Merrylee primary vs Tinto Primary Glasgow

[addyN]

Need help with what's the views on those 2 schools and if one is preferred over another for any reason? Is Merrylee academically better than Tinto? Also which of the two schools usually have more diversity in the ethnicity of the pupils?

Also generally how is the after school care at both the schools - is it usually easier to get through them at either of those schools?

From standpoint, of bullying, racism, etc. have there been any issues noticed in these schools and if yes, how were they dealt with ?

Any insights into those questions is very much appreciated. We are pretty new to UK and this whole process of enrolment is quite overwhelming.. thanks in advance !

Probably better to post on Scotsnet board and you'll have more answers. This board might as well be called Education in the South of England!

Both schools are reasonable but I don't know the details. In Scotland you have to live in catchment to get in to the school. Otherwise you have to do an out of catchment application which will only be successful if the school is undersubscribed. Scotland also doesn't do SATs or publish any academic results for schools so it will be difficult to find out how they are academically. Better to go and visit them if you can.

I agree with @kaffkooks - better to ask this in the Scotsnet topic.

I don't have any knowledge of either school. I think the best thing is to contact them - but as @kaffkooks has said, it's also about which catchment you're in.

Most of the schools within Glasgow are pretty ethnically diverse - especially on the Southside.

Hi I had a child at Merrylee until 2023, no experience of Tinto. Honestly I couldn't recommend it. Not that racially diverse, a few Asian kids , one or two far east asian, several mixed race. Religious education is very christian-centric (this is true of most non dom schools in Glasgow, ironically my friend's child at the Catholic school next door to Merrylee gets much more education on other religions). There are big problems with behaviour, the language they have been exposed to is shocking (N word in the playground, F word in the classrooms directed at teachers), kids messing the toilets on purpose, locking doors from the inside and crawling out under them, so other kids have no access to the toilet. Yes bullying. A lot of the bad behaviour seems to be exacerbated at Funlodge which is a private after school club a lot of the kids go to. It is rowdy. Girls have their skirts pulled up, forced kissing, loaded with sugar, the people who run it ask who their crushes are and kiss in front of the kids. So when they go into school, that influences the other kids. (The staff from fun lodge also have kids at Merrylee and the school seem to advertise/promote the service without actually looking into what goes on there).

Head and deputy teachers are not interested, they don't even call the parents of the "problem" kids any more or remove them from class because it causes more work. For other reasons I've found the head teacher to be the main issue, because it was a much better atmosphere and school before they took over, even with the same teaching staff. The catchment high school is Hillpark which was THE worst ranking school for grades in the whole of Glasgow and surrounding areas. Most people with options, move their kids to East Ren or private from p4 onwards, so friendship groups get split up anyway. The outdoor space is good, but the "urban jungle" was often waterlogged and unusable.

If I had a kid starting p1 now I would really move to another area for schools or send them to Gaelic school.

Tinto is a good school run by hardworking staff, who really care. A fairly recent news article here, which highlights the diversity at the school.

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23548840.glasgow-school-celebrates-inspectors-praise-hard-work/