Furzedown Post Reply

[SamT]

Does anyone live in Furzedown?

I am thinking of moving there from clapham as more for your money there...

What is it like for a new family with baby....

If anyone lives there where do their kids go to school?

What is good / bad about the area...

[papinian]

What will you be moving from (flat?) and what are you moving to (3/4 bed house?)? Where you you and/or your partner travel to for work? What ages are your children?

Furzedown gets an awful lot of coverage in the newspapers as a place for families to move to, but I think it is a bit oversold. Public transport is not that good. Getting to Tooting Broadway involves walking or getting a bus but either way you need to allow 20 minutes. Walking is often quicker!

The primary schools are Furzedown and Penwortham.
http://www.foxtons.co.uk/education/wand ... chool.html
http://www.foxtons.co.uk/education/wand ... chool.html
Neither is particularly good. They are only rated "Satisfactory" by Oftsted (not "Good" or "Outstanding") and they KS2 results are below the Wandsworth average.

The attraction of Furzedown is partly because of the secondary Graveney School. This admits 50% based on proximity and 50% based on the Wandsworth test. However, Graveney is essentially two schools together - a good grammar in the upper streams and an average comprehensive in the lower streams. If your child is in the lower streams the outcomes will likely be no better (and perhaps worse) than other Wandsworth comprehensives.

Have you considered Beachcroft Road and the roads between it and Trinity Road (Upper Tooting)? Fircroft primary school is a step above Furzedown and Penwortham and transport is much better as Tooting Bec tube is nearby and there are more bus routes also.

FYI I have no axe to grind here - I live in SW17 but not in Furzedown or Beachcroft Road areas.

[SamT]

Yes we are in a flat in Clapham with a new baby and want to upsize to a house incase another comes along...

I did wonder about the transport links being far and few between.

My other half works in Fulham but may change to centre Tottenham court road, and I work in soho.

By upper tooting do you mean like Mandrake road side or Mantilla road side.

Thanks for you informative answer, it is very helpful!

[papinian]

In suggesting that you look at Upper Tooting I am thinking of the following roads: Beachcroft Road, Mandrake Road, Noyna Road, Glenburrie Road, Langroyd Road, Brenda Road. You could also look at Foulser Road and Brundenell Road on the other side of Tooting High Road. These generally price something between £550k and £700k. I don't know about rents.

Houses on other roads in this area such as Dafforne Road, Stapleton Road, Crockerton Road, Dalebury Road are either larger (5/6 bed at £1m+) or divided into flats.

The roads further south are a bit more gritty.
The roads north (north side of Trinity Road and Heaver Estate) the houses get more expensive £850k+ for north side of Trinity Road and £1m+ for Heaver Estate.

[SamT]

Great suggestions. I think you are definitely right about transport.

Again thanks for your answer it has helped to focus the mind at least at a starting point!

Thanks,
Sam

[erinisle22]

We're not *that* gritty further south towards the Broadway. I live on Chasefield. There are loads of families, I have a great local community, I know loads of local people and we had a great street party last year.
Houses have gone up a lot in the past couple of years on our street, one is on at the moment with Realm. With Tooting Primary opening up this year and others on our street with their kids in Hillbrook and Fircroft with Fransciscan generally as a last resort, we're pretty happy here.

[Tootsmummy77]

I live in Furzedown and so can assist, yes it is a bit of a trek to Transport but do not forget the buses and Streatham Common station is very close. In my opinion the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Bigger, and grander looking houses with wider roads and not used as cut throughs. This worried me about Mandrake, Fircroft, Noyna etc as I myself use them to avoid Trinity Road.

We almost bought in the Fircroft catchment, the houses are very nice there but we chose Furzedown as you get much more house, normally over 1800 sq ft instead of about 1300, and very importantly, garden for your money and we felt a more defined community. Last summer every road had a street party and you always see someone you know strolling around who will say hello.

