Lots of Questions - Kids 8 and 10 1/2

Would your employer include private school fees as part of your package? That way you should be able to secure school places prior to your move.

Wokingham town centre is tiny! 

Of course you can live near transport.  When I moved here I lived so close to the train that I could wait for the gates to go down before leaving my house!  And I've lived directly on the bus line since and am about a 7 minute walk to the train now.

You don't *need* a car in the Reading area but I would highly recommend one.

The schools will have a duty to enroll your children in school.  Yes, it is possible for it to take a few weeks/ a month or so to sort.  But it won't be longer than a that.  The tough part is that you can't really pick a school mid-year.

But honestly, work visas almost always include private schooling for dependents.  It's worth pushing that.  I know several Americans on work packages in the area, but all of their kids attend private school.

I guess I should clarify about the car comment...

You could live in Wokingham without having a car but it would be s major PITA.  You'd have to take the bus everywhere and that would be massively inconvenient.  You could certainly get to Reading easily for work, but getting the kids to school, getting groceries and shopping would all be complicated.  When I said that, I was trying to convey that Wokingham is not like London where it would be perfectly reasonable to rely on the Tube.  There's no Tube in Wokingham.  Plus, you'd want to do some tourism and that will be a lot better with a car.

I guess I should clarify about the car comment...

You could live in Wokingham without having a car but it would be s major PITA.  You'd have to take the bus everywhere and that would be massively inconvenient.  You could certainly get to Reading easily for work, but getting the kids to school, getting groceries and shopping would all be complicated.  When I said that, I was trying to convey that Wokingham is not like London where it would be perfectly reasonable to rely on the Tube.  There's no Tube in Wokingham.  Plus, you'd want to do some tourism and that will be a lot better with a car.

Completely agree with Jimbo.

You will WANT a car.  It really does just make things easier.  From your kids wanting to go to friend's houses to being able to go to Costco, it just makes life easier. 

Completely agree with Jimbo.

You will WANT a car.  It really does just make things easier.  From your kids wanting to go to friend's houses to being able to go to Costco, it just makes life easier. 

Hear, hear, hear.

I live in a small town, everywhere is walkable and there is a decent bus service, but still things would be a lot more difficult and frustrating without a car. I don't drive so when my husband is at work I have to walk or bus everywhere, and honestly it's such a pain. If I had children I wouldn't want to contemplate it.

Also just to add, we have great public transportation in the UK - no question.  But a lot of Americans think we have CHEAP transportation.  It's not.  Reading has a fast train to London's Paddington station.  Takes 30 minutes.  But it's £50 for a round trip ticket during rush hour (one day ticket).

Also just to add, we have great public transportation in the UK - no question.  But a lot of Americans think we have CHEAP transportation.  It's not.  Reading has a fast train to London's Paddington station.  Takes 30 minutes.  But it's £50 for a round trip ticket during rush hour (one day ticket).

Definitely not cheap - sometimes you can get good deals on train tickets if you book well in advance and travel at off-peak times, but for the most part it's extortionately expensive. National coach services like National Express and Megabus are often cheaper but are generally longer, more inconvenient journeys.

I travel between Lincoln and Bristol a lot and to get the train, it costs about £80 return and takes 4.5 hours each way. On the National Express bus it's about £40 return but it takes 6 to 7 hours each way. To drive, it's also about £40 return (in petrol) but it only takes about 3 hours each way.

Back in 2004 when I was studying in the US, my friends and I took the AMTRAK from Los Angeles to New York. It took 3 days and cost just $120. When I got back to the UK, I was looking into how much it would cost to travel from Bristol to London. At peak time, it was £153  (about $300 back then) one way for a 90-minute journey!

SanJosetoUK--I paid £30 a child per year. Yes, only £30. I did have to prove that I was Catholic and bringing up my children as Catholics. I had to show my baptism and confirmation certificate and son's baptism certificate. I also had to make myself known to the Parish priest who was the governor of the school. That was kind of it. If I had put my son in a school in Wokingham District Council, he would have attended "Loddon Valley" which was the only one nearest that wasn't over-subscribed. But, this was 1996 so it could be totally different now.

Nobody can give you advice on how to parent and I certainly won't try, but it makes me a little sad to hear that not having a school completely set up would be a deal breaker. 

My opinion is that your kids will be just fine, no matter what school near Wokingham they go to.  Every school is going to be a  good school, and middle class enough that your kids will be fine.  Certainly for a year or so.   The experience of living in a different country, the history they will see first hand and experiencing an alternative to American society will serve them well their whole lives.  That's priceless.   I might say differently if you were moving to Edinburgh or somewhere with real deprivation, but Wokingham is middle to upper class suburbia.  Reading, on the other hand is full of Junkies

The price of public transport is one of my biggest bugbears about this country. I used to commute 30 miles on the train, and it cost £260 per month. No discount for commuters. No railcard discounts. They did offer a 7-day ticket, which cost the same as ... 5 one-day tickets. So unless I wanted to go to work 7 days a week, that was no use to me. It's infuriating.

Nobody can give you advice on how to parent and I certainly won't try, but it makes me a little sad to hear that not having a school completely set up would be a deal breaker. 

My opinion is that your kids will be just fine, no matter what school near Wokingham they go to.  Every school is going to be a  good school, and middle class enough that your kids will be fine.  Certainly for a year or so.   The experience of living in a different country, the history they will see first hand and experiencing an alternative to American society will serve them well their whole lives.  That's priceless. 

This is exactly what I was thinking too. But obviously, the OP has to figure what is best for her family.   

Nobody can give you advice on how to parent and I certainly won't try, but it makes me a little sad to hear that not having a school completely set up would be a deal breaker. 

My opinion is that your kids will be just fine, no matter what school near Wokingham they go to.  Every school is going to be a  good school, and middle class enough that your kids will be fine.  Certainly for a year or so.   The experience of living in a different country, the history they will see first hand and experiencing an alternative to American society will serve them well their whole lives.  That's priceless.   I might say differently if you were moving to Edinburgh or somewhere with real deprivation, but Wokingham is middle to upper class suburbia.  Reading, on the other hand is full of Junkies

I agree.  It would be a temporary move, so you'd always have life in the US to go back too.

BUT, I would warn that sometimes things in the UK just don't move as fast as we are used to in the US.  I would recommend that you are ready to bang your head against the wall a bit, if you know what I mean.  It is a different country with different ways of doing things, which will take some time to figure out.

Nobody can give you advice on how to parent and I certainly won't try, but it makes me a little sad to hear that not having a school completely set up would be a deal breaker. 

My opinion is that your kids will be just fine, no matter what school near Wokingham they go to.  Every school is going to be a  good school, and middle class enough that your kids will be fine.  Certainly for a year or so.   The experience of living in a different country, the history they will see first hand and experiencing an alternative to American society will serve them well their whole lives.  That's priceless.   I might say differently if you were moving to Edinburgh or somewhere with real deprivation, but Wokingham is middle to upper class suburbia.  Reading, on the other hand is full of Junkies

I literally lol'd. Edinburgh? Not quite known for its deprivation. However, I live across the water in Fife and we do have to survive on shoe leather and turnips. It's a hard life here up north...

survive on shoe leather and turnips.

Sweet lord for a nice strip of shoe leather....all we had was a knotted damp cloth to gnaw on.

all we had was a knotted damp cloth to gnaw on.

You were lucky to have a cloth . . .