Seeking opinions from scottish mums.

[figleaf]

We live in Bristol, my house is on the market but before Christmas we hope to relocate with DH work to the Stirling, Bridge of Allan, Dunblain area. My 2 boys (1 "normal", 1 very clever but with physical special needs)seem OK with the idea. They currently go to a catholic school but Id like to know what you think about schools Catholic or nondenominational in that area. So far I have found out that in Dunblane everyone goes to non denominational schools but do extra RE lessons but in Bridge of Allan the Catholic kids either go to Bridge of Allan school or to St Marys in Stirling (75 kids on roll so cant be all of them). Stirling seems more complicated as there are a lot more schools of both flavours.
Well buy a house whereever the school is that we think would best suit our boys.Our son with special needs is our biggest concern as he doesnt write but uses a computer. Well have 330K (ish) max to buy with. Ive posted about aspects of my move before and been given ace links to on line house buying sites and HMI reports for Scottish schools.Any thoughts/advice on good areas, good schools, dirt/gossip good or bad would be really useful.
Also Scotland is a big country. My DH will work in Cumbernauld (but I wont live there) so are there any other really lovelly places near by (ish)that I should be considering?

I think it's 30 max, 24 max in a composite, but most classes, at least in the early years, have a classroom assistant, too. Have you looked on GSPC for houses? They cover most areas. (I saw a nice one near us for 250k fixed price...)

Hi figleaf. I live near Falkirk, which is certainly within commuting distance of Cumbernauld eiher by car, or even by train if your dh's work was near the station.
Falkirk itself is not the bonniest of towns (in fact I used to think it was the armpit of the universe when I was younger and before I moved here) but it's okay (reasonable shops and good ammenities) and there are lots of nice places to live on the outskirts like Polmont or Larbert (lots of new houses there) which are both ideal for commuting and even parts of Falkirk itself, for example the area near to Falkirk High Station itself has lots of lovely older houses.
And you could definitely get a lovely house there for your budget.
My friends children both went to St Andrews Primary School in Falkirk and although I don't know a great deal about it, she seems to have been happy with it. I have also heard good things about St Mungo's the Catholic High School for the Falkirk Council area, which has a good reputation for discipline and also community involvement.
I think the \link{http://www.falkirk.gov.uk\ Falkirk Council website would give you information about them, including their prospectuses.
I don't know a great deal about Dunblane or Bridge of Allan apart from the fact that they are 'nice' areas with 'nice' house prices to match. Can recommend the Indian restaurant in Dunblane though We have friends who live in the new estate in Menstrie and where they live is lovely but apparently there is a lot of 'trouble with youths' in the village centre with Clackmannanshire's first ASBO being issued to get rid of them, or so I read in the local paper.
Your quite right about not wanting to live in Cumbernauld, dd's friend moved there and calls it 'Cumbernam' or 'Vietnauld' because it is so depressing.
However best thing to do is come up and look around - you'll probably find loads of places you would be happy to live in within easy commuting distance.
Good luck

Falkirk Council website is here
Also look at this for more information about the area.

Falkirk Council website is here
Also look at this for more information about the area.

Class sizes in primaries are beng reduced to a maximum of 25 - I know that for P1s that is now the maximum size (even when it is not a composite class). Suspect that will "work its way" through - rather than arbitarily choose which kids in P2 and above have to come out of a class to get it down to 25.

KIrkintilloch is definitely an option - we certainly looked at a few houses in Lenzie (sort of the posh part of Kirkie). (and in case you are wondering, dh and I spet a while looking at houses north of Glasgow beofre deciding to buy a house on the south side - but then, we both work in Glasgow).

What does your husband do, that he's being relocated to Cumbernauld?