The proximity to the Common is a real bonus Regarding schools, you cannot go on Ofsted alone, search back through the archives on here or other sites - Mumsnet/streetlife/furzedown yahoo group. Speak to parents of children who go to all of them. I would say that Fircroft, Furzedown and Penwortham schools are all very much of a muchness so concentrate on the community, road, house and transport. Graveney is, of course, a bonus in the long term.

Baby wise it is great. Various Church playgroups, the Furzedown Family Centre, lots of activities on the Common. Faylands Centre for a one o clock club.

I hope some other Furzedown mummies come along to answer your questions.There are some other older threads about Furzedown which I think I may have contributed to before I lost an old email account and could not reactivate my details on here. Can you do a search of the archives? Best of luck.

[kidsarefun]

I've lived in furzedown for about 6 years and love it! The transport is not brilliant, but we can walk to broadway station in 15 mins, and tomorrow are taking the children to Southbank - approx 20 mins from tooting overland to black friars, much nicer for them than the tube.
My daughter is at furzedown primary and she and I couldn't be happier with it, from what I understand they aim to produce happy confident children rather than solely pleasing ofsted inspectors.
There are playgroups every morning within walking distance, a lovely nursery (Eveline on chillerton road) and budgens etc on moyser road for bits and pieces of shopping. Not forgetting the Rec where we seem to spend an awful lot of time hanging about the swings!
For me, the best part about furzedown is the community atmosphere - I can count at least 5 neighbours I could rely on to look after my children in an emergency, or even just to borrow fishfingers from. Having lived the previous 15 years in other parts of London and barely even known my neighbours names, I really appreciate it here now. Football clubs, Tennis clubs, ballet, spout community art, wood carving from felled trees, its all happening in furzedown!!

[SamT]

Thanks for all the posts. All very helpful and a lot of food for thought.

I am busy looking at different roads now!

Not that we will probably go for this option, but are there any good private schools in Furzedown?

[Tootsmummy77]

No private schools in Furzedown itself, but I know of families locally who send their kids to the Garrads Road branch of Broomwood School and Streatham and Clapham Girls Prep, both of which are nearby.

Some kids of Catholic church going families also go to St Anselms in Tooting Bec.

[beanzmeanz]

The reason that families who live in Furzedown love Furzedown is because of the very unique community feel to the place. We send our children to the local schools, we walk/cycle to the tube, shop in the local shops, take our families to the recreation ground, and as a result we know each other. My children love the fact that whenever we go to the rec there is always someone there they know from school/ballet/tennis/football. (The same goes for me!)

We have our own local online forum which is like NappyValley.net but just for Furzedown. We even have a 2 week long festival each summer in which a great number of the community participate culminating in our Big Day Out with music and stalls and plenty of activities. In short, there is always something going on, and there is always someone you know doing it!

I have lived in Furzedown for over 10 years. My children go to Furzedown primary, which reflects the area we live in. We love the school because it has a broad and balanced curriculum enriched by many trips & partnerships and afterschool activites and so is not Ofsted-centric and it produces confident individuals ready for the challenges of secondary school. It has strong community links with Graveney School and most of the children do move up to Graveney in Year 7. I would echo the sentiments expressed above about not relying solely on Ofsted’s opinion and encourage you to visit the schools, join the Furzedown yahoo group and speak to local parents and their children, in order to make up your own mind. NB both primaries are due an Ofsted inspection in the summer term, so there will be soon be information available which is more up to date than that which is currently available.

On the subject of Graveney school – the intake is 25% selective (68 places), not 50% as suggested previously, but there are 9 classes in each year group, 3 in extension, 3 in upper, 2 in middle and 1 in support stream. So it is not just the children who get in on the test who are in the top stream. It is a school that consistently achieves impressive GCSE and A level results, which cannot be solely to the ‘test kids’ some of this must be down to the local kids as well (79% of pupils gain 5 or more GCSEs, A*- C grades)

So come along to our Big Day Out on June 15th, chat to the locals and find out what makes Furzedown so special. We will welcome you with open arms and your whole family will find it a rewarding place to live (have I mentioned the Thursday night footie practice for dads?).

