Moving to Edinburgh and looking for daycares/schools

[smiller1027]

Hello everyone,

I am moving to Edinburgh from the U.S. this August with a 20 month old and a 5 year old who will be starting kindergarten. My husband and I both work full time and we are in search of a school for the two of them. We plan to live in the city, but not sure exactly where yet. Does anyone have any recommendations of schools to look at? I would ideally like to have them at the same place for ease, and saw that Edinburgh Montessori Arts school accommodates both of their ages, and they are currently in a Montessori school. Anyone have any experience with that school to share? If we can't find a good spot for the two of them, we may go the public route for my 5 year old and then would find a nursery for my almost 2 year old. But I am worried about what time the school day ends and how long the summer break is - I would have to find child care for that. Any suggestions?

Many thanks for the advice!

Best,
Sarah

In Scotland a child who is already 5 would usually be starting primary school in mid August when term starts. We don't use the term kindergarden here, there is pre school nursery - either based part time at the primary school, or paid private all day nurseries. Montessori is not widely used here but all nurseries are closely regulated and at the right age all children go through a pre school "curriculum".
For all matters to do with public schooling in Edinburgh see www.edinburgh.gov.uk and click on the education links.
You will not be allocated a public school place or public nursery place until you have an address in the city. Private nurseries may have places available but it will depend on the ages you require whether they will have space for both (if you eldest is not going to school).
Summer holidays in the UK are a lot shorter than the US, we typically get 6-7 weeks from 1 July to mid August, but additional one week breaks in Feb and October, and two weeks at Christmas and Easter. So for working parents it is very expensive to cover with nursery place/ summer camps for older kids.
For younger children the school day ends between 2.30-3.15 and some schools have after school clubs to cover until 5.30-6 but these are always very full. Also on a Friday in Edinburgh the schools finish at 12.30 so you would need a full half day cover, or consider a registered childminder.
Because the childcare environment is much more regulated here, it is much more expensive than in the US and to pay for two full time nursery places you would need to earn almost 25k gross just to break even after tax.

The final option is to go private from the outset which offers all day wrap around and the private schools like George Watsons and George Heriots have nurseries but entry is competitive (!!) and usually full.

Good luck adjusting to the move. Edinburgh is a great place to bring up children but you have a lot of research to do!

Re private schools, George Watsons (and this may be the same for the other private schools in Edi) do not offer nursery until the year before school, so at 20mths you would need to consider a private nursery which is not attached to the school until then.

Edinburgh academy and Stuart Melville offer nursery from younger ages. Edinburgh academy being 2 and Mary erskine Stuart Melville 3.
My children went to Emas before starting at their independent school and we liked the whole idea of Montessori. However preffered traditional schooling for when they got to primary age. It's worth going to see!

If I were you I think the Montessori school would be a good choice, because if you move in August into State school (even after the possible stress of getting a place) your 5 year old would be going straight into P1 - quite formal education, focussed on sitting down, following instructions, starting to read and write. But if he moved to Montessori he'd still be in Children's House (3-6ish) and would presumably be learning using lots of the materials he's already using - pink tower, golden beads, number rods, moveable alphabet etc. It'd be a much more gentle move for him I'd imagine! I have a daughter there, and if we moved abroad I think It'd be fantastic to move to the same basic classroom and the same basic way of doing things. Also your toddler could go there too (though maybe just to 3.30...) and it's very international.

Thanks all!

I am coming a bit late to this, but have you considered the Edinburgh Steiner School? It is in Spylaw Road, near Morningside/Polwarth. I have one child there and it works for her, but she is much older than yours and was not there in kindergarten. However, there are several pupils in her class who have been there all the way through and they seem happy with it. I know Steiner is not everyone's cup of tea, but if it is right for your child it is fantastic. And contrary to the belief of many people, they DO take exams - and get excellent results! This won't be a worry for you yet, but Edinburgh is highly competitive at the senior school stage, and exam results suddenly become far more relevant than you might like them to be. Good luck with your transfer!

Just a quick addition to the earlier comments, if you need help finding a childminder for your 20 month old then feel free to get in touch. I do childminding myself and also know a number of carers in the area so happy to help you out.
Good luck with the move!

Coming late to this but for any stragglers, I would have no hesitation in recommending www.forbesnursery.com.

They have three in Edinburgh: one in Leith and two in Bruntsfield. They have a real outdoor ethos, caring staff and my child loved it there.