Contemplating moving to Edinburgh - help with schools?

[stikmatix]

Hi ladies,

Could I please pick your brains? With DH now working away, we are considering moving to Edinburgh, his home city, a place which we really love. At the moment we are living with my Mum (no laughing pls!) in Greater London and have the kids in private schools.

We would consider moving maybe for August 2012, when our kids would be in P7, P4 & P2 (I think I have calculated this correctly according to Scottish cut off) and one in Nursery.

We would be looking at both options, private and state. DH went to Edinburgh Academy and SIL went to St George's. I'd prefer co-ed to have all kids in the same school, it'd be easier than at the moment when they are not! I know which private schools are there in Edinburgh, but would like to hear any recent experiences with any of them. Also, do places come up easily at strange times?

Now on to state options. With the catchment area system, if looking at state schools, we would move to the catchment area of the one we wanted, as DD1 would only have a year of primary left. The problem remains of finding primary places for them. Is it easy to find places in a decent primary? I know that there are the usual suspects (I don't need to name them) which are ALWAYS oversubscribed, and that doesn't worry me at all, but I'd appreciate any ideas on decent primaries that often have places in various year groups.
DH's cousin and her family moved from Glasgow to Edinburgh a couple of years back and moved to Marchmont as their DD was P7 and they wanted Gillespie's. They got the two kids into Bruntsfield Primary so were happy with that.

Is it common to NOT be offered a place in your catchment high school? Or is this unlikely? DH really fears bullying as our kids have obviously English accents! Which high schools would be worth considering? Our kids are bright (sorry, not trying to show off or anything, but trying to be objective) and quiet. Our oldest DD is very conscientious and loves reading. Would like to hear opinions on Gillespie's, Boroughmuir, Firrhill, Royal High and Craigmount - or any other recommendations, I'm open to suggestions!

Sorry this got long, thanks for reading!

You have just listed 5 of the top 6 state secondary schools in edinburgh according to exam results! Although exam results are not the only mark of a good school. Firhill & Craigmount are in recently built school buildings. Gillespies is about to be rebuilt and there is the likelihood of a bit of disruption over the next few years. These schools are all very popular with out of catchment requests, but usually if you are applying for any year other than s1 it is likely that you will get a catchment place. For s1 it is unusual not to get catchment school, ie I haven't heard of anyone & I haven't seen published figures, but I guess it is possible.

Primary schools at p1 and p2 over the next few years are going to be very tight due to recent legislation limiting class sizes to 25. Less of a problem further up the school and admissions to years other than p1 and p2 likely to get a catchment place.

Did you know that Edinburgh academy is now co-ed? Although I think because it is still seen traditionally as a boys school, that there is a higher % of boys.

Yes, I know that the Academy is now co-ed. SIL wants to send my nephew there eventually. DH was actually quite unhappy there, but now it's co-ed he would be fine to send the kids there, lol!

Do you know when the P1&2 limit of 25 pupils per class comes into effect? I read that the limit on P1 to 25 is supposed to start August 2011, I haven't read anything about P2, but I'm not up-to-date sadly...

The limit for 25 is in force for P1 but not 100% sure about p2 yet.

You may find your children gain scottish accents after a very short period of time.

We're in Corstorphine but there's no way I'll allow my children to go to Craigmount while the current head is there. He ruined my last year at school and flung my niece out of 6th year for not knowing what she wanted to do. (I didn't know until my last term at school either). So my 2 will be going to Forrester which is a newer bulding and the head is really good and I've been very impressed with what I've seen when I've been in the building. Plus it's actually closer than Craigmount is.

Hello, I have my sons name down for George heriots, this school has. Fantastic reputation. Good luck

My children are at watson's which we are very happy with. The popular state schools are becoming harder to get in to out of catchment. And we are in the catchment for Sciennes but took the children out because it was so crowded. I'd say you need to talk to the schools to get a realistic idea if where has places for your dcs.

I should give watsons another look, my husband went there and loved it but because of work I felt heriots wasceasier to get to.

We liked Heriots as well but in the end chose watson's as it is nearer and DH likes the fact that their playing fields are right next to the school so he feels the children will get more time actually doing sports rather than travelling to the fields.

That is a very good point, do you happen to know what age they have to be for nursery there? I can't find anything about nursery age on their website.

Mani83 - If you look under the admission heading you'll find the necessary info.

ex watsons girl here. I quite enjoyed my time at Watsons (as much as you enjoy school!). It is great because it is all on one campus, junior, senior and sports facilities. They are currently rebuilding / refurbishing a sports block including swimming pool. My only concern is that it is a huge school which may not suit every child, having said that, because it is so big it may be easier to get the spaces you need. The school is very keen on educating the family together, so may 'find' a space to enable you to do that.

My dd is at Mary Erskine which she preferred to Watsons as it was smaller (she is quite shy and introverted). It is co-ed for junior and 6th year, but single sex for s1-5. Main drawback if you have more than 1 child is that it is on different campuses, but not too far apart.

I have a bit of insider knowledge on Heriots as my mum taught there.

Most private schools with nurseries will take kids for their 2 preschool years, so from 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 depending when their birthdays are. Almost all edinburgh private schools are selective, but assessment differs according to age.