[SamT]

Wow thanks for the detailed responses from everyone. All this inside information will really help when making a decision about areas.

I think I may go for a wonder and see how long it takes to walk to various stations and have a coffe in the local coffee shops.

[Concetta]

I have been in Furzedown for 18 years. No problem with transport for me - 8 min walk from the tube, minutes from two bus routes.

It has a wonderful sense of community, loads of families - we know all our neighbours and we find the local primary school supportive and really helps promote the sense of community.

There is a great local arts scene - Sprout and loads of local artists (of which I am one and it is also a Low Carbon Zone - actively promoting carbon reduction through practical action (I have been on the Carbon Conversations course run locally).

When you arrive, you can join the local Furzedown email forum and immediately be connected to over 1000 of your neighbours where requests and offers of help fly week in week out.

Plus we have our own festival every year!

Furzedown is fab!

[SamT]

Thanks concetta for your very detailed response.

It is very interesting - if you are still following I wondered which tube you used, is it tooting bec and which number buses are they?

Also if anyone knows what are the good nurseries round there?

Where is the nearest supermarket?

[papinian]

I didn't mean to cause offence with my previous posts. We all love our own streets/area - that is one of the good things about living in this part of London.

I would, however, question how objective some of the posters are about the relative merits of SW17 primary schools. See this link to a comparative analysis of the Ofsted reports of SW17 primary schools (unfortunately doesn't include Penwortham as that is SW16, but still Wandsworth council):
http://www.tootingonline.com/forum/toot ... ports.html

Also see this link to a comparative analysis of the KS2 results of SW17 primary schools:
http://www.tootingonline.com/forum/toot ... ances.html

Some posters suggested that Ofsted reports and KS2 results are not particularly relevant. I disagree, although I think they have to be viewed in context. If schools with low levels of children on free school meals and/or without English as a first language are getting significantly poorer KS2 results than nearby schools with much higher levels then I wouldn't be complacent about the performance of the school particularly if the Ofsted report on the school is also less than good.

I also stand over what I said earlier about Graveney School. I know from friends who have children there that the streaming is extensive and that the results of the lower streams are not good. If you go to http://www.education.gov.uk and go to school league tables for 2012 you will see the following when you compare Graveney with other local comps Ernest Bevin, Burntwood and Chestnut Grove:

In terms of ave point score per pupil across 8 best GSCEs:

Graveney
Low attainers: 201.3
Medium attainers: 312.0
High attainers: 420.4

Ernest Bevin
Low attainers: 111.0
Medium attainers: 266.3
High attainers: 370.1

Burntwood
Low attainers: 209.2
Medium attainers: 314.4
High attainers: 403.2

Chestnut Grove
Low attainers: 162.3
Medium attainers: 286.1
High attainers: 389.2

None of Ernest Bevin, Burntwood or Chestnut Grove would be considered a school that parents are falling over themselves to get their children into. Howevever you will see that the results for Graveney are not in a different league.

Graveney's results are better because they admit 25% selective places and therefore have more high attainers in the first place, i.e. the raw material is "better", not necessarily the production process itself, IYSWIM. Also, siblings of those getting selective places are automatically admitted, ahead of those getting in on proximity to the school alone. Thus, the 75% non-selective places aren't all "local" children but a good chunk of them are younger siblings of those who go in on the test in previous years. Children that are good enough to get in on the Wandsworth test will have a good chance of having a younger sibling that is good also (even if not quite good enough to get in on the Wandsworth test themselves).

Partly because of the number of siblings getting admitted, the distance to get in on proximity alone last time was just over 500m (straight line from centre of school) which covers most of Furzedown but not quite all of it.