St George's prep Edinburgh

[MrsFT]

Hello there - my daughter has been offered a place at this school at short notice, to start P1 in August. She has almost finished her reception year at an English prep school. She is average in most areas and very sociable/ outgoing. We want her to have the option of lots of extra curricular activities e.g sports, music.

Does anyone have any experience of this school? Any feedback gratefully received. Thanks.

It's fine, I know quite a few people with girls there and they seem very happy. There are lots of extra curricular activities and lots of music. They have a close association with Merchiston boys school and do quite a lot of stuff with them. We visited St Georgres but both my daughters took an instant dislike to it; I'm not sure why, I didn't see a problem. They are at Mary Erskines now, that is co-ed in junior school so it may not suit you.

Thanks that's good to know. Actually not fussed if girls or co-ed. This is only he first school I've contacted. I'm not sure how easy it would be in general to get a P1 place for August at this short notice, but I probably need to start calling round!

I think most of the schools keep spaces for people coming into the area, it is probably worth ringing round. Of course they mostly on holiday now, but I'm sure admissions staff will be there. I'm happy to share my (limited) knowledge of Edinburgh schools if you want to message me. The Edinburgh local chat is quite good on schools as well.

Thanks that's really helpful and kind of you. In London it would be virtually impossible to get into a prep school at this short notice, so I was amazed that it would even be a possibility in Edinburgh! Are there a few schools that you would recommend trying, other than the one your child is at?
Thanks so much

I don't have a child at St George's either, but if DS weren't at one of the other co-ed Edinburgh schools, I'd be having DD apply to St George's when we're ready for her to go private! I've only heard good things about the school and if we weren't set on having both DC at the same school, it would be my preference for DD.

(DS is at Watson's and I can talk about it and Heriot's with a fair amount of knowledge if you decide to look at either of those schools)

Are you only looking for a day school? if you are open to looking at boarding I can highly recommend Ardvreck School in Crieff, less than 1hr from Edinburgh. Gorgeous country setting with lovely family values. Flexible on boarding too. Pm me if you want to know more. Our DC absolutely love it!

Cargilfield might well be full at this point, but if not, I strongly recommend it. Lots of sport, music (and drama), activities of all kinds; not academically selective at entry but excellent results, achieved as far as I can see by great teaching not by weeding out; very friendly and supportive feel. It has boarders (but day pupils are the majority) so in the upper school (from age 8ish) the school day runs to 6pm; before that, normalish primary school hours. Works well: leaves plenty of room in the school day for breaks, sport etc., so definitely better than school to 3 + afterschool club if that's your alternative.

St George's has a good reputation. Most girls go on to their senior school and take the Scottish Exams.

Cargilfield also has a good reputation and I suspect would be more similar to your English prep school. It prepares for CE and kids go on to a wide variety of day and boarding schools around the UK, mostly heading towards A-levels / IB.

The question I would ask myself is "will I be in Scotland for the rest of DD's schooling". If the answer to this is yes then I would say St. George's is a great choice. They have been the top performing independent senior school in Scotland regularly and they actually follow the English GCSE syllabus (not the Scottish Curriculum for Excelence) SO she will do GCSE and A Levels, at least that's what it at the moment. A bonus in my book!

If the answer is no then I would personally look at Cargilfield. Cargilfield is a traditional prep and as a previous poster said, they prepare for common entrance. If you are likely to go back down south and would need to sit common entrance for a senior school Cargilfield would have been following the right syllabus. Cargilfield, although not selective, is IMO a more academically focused school, with high expectations, great teaching and very good scholarship results to the very top senior schools in Britain. Hope that helps

I have knowledge of the Edinburgh schools (& personal experience too). I agree with motherstongue that you need to answer her question in order to determine the best recommendations for you. However having said that, I think that your dd will get a good education at any of the Edinburgh private schools.

Some may however be a better fit for her & her interests. You will find sports provision very good at all of the schools. For music I would suggest that George Watsons or Mary Erskines are probably best. Most of the schools are academically selective (at least further up the school than p1), but that doesn't mean that you have to be super bright to get in, none are hot-houses!

Whereabouts will you be living. While Edinburgh isn't a huge city there are times of day that there are certain journeys that I wouldn't like to attempt.

Thanks all for the helpful responses. It looks like we will be making the move this summer to edinburgh! Exciting but have a lot to do. I'm sure we'll be there at least 5 years, most likely longer. I will phone round some of the schools mentioned tomorrow.

We need to rent a 4 bedroom property near to whichever school we choose - my husband will be working in central edinburgh. Other than right move, are there any other websites worth looking at?

Thanks x

Yes, www.espc.com/. Edinburgh's a great place to live, hope you enjoy it!