Watson's pre-school is one year (unless you defer your child e.g they have a jan-march birthday usually) but you apply a year in advance so dd is going this august but we applied early 2010 for her place. Nit explaining this well but most children in the pre-school are 4.

It is a very big school so that won't suit everyone. I'd say it doesn't feel huge though.

Crazycarol - out of curiosity if your Mum taught At heriots was there a reason you didnt put dd there? That is one of The reasons i like GH, because it was smaller in size

mani83 - your child is still very young so it while it is good idea to research schools. I would wait to see how your child develops and take it from there.

stikmatix- I wouldn't worry about your childrens being bullied because of their accents. I've plenty of English friends here and I've never heard this as being a problem, not to say it doesn't happen but not IME.

In regards to the year groups the majority of Independents have an intake in P6 and /or P7, if memory serves 1/3 of applicants(past year) got into GWC and bit less into GH.

P4 and P2 could be a sticking point as class numbers are fixed so you would be looking at movement in the year groups. Best thing is to call admissions asap as we break on Thursday.

In regards to state schools, with the above in mind, spaces normally appear in P6 & P7. However P4 is normally chock full in the catchment schools you may be looking at, as you mentioned the Secondaries.

The schools you have mentioned are great schools but as cuckoo said Gillespies is likely to suffer quite a bit of disruption over the next few years.

Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions.

mani83, It's not that we didn't put dd to Heriots, it is that she/we preferred another school. Heriots was our 3rd choice. But she fell in love with ME the minute she entered the door for the first time. Aslo she is very fond of music and ME is very strong in this area, Watsons a close second. Heriots wasn't as strong. Also dd just didn't like the ambience of the school. Academically there isn't much to choose between them to be honest.

Oh and another reason, she didn't get a place at Heriots either. She sat the test but there was a large number of siblings & foundationers who get priority for places, also she is bright, but not that bright! She was bright enough for ME & Watsons, & St G.

Interesting to read this as I too am thinking about relocating to Edinburgh (from Holland). I have booked flights and the hotel to come over to the George Watson's Open Day in October with a view to kids starting in August 2012 in secondary 1 and 3. At the moment this is the ONLY school I have considered and our weekend in Edinburgh is limited to visiting this school. Is this really unrealistic of me? I knew it was a large school so was hoping that entrance would be straight-forward.

pinkje Watsons is a very popular school particularly for entrants to S1 and there are generally more applicants than places, therefore I would suggest you take the opportunity to try to view some other schools as well.

Hi rookiemater, any suggestions for other schools? Are they likely to have their Open Days the same weekend? I don't really want to come back and forward too many times. Another consideration out of Edinburgh is Dollar but I had heard that there were instances of bad bullying there.

The open days will not be the same weekend, however all of the schools will wecome visitors at any time if you give them a phone call and explain. For Watsons they usually have about 120+ applicants for about 70 places for s1. S3 is not a usual entry point so unlikely to be large numbers applying to any school so possibility of a place is better.

My dd's Godsister is at Watson's in P7 and quite a few of her friends from her state primary are still on the waiting list having not got a place for P7 despite them opening an extra class. She had to wait 2 years to get a place which she got for starting P6.

A mum at DD's school decided to move her children to private school and said everyone of them was welcoming to her visiting with an appointment as she made up her mind and called every one of them. Instead of the opening day, I'd consider making a week of it and come over and view the ones you wish to.

pinkje I'm afraid I don't have other suggestions as DS as at Watsons and it is a good school, which is why it is so popular I'm afraid.
I would suggest ringing up to explain your situation then you will get more of an idea about your chances of getting them in.

My family has experience of Loretto (in Musselburgh but VERY close to Edinburgh). Very small classes, would really suit bright and quiet, other schools mentioned are larger.

The big intakes at Mary Erskines / Stewart Melvilles are P4 and P6 now

Hi there - does anyone here have any experiences with Edinburgh Academy. Our child is there now and we are having problems communicating with the teachers. The school seems to be reporting quite low on the league tables and we are concerned about this but the party line that we are given is that all is fine. What are the other independent schools like? Fettes and Heriots are all within reach of us. Thanks!

Spider spotter I just left you a message on my last post. I've got my sons name down for heriots as well, which in all honestl if he gets accepted he will be moving there. I like the academy alot, the nursery is fantastic. But heriots gave me such a warm feeling when I went to see it! Have you been to any of the open days of other schools? If you don't mind me asking, what is the actual problem? I get to worried hearing things like that, teachers should communicate with parents, its important!

Hi mani83: I checked Heriots, they're full for his year group and waiting list for next. The problem is bullying in the playground that they can't sort out and have bandaid solutions to but what they need to do is change the culture of the school. Its fine for people who are born and bred in Edinburgh; its not fine for people who are not from the academy's "catchment area" which is not defined on their website, but 99.9% of the kids are from Trinity and New Town. And we all know from the research of the adverse impact of bullying on children. The communication is a problem because they listen but don't really hear your concerns, so there is a false sense of security. You can go talk to them anytime, but what happens is after a while, you become a nuisance and they close ranks. Each persons experience is different so mine may not mirror others. I've heard good things about Heriots, they are academically superior to the Academy. Good luck!