Good primary schools in Glasgow

[albachiara]

We are moving to Glasgow. What are the best areas in terms of primary (and possibly secondary) schools in/around Glasgow? Thanks.

[MumNWLondon]

mearns castle (secondary) in newton mearns supposed to be very good.

[brimfull]

I went to kirkhill primary which is a feeder for mearns castle school I think.

[brimfull]

all nostalgic now

[midnightexpress]

Bearsden, Jordanhill also supposedly v good. You'll pay a premium for property in the catchment areas accordingly.

[cheeseytoastie]

Got to be East Renfrewshire, covering Clarkston, Giffnock, Newton Mearns. Best primary and secondarys in the state sector. Any are good, some better than others but all very good. Williamwood is best secondary, but Mearns Castle and Eastwood not exactly miles behind. You will see all this reflected in the house prices!!!

[weegiemum]

Depends what age your kids are right now ......

Our kids go to Sgoil Gaidhlig Glaschu (Glasgow Gaelic School) where they are getting the most amazing bi-lingual education (all 3 of them are no functionally bilingual - realised this when I heard them screaming at each other over the Wii in Gaelic!)

If your children are pre-primary I would push this over anything else - fabulous school, amazing staff and an amazing opportunity to become bilingual as well.

Jordanhill Schol has a fab reputation - its directly funded by the government not from GCC. But you would have to live in Jordanhill owch financially.

We live in Glasgow on the southside and the kids round us all go to Shawlands Primary and are all great kids who do very well, and it feeds into Shawlands Academy which used to have a terrible reputation for racism problems but is now Glasgow's "International School" and has a great reputation especially for languages.

But there is a lot more to moving to Glasgow than schools!! We live 5 mins walk from Pollok Park, have swimming pools/shops/scouts etc all really close and a fabulous community of neighbours.

Where are you coming from? We moved to Glasgow from the Outer Hebrides almost 4 years ago and we have never regretted it for a minute - its a fabulous place to live!

[nulgirl]

Would back up what weegiemums says about the south side of glasgow. There is so much to do and the house prices are lower than the west end.

With regard to schools, my kids will be going to Tinto Primary which is being rebuilt. The current school seems really good so am sure it will be better once in a new shiny building. My neice goes to Langside primary which is very good and she is excelling there.

Agree that the Glasgow schools are good for primary. We are planning to move out to East Renfrewshire for secondary though as am not keen to send the kids to Hillpark which is our local secondary

[colie]

I am moving back to Glasgow and although my oldest child is only 7 I wanted to move to an area with the best seceondaries available. Not wanting to offend any Weegies as am one myself, but Glasgow schools perform poorly compared to the rest of Scotland or england for that matter.

We were going to try and get them into schools on the west side/end of glasgow but even some of those secondaries perform poorly when compared to outside glasgow. Hyndland Secondary or Notre Dame Secondary (girls school) perform best in glasgow in the league tables. Best non private school is Jordanhill but extremeley hard to get kids into. Though footballers seem to manage it!!
Dependant on intake amount you are not guaranteed your child getting in just because you have paid a fortune for a house in the catchment.

Like someone else said East Renfrewshire schools are excellent. House prices are very steep though. I have managed to get my two daughters into one of the schools in Busby which feeds into StNinians High which has an excellent reputation. All schools in Busby, Clarkston, Giffnock etc have good names.

[sb6699]

I went to Notre Dame!

I would go for Milngavie. Primaries are all very good and in the catchment for Douglas Academy.

[albachiara]

Thanks so much for the feedback! Our children are 5 (boy) and 8 (girl). We live in Trafford (Manchester, UK) and will try to move to Glasgow before the start of the new academic year (mid-August, right?). Another interesting fact is that our kids are mixed race (I'm Italian and my husband is Chinese American). I am a bit worried about this. Will they fit in up in Scotland?
Thanks so much for any advice/suggestions you can give us!

[colie]

Glasgow is now very ethnically diverse. Up until 10 years ago the biggest ethnic community in Glasgow were originally from Pakistan but now there are people living there from all over the world.

I was worried about my children returning with english accents to Glasgow but the couple of schools I have spoken to have reassure me they would be fine. My friends have also told me that due to alot of the schools now having so many non english speaking children in them that the schools are very inclusive. They do not tolerate any form of bullying etc. and have great etho's about differences and all being one community.

