Moving to Edinburgh, any advice on good academic oriented Prep schools close to city centre and nice areas to live by....

[gtans]

Hi, I'm a newbie here and delighted to say we are moving to Edinburgh as part of work assignment. We will be working near by city centre, any advice/ suggestions for a good Prep school for our 7yr old one? Also please suggest any nice and safe multi cultural place to live not too far away form city centre. Thanks

£850 rent should get you something in/near Stockbridge if you're happy with 2bed flat. Most of edi is flats/terraces

Np gininteacupsandleavesonthelawn , between how is the feedback for ESMS academically? got to talk to them this morning and I am waiting for a call back from them.

yes, till we get to know the place , flat is our first preference though I know there are not many security issues.

Good, they just don't believe it's the be all and end all. Big focus on being an all round good person, very successful in performing arts, sports and music. Academic result are good I believe.

thanks , Also any feedback on Cargilfield junior school is highly appreciated.

What I like about Cargilfield, in a nutshell, is that there isn't any one way children have to be there. It's a small school (300ish pupils in total, aged 3-13) and they manage to make that mean "individually tailored education" not "limited opportunities". The academic standards are very high indeed (e.g. 2016 scholarships , lots of success in academic competitions, especially maths) but the feeling is a relaxed place. There's no compulsory written homework! The long school day (finishing at 6pm in the Upper School) sounds tough, but actually what it does is make space for long breaks, plenty of sport (not just team games, but also things like climbing, biking, kayaking etc., all regularly in games sessions not as after-school clubs), one-off events, and overall a relaxed feel. I'm sure there must be some acting involved on a Friday evening, but the teachers seem enthusiastic rather than exhausted. Lots of fun to be had.

cargundian Do they do holiday club/ wraparound care at Cargilfield? My understanding from a friend was that they didn't and so it was not an option for us.

In the Upper School (where the OP's child would be) there are clubs every evening and a child can decide to stay till 8pm, have supper at school, and attend some club any evening; ad hoc occasional boarding is also possible and usually even possible at very short notice. For early in the morning I'm not sure: certainly some children arrive before 8am and that isn't a problem; I would imagine it would be possible to arrange to arrive even earlier and have breakfast with the boarders if necessary, though I've never tried. It's maybe not branded "wrap around care", it's just what happens in a school that has boarders.

Holiday club, not so as to cover the whole holidays (there are one or two Activity Weeks in the summer) but does anywhere, actually? (Did your friend's child end up going somewhere that did?) There are various options in the city which we've used.

The thing we've really appreciated (in the pre-prep, as well as in the upper school) is flexibility. What I hear from other parents elsewhere is that often they need to commit to after-school club on certain days, and sometimes that involves a waiting list, so then if they actually need it on a different day or they don't need it on a booked day, that's a problem. When my child was in the pre-prep (aged 4-7) one of us was typically able to collect at 3:30, but if not, staying till 6 was no drama [not sure whether children that young ever stay later than 6, though]. It's not recommended, but on at least one occasion I telephoned school during the day to say that because of a last-minute issue it was a problem to get there early and could they just send my child to after-school club that day...

Just a bit confused among GW, ESMS and Cargilfield. Can't decide which one is best prep/junior academically? since we both might be working we might need a wraparound daily care (can manage the holidays though). which is best to commute from the city centre , Cargilfield seems like a bit of travel? Also like the school to be close to some good residential areas as going forward we've a plan to buy a property and don't want to travel a lot to school then too. Any suggestions?

Honestly, the day schools are much of a muchness academically. You would need to go visit them to get a feel for the differences between them. GW very much sells itself as a large school with a wide range of extracurricular activities (though these are more at the senior school level) but with a family feel to it. I personally think it achieves this very well - once you are in the community it feels like a much smaller school than it is.

As for residential areas, Edinburgh is fairly compact and any school will have nice areas fairly close by. It's easy to get to the city centre from most directions.

Oh and I know I assumed your child was a boy earlier. If it is a girl, you should really look at St George's as well. Everyone I know there loves the school.

I live in EH15 and like Mornington love it. There is a real sense of community, great parks, the beach. It's really easy to get into East Lothian and town. People I know in the area who use private schools send their kids to Loretto, Stewart Melvilles and George Heriots, although personally I think Melivilles is a bit of a trek during rush hour. My eldest has just started at Loretto and I think it's a fab school, although it's 0-18 rather than a prep.

