Education in Fiveways, Brighton an Hove

There are a wealth of good quality State run schools in the area including Hertford Infants and Juniors, Downs Infants and Downs Juniors and Balfour. If you are new to the area be aware that Balfour infants is larger than Balfour Juniors, meaning you risk having to place your child into another school at this stage with a whole new peer group which may or may not disrupt your childs schooling for a period. As a parent, I concluded this was unreasonable and would potentially disrupt firendships developed in infants and opted for the outstanding Downs Infants. Both of my children flourished in a very capable and caring environment and made successful transitions to the equally outstanding Downs Juniors on Ditchling Road. Friendships have been maintained from nursery age and now through to the start of secondary providing absolute consistency and continuity that I felt were so vital. I strongly recommend these schools on the basis of current awareness.

For secondary schools, local to Fiveways are Dorothy Stringer and Varndean, both good but very large and set to grow larger. The contraversial 'lottery' system for allocating places seems to have been borne from the closure of one school in the east of the City and having just been through the 'allocation process' as a parent, one has to question the intelligence of the Local Authority in closing a school without having adequate places nearby for those children; it was this displacement across the City that has caused such unnecessary anguish for children and parents, hitting national headlines, dressed up as social engineering to hide sheer incompetence within the political classes essentially. This was after the same people in the Local Authority voted to place a Waste Transfer Station on the edge of one of the infants schools playground; the traffic increase and the operators poor health and safety record, the placing of a forwarding depot for the whole City's waste in such a residential district galvanised the community into fighting the plans and to this day many still hold the powers that be in contempt. Despite the best efforts of the State, the community continues to thrive and inspite of, rather than the support of the LEA, the schools continue to thrive as well, returning Outstanding Ofstead results.

If your child has Special Education Needs and you haven't accessed help already, FivewaysOnline highly recommend Amaze on Queens Road, Brighton or phone Amaze on 772289. Amaze can support and direct you through the miriad and complex issues of getting your childs educational needs Statemented. For SEN support with pre-school children, there is also the excellent I-Can nursery on Carden Avenue, within Carden School. I-Can can be contacted on 01273 294357, and they have excellent provision for children with disabilities; the local schools in Fiveways have been excellent in taking disabled children into mainstream schooling as well, if as a parent you feel this is appropriate for your child. For us as parents, the schools sit right at the heart of the community and we do all we can to support them.

In addition to the State schools around Fiveways, Brighton, there are several Independent schools in Brighton, Hove and West and East Sussex, for those considering private education in Brighton. A suprisingly high number of parents locally also opt to home educate their children opting out of State provision and formal education altogether.

As well as the schools, there are numerous opportunities for Adult Education at Varndean College, offering diverse courses such as Stained Glass making, brick laying, and computer skills for example. And there are numerous private tutors for both adults and children locally, for extra coaching of children in weaker curriculum areas and for adults to develop new skills such as languages, for example.

There also dozens of Language Schools in Brighton and Hove, often looking for host families to house and support overseas students during the summer months within family homes. This often requires a CRB check and the committment to providing 3 meals a day etc but can also be a welcome source of extra income during the year; some families swear by it and others fund an annual family holiday by taking in foreign students for several weeks each year.