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Original poster

Moving to Edinburgh - sorting out schools

69 replies

maggiethecat · 30/12/2010 00:45

Looks like we will be moving and am trying to figure out schools. Dd1 was 7 in Aug (currently in yr 3 at RC school in England) and dd2 was 4 in Nov (will be reception in Sep 2011 in England or P1 Scotland I think).

We will visit as a family end January and am putting together a list of schools we'd like to see when there (I should add I've never been to Scotland).

DD will work in Little France area so need to find home/schools within reasonable distance.

We've heard about St Peters RC and have appointment to see them. Also heard about Flora Stevenson which sounds good since dd1 is very musical. James Gillespie and St Marys also mentioned by dh's friend.

I'd love to hear if anyone has dc attending or otherwise knows anything about any of these schools.

OP posts:
Besom · 04/01/2011 18:48

I commute by car from Leith area to Little France area and tbh it isn't too bad because most of the traffic seems to be going in the other direction. It only takes about 25 minutes/half an hour.

Bus would take a lot longer, though.

StewieGriffinsMom · 04/01/2011 21:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Besom · 05/01/2011 06:58

Hi SGM Grin

Confuzzeled · 05/01/2011 07:23

I live near Liberton, it's at the south side of the city and close to Little France. Lots of nice houses up here and much fewer flats.

The local RC primary has a terrible reputation but the state school Liberton Primary is amazing.

It is a little further out from the city center here but the public transport is good and your dh could walk to work.

knickerelasticjones · 12/01/2011 11:36

Hi there - agree with the other posters about edinburgh being mostly flats, but the flats can be HUGE and very elegant.

We live in a 1930s house in North Edinburgh (Trinity) but it is quite unusual to find houses in the city - those that you do tend to find are victorian and very pricey.

But I can highly recommend living in North Edinburgh - Stockbridge / Trinity / Leith - I love them all.

If I were you I'd decide on a couple of areas you like first and then think about schools. The schools mentioned here are good, but honestly there are so many good schools in Edinburgh in many different areas. And also what is good for one person may not suit you or your DC.

Re the commute - is cycling an option? I know quite a few people who cycle across Edinburgh for work, because the city is geographically quite small so it rarely takes more than 30 / 40 mins.

The other thing that I'd say is that it is worth checking with schools that they would have room for your DD1. I think it's unusual but I have heard of cases where some of the most popular schools refuse admission to people who move into the catchment as the school is simply full. I don't want to scaremonger though - I should add that I think thats VERY unusual.

best of luck with it all!

Original poster
maggiethecat · 12/01/2011 17:26

Thanks knickers. It might be difficult to find place based on areas since we know so little about Ed. Would prob need us to make a few trips up to determine that and this might be difficult. That's why I was happy to just be led by schools.

Saw a Stockbridge property that appealed and might have a look at. Dh has heard that North of Ed is a bit colder than South - since distances seemed so short I was surprised at that and am a bit sceptical.

OP posts:
knickerelasticjones · 12/01/2011 21:05

Hello - I'm loving the idea that the North of Edinburgh is colder than the south, it's only about two miles away!

I'd actually say that the south of Edinburgh is slightly colder at this time of year as some areas are higher up - almost in the foothills of the Pentlands, whereas much of the North of Edinburgh is pretty much sea level. But really we are talking one or two degrees difference at most!

Stockbrige is lovely, one of my favourite bits of the city and the two schools there - Flora Stevenson and Stockbridge primaries - are both very good as far as I know.

Good luck with the property!

Original poster
maggiethecat · 12/01/2011 23:07

just posted msg which disappeard into the ether!

Anyway, Flora Stevenson is on the shortlist. Like fact that they are strong on music. Dd is determined to become a violin playing Lady Gaga it seems!

Shame that lovely flat in Stockbridge that I was looking at is not in the school's catchment. Hopefully, if we do decide to go for FS we could find area near to Stockbridge that would be just as nice.