I went to Notre Dame and so did my neice now 20 and there has been a small Italian community of children in the school. Sure there will be in other schools too.

There is a Chinese community in Glasgow but don't think it is as big as say the Chinese community in Liverpool, which is where I am now.

Will you have the chance to go up for a visit before you move up in the summer? You will probably be surprised at how ethnically diverse Glasgow is.

[foreverastudent]

I've heard parents say good things about Langside, Shawlands, Netherlee, Mearns, Kirkhill, Garrowhill and the Gaelic primaries.

3 primaries in the West end are due to be merged so take this into account if planning a move to that part of the city.

The southside is a lot more ethnically diverse than East Ren if that's important to you.

As for secondaries, other than Jordanhill, I wouldn't send my kids to any in Glasgow.

We'll either move to the Williamwood catchment in Clarkston or go private.

[magbags]

I stay in the West End of Glasgow and am having exactly this dilema just now.

I know several like-minded mums who have children at Hillhead Primary and they seem to have lots of positive things to say about the school, including it has a fantastic Head Teacher. A new building is being constructed at the moment in Kelvingrove Park which will house the school as of 2012. It will still be Hillhead Primary and will have the same Head Teacher but will merge with I think 2 other primary schools - this is the merge which was already mentioned.

So at the moment I am considering Hillhead Primary for dd. I've also heard Broomhill Primary is meant to be good - and this is close by for Hyndland Secondary which is the one of the best performing in Glasgow - I also know the assistant head and she is fab lol.

[albachiara]

Thanks so much for the advice.

"Foreverastudent", you said "As for secondaries, other than Jordanhill, I wouldn't send my kids to any in Glasgow. " Oh dear, now I'm really worried. Are the secondary schools so bad?

I am also thinking about Falkirk or Stirling (DH will have to commute to Glasgow, then). Anybody knows anything about these two towns? Are the schools ok? Is living there nice for a family?

Thanks a lot!!!

[smallorange]

Mine go to Hillhead in the West end if Glasgow and we are very pleased with it so far. It is very multicultural - lots of French, some German, Chinese, Swiss etc as well as Pakistani and Indian kids, so if you are concerned about yours 'fitting in' then it's worth considering.

It's intake is 70per cent by placing request and the class sizes small - 19 in DDs class. It's near the uni and teaching hospitals and the parents are very motivated about education.

It will be getting a new school building in Kelvingrove Park in 2010. very exciting!

There is alot if snobbery about Glasgow schools (I encounter it almost every time I go to a toddler group) but I suggest you visit one once you've found somewhere to live( the west end is v.nice)

[EsmeWeatherwax]

East Dunbartonshire schools have a great reputation too, Lenzie, Milngavie, Bearsden. Not too far a commute from Glasgow either. Was in Phil and Kirsty's top ten places to live too! I want to live there, and I'm already in an area with a great primary. (Secondary not so good mind...)

[smallorange]

Oooh loads of great Italian cafes in Glasgow too!

[EsmeWeatherwax]

I'd give Falkirk a miss mind you, think some bits are nice, but many are not, Stirling's nice too, but very expensive! And again, surrounding towns can be dodgy...same as everywhere I suppose!

East Renfrewshire or East Dunbartonshire probablyt best!

[colie]

Sorry, don't know much about Falkirk or Stirling really apart from I like the castle and views from it.

Shawlands Academy or Hillhead primary and High are very ethnically diverse. Both secondary's though perform poorly on league tables.

I think the problem with Glasgow schools are the league table results. I know not everybody holds alot of store by these but it was enough to put me off wanting my children to attend a secondary in Glasgow. Though I went to school in Glasgow and did ok but alot of my friends didn't.

Though you will probably find that even if you can't afford to live in East Renfrewshire or East Dunbartonshire you could still get your children into these schools. If there is a space in the years your children are looking to enter then they have to let your child into that school. If your eldest would be in p4 then the school of your choice has to let your child into it if there is a space.

There are nice areas of Glasgow to live that don't necessarily have great secondary's in it. Some of my friends live in knightswood/yoker in Glasgow. Their children went to local schools for p1 then as soon as spaces came up in a school in Bearsden, they moved their child into it. Bearsden is East Dunbartonshire and quite close to knightswood/yoker.

