Moving to London with a 6 years.

Hello,

I am getting ready to move to London with my family. I have a 6 years old daughter so I am looking to live in a safe area close to international schools. Thank you for the help.

Welcome on board msimedou ;)

I hope that other members will be advise you soon on the different possibilities where you can accommodate yourself in London.

Regards

Thanks for the message.

Hi,  I'd recommend that you first get a school place at an international school and then find accommodation nearby. There are a few in central London (eg, American school in NW8 and Southbank)and a few more in Surrey and Middlesex (counties outside of town).  I assume that you know that these are very expense.  Good luck!

It does make sense to get her in first and then look for the place. I imagined it would be somewhat costly, but I was hoping it would not be too expensive. I am coming to London very soon to visit few school and find out about cost. Thank you for suggesting few school. Is there a good alternative to International school that is not as costly?

Sorry for the delay in replying.  How long will you be in the UK?  If it's only for a few years, then you may want to consider a British school (either private or a state school - though you may find it hard to get into a good state school in London).  I'd suggest you look at the Good School Guide (goodschoolsguide.co.uk/) or Angels and Urchins school guide (angelsandurchins.co.uk/schools/) and follow up by checking out the school's website.

Another place to look at school is Ofsted (the Government inspection) http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/. 

One school popular with US expats in NW3 is Heathside Prep school.

Hope this helps

There are many international schools - to be honest, you just have to visit them to find the right fit. The ACS schools have 3 campuses outside London. There are American schools too - TASIS and ASL, to name a few.

I have tabs at the top of my blog with more information

Good luck, HappyHomemakerUK.blogspot.com

Hello msimedou.

I have just answered someone at another post with this very words. I think they will be of some help to you:

I'm almost in the same case as you are now. A family to bring along and lots of questions...

But I can forward you that there is a crime statistcs map in http://maps.met.police.uk/ which is very useful for us to check which is the best neighborhood.

Also, try to look into maps.google.com and wikimapia.org to find out schools, transportation options, distances, routes, etc.

With maps.google.com you can even see the street view of the place when you zoom in enough and put the little yellow man on the spot you want.

Wikimapia.org is best to find (and label) your points of interest.

Please keep in touch because I need to share info with other expat (or expat-to-be) parents.

All the best and success!
Pedro Carneiro Jr.
Public Servant / IT Management Agent / Databases Specialist
Goiânia - GO - Brazil