Sweetkitty, bar Oliver and Aidan, really, they are the sort of names that you find around here, regardless of denomination, particularly amongst 30+ mums. As I say, this little corner is a bit more affluent and stable than the rest of the place. The rest of the boys all have those jaiden/kaiden/denver/dallas/kyro type names, although there are less of those in this immediate area than the other areas that I have lived here. The thing is that nobody wants to stand out for fear of any potential unpleasantness. My DD was bullied so badly because of the way she speaks (her speech therapist was Irish and she has picked a little bit up) that I had to remove her from school because it was making her ill. She was only 6 years old and her name got it as well because none of the children had ever heard it before and it didn't fit with the Emma/Amy type names or the JAda/Kenzie/K'tlin ones either.
Oh yes, it's a minefield out there.
I think that your right about the councils being squeezed for cash, but the thing is that NAC knew what the rolls were when they commissioned the new schools and one of the things that they pushed at parents was the need for bigger schools to fit the growing numbers of youngsters. We will be paying for these PPP schools for the next 30 years and they were unsuitable before they were even built. Combine that with things like the teachers not being allowed to use fans or air conditioning in summer and all the heating/electricity being rationed to keep the utility bills down because only a certain amount has been figured into the contracts with Mite and it's a poor show really. Then you have to consider that the NAC PPP deals were investigated by both Strathclyde police and the Scottish government because of suspicion of corruption and kickbacks. Says it all really.
Can't believe you get a slagging for living in a "rough" town"! Although, my mother, who has lived in one of the villages attached to the town, maintains that it is a lovely little place, in spite of Strathclyde Police saying that it is the heroin capital of Scotland, a young girl being brutally assaulted in their front garden one recent Saturday night, constant police patrols and most folk being to scared to leave their homes after dark! I suppose it can be hard to see the wood for the trees, especially if you have always lived here and remember when things weren't so bad. I think that I would have had to laugh at being told my town was rough, actually. Not in a cruel way, just in a kind of incredulous way, they way I do with my mum.