The problem also is that alot of secondary's cover some very affluent areas but also some very poor areas. There is huge disparity in Glasgow between the affluent areas and the deprived areas. I think this vast difference drastically affects the schools.

Don't think this makes much sense but don't have time to correct as kids hungry again so need to go.

[wigglybeezer]

Stirling High is OK but Dunblane High (five miles up the road) is one of the top ten state schools in Scotland, it is a very nice place to live but houses are expensive (and Stirling and Falkirk are not exactly ethnically diverse).

DH is from Stirling, I am from Dunblane.

Balfron is close to Glasgow and has a Good secondary and primary and is quite countrified.

Ps. We live in a small Scottish town and there are several mixed race families and I have never heard any hint of racism from the children at my kids school, but it is a middle class area.

[lolainslacks]

Moving into West End of Glasgow and am looking for a good primary school for my 7 year old son. I may be outwith the catchment area for Hillhead Primary School. I wondered if anyone could tell me anything about Dunard Primary School in Maryhill and St. Charles' Primary School.
Any info would be much appreciated.

[SabrinaGM]

Hi all, I would really appreciate if someone helps me out of my worries. We are moving to Glasgow from London and I have a daughter who is goign to be three years old on 1st Jan 2012. I am looking for best primary schools. Can anyone please name them so I can find a place near by to live. Thanks

[ellieandme]

Hi I am a teacher lived in Glasgow, worked in Glasgow and Falkirk and now work in East Renfrewshire. When you read these posts and see that people 'wouldn't send their child to a school in Glasgow' they mean a Glasgow City Council school, East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire are VERY close to Glasgow. East Renfrewshire statistically has the best schools - Williamwood High being the best with Netherlee, Carolside and Busby primaries feeding into this school. You would want to buy a home in Clarkston, Busby or Netherlee to get a place at these schools. Means Castle is also excellent - Eaglesham, Kirkhill and Mearns primaries all feed into this school. You would want to buy a home in Newton Mearns or Eaglesham to go to this school - if it helps we are moving to Eaglesham it's a lovely village very close to the moors and my daughter has also just turned 3!
East Dunbartonshire also has excellent schools - Bearsden, Douglas, Boclair and Lenzie Academies are all excellent (I went to Lenzie Academy so have personal experience of this!)
I would recommend selecting a secondary school and moving into the catchment for that as all of the primary schools I have mentioned are excellent. Some of these secondary schools perform better than private schools in our 'league tables'!
I am happy to offer more in-depth details of these schools if required!

[vadi]

Hello everybody, we have recently moved to glasgow, dh has a job here, we are living in rented accomodation and are looking to buy a house where the primary and secondary education is best. After reading some of the previous msgs I think the education in East Renfrewshire is best (is it?) does anybody know which areas in East Renfrewshire are safe to buy a house in? Lots of houses seem to be on sale in Barrhead, what is this area like? dd is starting primary next year and ds is starting secondary school in a couple of years time

[Gallusliv]

Every area has its good and bad points Vadi and it depends what you are looking for. Barrhead is one of the more deprived areas of East Renfrewshire and it has a higher rate of crime and anti social behaviour than other areas of ERC. If you'd rather live in a safe, suburban area of East Ren that is not too high priced, you'd be best going for the Woodfarm/Orchard Park area (catchment for St Ninians and Woodfarm), Stamperland (catchment for St Ninians and Williamwood), or certain parts of Newton Mearns (catchment for Mearns Castle or St Ninians). That said, all these areas have less of a sense of community than Barrhead does!
We sold our flat in Pollokshields to buy a house near St Ninians 2 years ago and I am now wanting to move back (or possibly West End) before our daughters start school in Aug 13, despite the local schools there not being so high achieving academically. I teach at a Glasgow secondary and from my own experience, the kids from suppportive, educated families do well in school no matter where they go. We have a high proportion of kids from deprived backgrounds but still have other kids achieving 5 Grade A's every year. The main thing that makes schools like St Ninians 'better' is that they have a catchment of almost exclusively middle class kids. I'm not sure that I'd want my kids to be brought up in such a bubble. I'm also very sure that I don't like staying in the suburbs and would have to admit that this is the main drive behind our next move..