I've just thrown out the Sunday Times HOuse Price Guide to Scotland - I'll see if I can fish it out of the recycling bin (or it might even still be in the distaster that is the pile of magazines beside my bed)

Hi Figleaf, I'm a bit of a lurker rather than a poster but thought you might be interested in the following.
I am based in Auchterarder, 16 miles north of Stirling, so about 1 hour commute to Cumbernauld. Great mixture of housing both in Auchterarder and surrounding areas of Blackford, Aberuthven (villages withn a few miles). When it comes to schools Blackford and Aberuthven have small primary schools, Auchterarder has a community school (nursery, primary and secondary all on one campus but seperate buldings) facilites are excellent, class sizes range from 16 to 30 dependent on year. Classroom assistants work throughout the school with definite input one to one for those with additional support requirements. Contact Perth & Kinross council or school direct. School website is www.auchterarder.pkc.sch.uk Let me know if you want to hear more or have any questions

Here's what's in the ESPC for stirling between 200k-300k. Hope it gives you an idea.

Stirling

figleaf - glad your coming north! I just wanted to say about the survey thing in house buying is that the system seems to have changed recently. We've just bought and sold in Edinburgh and none of the buyers had surveys done before putting in their offers which was unheard of a couple of years ago. Similarly, when we bought we were told to offer 'subject to survey' which was fantastic cause we offered on five places before we finally got somewhere! It's worth while checking whether this new method applies generally or whether it's just an Edinburgh thing. Don't worry about getting a house - as everyone has said we're coming into a really quiet time. Also - if a house has been on the market a long time, you can always chance your arm and offer under the fixed price. Good luck

Same again for Falkirk area.

Falkirk

Thanks for the links and info Bogwobbit.

Prettybird DH is a computer person (designs boards and bits of code to use them).I might try the sunday Times thing, perhaps I can get it online?

West 3 thanks for the info on a different area. We will go out that far if we strike out closer to stirling.

Thanks for the good wishes and the links Zippy and gscr. All the help is apprieciated.

Is he by chance going to work for a large far eastern printer company? if so he is just of the road heading up to Stirling.

I'm in Stirlingshire, but on the western side - almost equal between Glasgow and Stirling. Our secondary school will be Balfron High, which ahs the best academic record in Stirlingshire as far as I can work out. Catchment would be Drymen, Balfron, Killearn etc - all nice commuter villages with a good mix of mega posh houses and perfectly ordinary houses - also ex local authority stuff too. Not sure if that's quite in the right area for you, but it would be within your budget I think.

Figleaf - glad to hear you are coming to Scotland!
My kids are in the Gaelic school in Glasgow but it wouldnt be an option fo ryou if your boys are alreasy in school as they have to do the 2 years of total immersion in Primary 1 & 2 to be able to cope with the rest of the work. It s agood option though as the classes can be smaller (though my dd1 is in a p2 class of 28) and while the educational outcomes at p7 are no better, the kids are bilingual, and have been shown to do better at a3rd language in secondary. Just in case you were interested, but it doesnt sound like much of an option for you.

Cant help with houses as I live in Glasgow and know nothing of that area. Could you live in Glasgow - we are about half an hour form Cumbernauld on the motorway (mind you, not at rush hour!)

Meant to say - I'm 40 mins from both Glasgow and Stirling.

Here's a property search from s1homes.co.uk in my neck of the woods for your budget.

Stirlingshire homes search.

Its not a printing company seb1,but general electronic/computing stuff, mainly in the defence area. Ive got that link bobsmum but thanks for thinking of me. Thanks for the welcome harrisey, must say the Scottish mumsnetters have rallied round and are really helping. I look forward to perhaps meeting a few of you in the future. First fact finding mission (where Ill look at some of these areas) will be next Thur-Mon. This gets us out of the way of the estate agents here. They will be having an openday for my house on the 30th so fingers crossed.

can't believe i've missed out on all this stirling chat!!!

i teach primary in stirling although have only lived here for 2 years so don't know all the schools very well.

fwiw if i were you i would still hold on to hopes of living in BofA or dunblane. although gargunnock and doune would appeal to me too.iirc BofA recently received a v poor HMI report although i'm not sure that would put me off living there and using the school. Facilities in stirling for children are excellent and worth staying close for (imo). there is a smaller (state) school in dunblane which used to be a religious one (tho not catholic) i think it's called st mary's too.. gomez may be able to correct me.

i'm blabbing. i've had a parents night tonight and i'm tired! please keep us informed in your house search. will be nice to meet you.