OP posts:
ratspeaker · 24/01/2011 23:20

There's a lot of houses rather than flats around the Craigleith bit of the Western General Hospital and also on the other side of Queensferry Road Blinkbonny ave etc, they are in the FS catchment I think
There's also the possibility that your husband could get the staff bus that runs between the WGH and Infirmary

What about Brunstane, Duddingston, Joppa or Portobello( East Edinburgh ) for easy acess to ERI? The 21 bus goes through Portobello High St and up to the hospital, or it is fairly easy to cycle, uphill on the way there but downhill on the way home
Brunstane, Joppa and Portobello are all in the St Johns RC catchement area
The secondary for the area is Portobello High or Holy Rood RC , Porty High is a big school, old building, gets a good rep on some fronts but is due to be rebuilt, sometime. Holy Rood is in a brand new building

Original poster
maggiethecat · 26/01/2011 18:52

Thanks Ratspeaker. Just got back from a useful trip - mostly positive vibes.

We did the school viewings and saw a couple of properties. Unfortunately I did not get to take in much of the Stockbridge area (bcos we were based in the Newington area) but when we went up to see Floras and St Georges girls we noticed that the houses looked very nice.

On the short tour that we did we realise that the city is nowhere as large as london and traffic not so bad.

If dh accepts offer I will be up to suss out areas again.

OP posts:
ratspeaker · 28/01/2011 14:27

Going across town in the rush hour can be horrible ( don't mention the trams )
But then again I've no idea what London is like

Rhadegunde · 05/02/2011 14:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 05/02/2011 20:50

Thanks Rhadegunde - it's just as well that we had sort of ruled out Floras (a bit reluctantly as the director of the music school has said that if our dd1 was already at the school if she auditioned and got a place it would make it a bit easier in terms of placement).

OP posts:
Rhadegunde · 05/02/2011 22:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 05/02/2011 23:40

That's comforting! We've ruled out Floras but still have eye on St Peters or Sciennes which are probably just as difficult to get into Confused

OP posts:
Rhadegunde · 06/02/2011 08:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

upthehill · 07/02/2011 15:51

We just made the move to Edinburgh. School were an important factor but also type of house too. I know it is all overwhelming so I thought it might help to tell you what I did.

My process was:

  1. What kind of house do I want and can afford. For me flats were out (was moving from one and wanted a house). Also didn't want terrace house - semi or detached only. Quite like bungalow style and garden important. What was achievable in our budget.

This ruled out a lot of areas for me Gillespie and Sciennes included as the only houses in these catchments we could afford was at the lower end of the catchment and these are mainly terraced and pokey.

  1. The south of the South morningside catchment fitted the bill for housing type but I was put off the school by the overcrowding and lack of green space - Victorian building. A few negative reports in the Scotsmand re the school heating didn't help either.
  1. Where my husband was working (SW) and a short commute was important as he was previously doing 2+ hrs a day. Edinburgh is not an easy city to get quickly about and there are few suburban trains - only buses which was a shock to me.
  1. Keeping up with friends. Most of ours are in Glasgow and West/ SW Edinburgh.
  1. Matching houses and schools lead us to the SW of the city and we went visit all the primary schools in Balerno/ Currie/ Juniper Green area.
  1. We also factored in that, given budgets, it is likely the bare minimum will be spent on building repairs and upkeep by the council in the next 5 years. New schools covered by contracts scored higher than the old Victorians in this regard!

Disclaimer -I am an engineer by the way!!! Grin

Original poster
maggiethecat · 07/02/2011 17:25

Upthehill, I am struggling at the moment trying to sort out schooling considering our application is late and we do not have a catchment address although we are working on sorting out our rental. (Did you rent or buy in the end?)

I glimpsed a bit of Stockbridge which I liked and would consider it or adjacent areas if we decide on Mary Erskine school. Also liked the feel of Morningside but don't know if house, which is our preference, would be affordable.