What are your plans for senior school? GW and ESMS are all-through, and won't prepare your child for anywhere else; that might be a plus or a minus.

Cargilfield is a way out, it's true, but it runs a school bus from the New Town and is also on the 41 bus route, so there are options besides driving every day. There's also a good cycle route, the Roseburn path!

Highly recommend Cargilfield. As others have said, bags of opportunities, friendly and family like, great pastoral care, great teaching.
Can you tell my dc are thriving there?!

I think you might find it easier to live near the schools (none are very far out) and then commute to the centre rather than heading out and then back in. Although this may mean you need to consider the bus transfers if you fancy Portobello. The area near Watson's is more like a London village (not quite as luxe as Northcote Road, but closest there is), than the area near ESMS, but you pay for it. Cargilfield is also under the flight path for the airport as is the surrounding area of Cramond/Barnton. Having lived in SW London, this completely put me off that area, but know lots who love it, so horses for courses.

Finally , got the dates sorted for our Edinburgh trip to find a house to rent , to start with. Where are the flood risk areas I should definitely avoid? Had a look at the SEPA , not that user friendly and couldn't find a post search.

The map here:
map.sepa.org.uk/floodmap/map.htm
(I just put "Edinburgh" into the search box) seems pretty usable to me. My first thought is that to a first approximation, Edinburgh is not at risk of flooding - we're mostly well above sea level and it's a hilly city! However, if I go to
apps.sepa.org.uk/FRMStrategies/
and put my postcode in, it takes me to the Water of Leith catchment document, which reminds me that there have been floods. Roseburn seems like an area to avoid. Here's a quote:

"Edinburgh has a long history of flooding from the Water of Leith. The following
significant floods have been recorded in this area:
• 26 April 2000: Flooding on the Water of Leith caused boundary walls at
Saughton, Balgreen, Stockbridge, Warriston and Bonnington to collapse
resulting in the inundation of over 500 properties. Murrayfield Stadium,
Murrayfield Ice Rink and two residential care homes also flooded.
• 6 October 1990: The Water of Leith flooded in multiple locations with Roseburn
badly affected.
• 3 November 1984: Flooding on the Water of Leith resulted in the inundation of
two sheltered housing schemes. The Saughton and Roseburn areas were
worst affected.
• 15 October 1907: Water of Leith water levels in Currie were 1.5m above normal
levels resulting in the flooding of Woodhall Paper Mill at Juniper Green.
Flooding was contained at Cannonmills due to retaining walls however it
overtopped at Warriston Green causing road closures.
• 17 August 1907: Serious flooding within the Roseburn Park area of Edinburgh
after the Water of Leith burst its banks."

Not the first criterion that would occur to me thinking about Edinburgh districts!

Hope the trip goes well.

There has been a massive amount of flood prevention built around the Water of Leith in the last few years. I don't know the detail as I don't live in Edinburgh but I've seen it when I'm walking to matches at Murrayfield.

Thanks a bunch Cargundian, prettybird, that's quite informative and relieving.

Just came across Fettes Prep, appreciate any feedback around the same .

Fettes was mentioned upthread: Fettes Prep is the prep department of Fettes senior school, so only worth considering if you want to use the latter, as it isn't in the business of preparing your child for anywhere else. Fettes is clearly a very good school, but I'm afraid I've never been able to warm to it: nothing concrete, just doesn't feel right for our family. (The senior school specifically: we liked the prep when we visited.) YMMV, worth a visit if they tell you they might have a place. I can think of at least one child who left Cargilfield to go to Fettes and subsequently came back to Cargilfield, but that's definitely an anecdote, not data.

Appreciate sharing that info, poster Cargundian . It was a bit stretch for us in terms of fees , but just wanted to find a multi cultural one so the settling down time would be minimal for him. Not sure if there are many private/independent schools which are multicultural in Edinburgh. Any clues?

sorry , the word 'poster' just creeped in there...may be an auto fill.

Loretto has a lot of international pupils I believe.

Fettes always puts me in mind of Mallory Towers.

Lots of people here go state for primary and move to private secondary so there's no awkwardness there to worry about.