Thanks Ja9.
We had a bit of a conversion last night. Up until now we have been looking at older property. We live in a 1930s house now.Last night we thought wed start to have a look at the huge amount of new housing being built all over our chosen arae. Apparently a small deposit would "secure" us an as yet unbuilt house but the education authorities consider that enough commitment to start attending the school of your choice (as if you are a resident) even if while the house is being built we were renting else where.This means we sell here (open day next Sat) get house to rent there and then buy house with out the stress of chains or too much concern that the rented house and house we want to buy are in the same catchment area.

Any info on new build projects from Bonnybridge to Dunblane would be great Scottish Mnetters. Also do you know of any horror stories ie builders to avoid??

Figleaf think that s a good idea. It woudl take the pressure off you. I think the advice about house prices is realistic - you wont get a 4 bed older house in a "nice" central area for o/o £250K, which is what your budget really means.

If area is most important to you you will NEED to compromise on house. Would you consider a new build 3 or4 bedroom? Otherwise i think you will have to go more rural or buy a property that needs a lot of work.

Do you need a school that is wheelchair accessible? Will you Ds with SN go to a mainstream secondary? I assuem he is supported in mainstream primary?

Yes there are plenty big 4 bed new builds that you could get with that money but older houses are more expensive, there are so many beautiful new builds in the Stirling and Clackmannanshire areas Clackmannanshire is so close to Stirling like 10 minutes in the car and areas like tullibody and tillicoultry and mentrie and alva have beautiful views of the hills and lots of parks and walks for children, I think Stirling and Clackmannan are beautiful areas.

Kristina, bless you for asking but DS has coordination problems but his mobility is unaffected. His biggest prob is writing or other fine detail work. Our 5y.o writes.colours threads etc better than him. Even though he has this special needs he is unusually bright. I really hate the label but in England we have a Gifted and Talented programme, DS is in it. We have been looking at Secondary schools and their associated feeder primarys as a clutch. St Mungoes seems Ok as does St Modans some other high schools have looked a little more dodgy. I dont think he`ll need support though.

the only newly being built homes i can think of are the ones in menstrie. menstrie is in the hilfoots and a very picturesque place to live. if you are interested in st modans, alhtough they are currently situated at the far side of stirling, they will be moving to the menstrie side in the next year or two so that would be handy enough.

I have a friend who has a DD in the Gaelic Unit at Riverside Primary, she seems to get on really well, only thing is my friend has been for Gaelic lessons but don't think she is fluent by any means, the language thing doesn't seem to be a huge problem.

We have a Catholic Primary School (St Margaret's Primary) in Dunfermline with a fantastic reputation (don't know much about the Catholic High School). Don't know if that is too far out for you? Could probably do Cumbernauld in 45 mins, although you would have to check that out. If you have a look on the ESPC website previously linked to and search under "Dunfermline" IMO you still get quite a lot for your money compared to Stirling area and you would still get a period property for your budget. In fact there is one right over the road from me that would leave you with nearly £100k change (4 bedrooms).

Figleaf - so you are just looking for generally good schools - preferably or definitely RC? You want a very academic school because your Ds is very bright and you want him to be stretched. His SN ie using a coputer, help with some other subjetcts etc can be accomodated in any school. Have I got it right???

I think just a generally good school is what we want KristinaM. I have looked at RC school in as much as we are RC and the kids are at an RC school now. I thought perhaps they would settle quicker the more similar it was to what they had just left.

His special needs are important to us because it destroys his fragile confidence when people dont understand that he cant write it isnt that he is being lazy. As for stretching him, I think any good school can cater for a range of kids including my two. We dont think hes Gods gift or anything it s just that terrible programme name here makes people think that. So yes I do think any understanding school could accomodate him.

Did you have a particular school in mind ?[curious and hopeful emoticon]

sorry i dont, I dnot know the area well enough. i was just trying to be clear about your search criteria IYSWIM. Was it area, house type, size, denomination of school, special needs unit ect ect. Sorry if it sounded like I was minimising your ds's SN.

have you checked out the scottish schools online site. you can get info on exam results etc

schools