Sciennes is old Victorian (children may have to wear many layers!) St Peters is a new build and looked pristine when we went - should not have too many repairing issues.

Because of commuting issues would like to fairly close to centre.

Does Morningside have a reasonable supply of family homes?

OP posts:
kaumana · 07/02/2011 18:00

It would help if we knew what you were looking for, here are a few. It might be an idea to rent first to get a feel for the area. Have you considered George Watsons if you are looking at Morningside it is the local independent school. Junior and Senior school all on one site inc their sports grounds which is unusual in Edinburgh.

www.espc.com/buying/296583.html

www.espc.com/buying/297141.html

www.espc.com/buying/294346.html

upthehill · 07/02/2011 18:52

We ended up deciding on school and catchment and, as there was nothing to buy, but 2 houses in the catchment to rent, we are renting. We found it was almost impossible to co-ordinate selling and buying in this climate.

We have accepted it might take a year or so to find our nice house. It helps that our rental house is spacious and we really like it.

Greenbank and Braids in the South Morningside catchment have nice houses - more affordable than Morningside proper. It really depends on your budget.

curlyredhead · 07/02/2011 19:05

There are lots of bungalows in the South Morningside catchment - they are mostly on roads called Greenbank. There are also some victorian / edwardian houses but they tend to be bigger and therefore more expensive. What is your budget, roughly?

Personally, I wouldn't want to cross the city every day so if RIE is the likely workplace I'd be looking on that side of the city. It is smaller than London, but there is still a lot of traffic, and no tube.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 07/02/2011 20:06

Will have a look at those Kaumana.

Don't want to cross £500k threshold.

OP posts:
ratspeaker · 08/02/2011 11:12

You thought about the east of Edinburgh-
Duddingston, Joppa, Portobello, Brunstane?
Easier commute to Infirmary than across town

Original poster
maggiethecat · 09/02/2011 15:42

will look at these as well

OP posts:
AbiT · 01/04/2011 15:31

OK, I really need some help.
Im moving to Edinburgh soon and I have a two year old and a 7 month old. We saw a flat we really liked, and so I thought I should dip a toe into the whole catchment area school thing. OMG!!! Now Im totally freaking out! There seems to be this whole bizare snobbery thing going on - one person told me I should move heaven and earth to get my kids into SOuth Morningside or sciennes (apparently the ONLY two half decent primaries in Edinburgh (?) One person told me that Stockbridge was great but that your "face had to fit". I looked at a flat near Preston street school and thought it looked really jolly from the outside - the kids all looked happy, and I was rather smitten with the diverse cultures of the kids I saw there. The same person though shook her head and sucked air in through her teeth like a dodgy plumber about to charge me a fortune. THis woman has HUGELY successful girls - they do the lot, ballet, sports, music, and the excel at EVERYTHING (I just hope one of the m gets knocked up at 16....urgh god I cant believe I said that ....not cooooool at all I take it all back...but this is the kind of madness Im descending into ARGH!). I have descended into an absolute spin of panic, self doubt, and utter madness. I just dont know what to do now. I dont have sciennes or morningside money, but Ive heard reports of families living in one bed flats to get their kids into the schools there. Are they really that good or is it because of the senior schools - oh god, ANOTHER thing to panic about.

Basically, I want my kids to have lots of friends, to NOT be bullied like I was, to come home happy and cheerful, and well adjusted to their day. Hubby and I are well educated, we're happy to pick up any academic slack, or work hard with them on things they struggle with, so we're not looking for a miracle school here. We want them happy first and foremost, and if they do well too then that's great, but secondary. PLEASE could a few of you out there let me know which primaries your kids attend, if they are good, and which senior schools are the ones to go for? I really need some support here as the only friend I really have to talk to about it is the above mentioned, and we seem to be falling out fast as each day passes.

Totally panicked of perthshire