daughter attends an independent nursery that isn't tied to any school.
 
ash said:
My daughter has just turned 5 and I feel Brixton is a great place for her at the moment. She is at Stockwell Primary which is a lovely school.
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Stockwell Primary is meant to be excellent too, isn't it? Probably one of the best primary schools in the area.
 
It is an excellant school, very inclusive and mixed. The standard of teaching seeems very good. The school has very high expectations of the children.
 
Cowley said:
Really?

I always thought attending the nursery was a loophole to getting around the selection process of attending the school, at least in some of the religous schools anyway?

It doesn't directly affect me as my daughter attends an independent nursery that isn't tied to any school.
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I think you might be right that religious schools aren't covered by the centralised admission procedure.
 
It depends on the children too. Some will fit in and get on, some will make do and get by, some will flounder, some will be swallowed up by the pace of the place.

Quote from Nanker Jnr (12) - 'It's not bad, you've kinda gotta look out, keep watch at what's happening - and you sorta like gotta make sure you don't sort of get on the wrong side of certain people.....apart from that everything else is good.'
 
well I'm afraid I've chickened out and have put an offer on a refurbished house just off Lordship Lane in East Dulwich, it's 10m walk to Dulwich park and feels a lot less hectic than brixton.

I can still come to the markets and cinema, it's 7min on the 37 bus but I can leave again! ;)
 
ianw said:
It's mad because Holmewood Gardens is still quite near to Streatham Wells. So how close to the school did you have to move?
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Dunno how close we had to move because it must change from intake to intake - we may have been ok where we were. However, we ended up in Lanercost Road, about 500m from the school
 
Southlondoner said:
well I'm afraid I've chickened out and have put an offer on a refurbished house just off Lordship Lane in East Dulwich, it's 10m walk to Dulwich park and feels a lot less hectic than brixton.

I can still come to the markets and cinema, it's 7min on the 37 bus but I can leave again! ;)
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Lordship Lane less hectic? I suppose it does depend on what you mean by hectic....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8108412.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7953889.stm
 
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