Some East Ren school questions

[Samdeniel]

We are considering relocating to Glasgow from Edinburgh. We moved to our current home for the great community, school catchment and thought we were here for the long haul 😬 We have one early PS school aged child and 2 under 5s so would want to live in East Ren for school catchment reasons. We like housing in the broom area which is Kirkihill/Mearns Castle catchment-I know they are both good. I can see from schools information that Williamwood is also good. I know we would need to check availability for the school aged child in the academic year they would need to join. Should we be considering any particular area or are all of the schools much of muchness? In terms of community, is there a better place to be? We are used to everything in walking distance, load of activities nearby etc and I suspect we’d be relying on the car more in these areas-am I correct? Any other obvious pointers? Many thanks in advance!

[Sevendown]

Mearns Primary is huge c.800 and a new build.

Carolside and Netherlee are both very full and in older buildings.

Busby is smaller and has more of a mixed intake.

[MoreProsecco]

I'm in exactly the same situation, OP, and getting a bit panicky about school places (have a P4 & a DC who will be starting p1 after summer). Think I've left it too late as not on market here yet (waiting for job offer). Have a feeling all schools at capacity? Maybe someone with inside knowledge will know.

I think the quality of life in Glasgow is so much better. Hoping we can make the move.

[Samdeniel]

I decided to call the primary school we would (in theory) be moving to and they amazingly have space for my daughter in p2 but the lady said they can’t offer a place until we have proof of buying the property (fair enough). We also aren’t on the market here but I don’t think that will be an issue. Edinburgh market is crazy just now and a lack of houses in decent areas. Luckily we would be in on time for applying for school for 2019. More prosecco-I would say the p1 entry this August will potentially be the trickier one. However, I know they hold back a couple of places in most schools for your situation. It might be different in east ren though. You might need to phone around and see what the situation is. Nothing is ever simple! Good luck.

[Samdeniel]

More prosecco-just noticed your comment about quality of life in Glasgow being better. I think it entirely depends on your personal situation. We are very happy in Edinburgh but considering this move for work reasons and I’m actually worried about how it will compare to our current situation.

[MoreProsecco]

I'm originally from Glasgow but have lived in Edinburgh for nearly 15 years. I do think the schools in East Renfrewshire are considerably better than Edinburgh, plus you get better value for money with housing. Transport infrastructure is better, and there are better facilities eg velodrome, museums, x-scape. Edinburgh is definitely prettier, and wealthier, but the shopping wins hands down in Glasgow!

Agree the property market here is crazy; good luck with selling - I hope you can get on your way soon.

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

re: Schools in East Ren. The Primary schools are all much of a muchness. High Schools have some differences, some are more academic and some are better for sport/asd provision. But you can't go too far wrong with any of them.

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

Also regarding community, I have lovely neighbours would say there's not much 'community' per se.

Although there's lots of children where we are- most are from 2 parent working households- so most kids go to childminders/afterschool/grandparents after school. It's quite easy not to see anyone for a while. Likewise it can be annoying when kids want to play out after school.

[Seniorcitizen1]

Better to speak to education department and not the schools - places are allocated by the education department and the schools do not know the rules. The better schools in terms of academic performance are in old eastwood area but Barrhead secondaries are catching up. Almost all schools at capacity but places available for catchment pupils - it wont be long before no placing requests will be successful