Primary schools/family areas in Edinburgh?

[ocelot41]

Absurdly excited - am in with a good shot at a job in Edinburgh, but last lived there many moons ago when was pre- DC. If I was successful, once I had stopped dancing, what would I do about a primary school transfer for DS? He has just turned 6 and is currently in Year 1 in an English state school. Which are more family oriented areas to live in?. OK, OK I know I am getting a bit ahead of myself here - just so excited!!!!

I agree about the school places, my sister moved back to the Uk one Easter into the catchment area of one of the most over subscribed primaries in Scotland . She was told that they had no place for my niece,but would provide transport to another local primary and move her as soon as there was a place. But she was allocated a place in July before school started in August .

You might also want to know that many parents of February born children choose to defer their entry to school ,so they start at 5.5 years old instead of 4.5 . Do you think your son would cope better with being the oldest in the class or the youngest ?

My son is 6 and I have been told that because he is already in school he would have to go into p3 and he would go to being the very youngest in the year which I am not that happy about. I have rung around a few schools now who say they can only put you on the waiting list for places once you are living in a catchment area. So how does that work? What happens if we move and he has no place allocated to him or one miles away? Advice please?

There's a bit of a scrum for school places in south morningside / boroumuir so we came a fraction further south (5mins) and have a lovely primary (pentland) and will be in Firrhill for secondary which I've had positive experiences with. If you need to move without a place it's worth considering avoiding the "top choice" schools and going for one of the other perfectly good options.

Portobello is the best place to live in the whole world

Museumum another MNetter has already mentioned Pentland as having nice big grounds. Does it still? How central is it? Walkable from Morningside/Bruntsfield or a bus ride?

Craiglockhart also doesn't look far out on the map but Tynecastle doesn't seem to be a very highly rated secondary?

Pentland has just built an extension in their grounds but it's still better than most and it's almost adjacent to a huge park (faurmilehead park). I would say it's walkable from morningside station end of morningside (we walk it, ithrough Braidburn valley park) but it's a bus ride or cycle from bruntsfield.

Ha - that sounds pretty good Museumum. My DH really likes the idea of living near a more bustling neighbourhood and likes Morningside for that reason. Maybe we could like where he likes and walk towards Pentland Primary? I would then have to double back on myself to get to work but if its all walkable that may be perfectly manageable. Thanks for the tip!

Mostly people up here go to their catchment primary. You would go to south morningside if you lived in morningside. Gillespies or bruntsfield if you live in bruntsfield. House prices reflect the catchment school.
It would be very very unusual to live there and apply for an out of catchment place further out.
Craiglockhart primary is great but as you say tynecastle hasn't the best reputation. Many kids who live in craiglockhart go to nearby fee paying Watsons.
View the catchment maps on the council website using Google to search.

Re school places - are they saying P3 based on age, or have they assessed what he's doing in school now?

Some schools literally have no room in a particular year, I'm on a parent council and we get updates at meetings of 'we have five spaces in the school but 3 are in x' so sometimes new children might not get a place.

Based on age Ooaml - he has a mid Feb bday. They haven't assessed him

Craiglockhart is excellent but I agree Tynecastle doesn't have the best of reputations although I believe quite a few of the P7 leavers successfully apply for out of catchment places at neighbouring Firhill.

Good luck with the move and new job!

Firrhill has two "r"s :)

That's where I went but i left in 1983 so my experience will be well outdated :). I liked that it had a proper mixed catchment and when i went uniform wearing was very sporadic....except for PE where they were quite strict - no idea why. It was a very big school in my day but that meant plenty of subject choice.

Squeee! We have let a flat from friends of friends and have a space in S Morningide so are moving in Sept 1. So happy to be coming back - the drinks are on me for any friendly MNetters who care to come out.

Well done ocelot , that's great news.

How do the family feel about the move.?

Ah, I just remembered that your Dh is a SAHD. Is there no chance he could move up a few weeks earlier so LO could begin school at the start of term?

Remember to check out uniform ( not sure if you are moving from an area where the kids wear school uniform, if not, sometimes people forget )

Thanks for the reminder about uniform. DH is not a SAHD though - he is currently looking for other jobs. We are all pleased to be heading back to a part of the world we love - esp following Brexit. The shift to the right in English politics is really scary.

OMG - I'm so very excited to read through this post. We're moving up to Edinburgh too! and I was about to ask the same questions.
Portobello sounds fab - perfect for our lefty vegan ways!
My twins turned 5 in February so they're a year behind yours but still... it's really interesting to hear about the schools and towns.
I just hate the thought of moving from Medway - England's skankiest place... right up to a HOLE of a town near Edinburgh.
We only have around £220k to play with 'cos we want to be mortgage free.
Estate Agent is coming round this week so we'll get on the market ASAP.
Ocelot... let me know where you choose!!!!!!

Sorry ocelot. I'm confused ( as usual )

That's OK - I am frequently confused Kr1stina. I want to be cyclable distance to the George Sq campus as my job is at Edinburgh Uni. So we did a sweep of schools in S Edinburgh and oddly S Morningside was the only one with a P3 space (as they are really popular). So we have let a friend of s friends flat in the catchment and will look to buy after we move. It is REALLY exciting. I love Edinburgh and am very glad to be leaving craziness. Give me a shout when you arrive!

Sorry that should read - glad to be leaving UKIP craziness...

Problem is you'll be heading straight into the the Scottish independence saga. We moved up here four years ago when there was no referendum on the table. 2014 was awful, my son was born 4 days before the referendum and the whole campaign completely spoilt the pregnancy with its anti UK/non-Scottish people sentiment (I'm not English or Scottish).

Edinburgh is lovely btw, but am completely fed up with the endless set of votes since we'be been here.

I know Indyref was pretty fraught and opening that up again will be painful.At the same time, I have considerably more sympathy with the Nats than the likes of Farage. I also have a lot of respect for NC as a leader.

I would be genuinely open to hearing the political arguments of both sides. I just hope my son isn't the target of nasty comments because of his English accent.

I must live in a weird part of Scotland because I didn't get any hassle at all with indyref1. Sure, everyone was talking about it - shop staff, taxi drivers, mums at the school gate, school kids . But I found that exciting because so many people were engaged in politics and probably I think that's a good thing .

It doesn't bother me when people have a different opinion from mine and I enjoyed hearing everyone else views . To me that's what a democracy is all about . I think there are some parts of society who see themselves as a political elite and don't like the masses having a view and a voice.

I don't know anyone who experienced any of the things claimed on these threads eg my child has an English accent and was bullied in school because of indyref.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen but IMO that's just bullying, plain and simple and the solution Is for schools to crack down on bullying ( and the wider culture ) . Not to silence all political debate among the working classes.

People getting their window smashed because they displayed a flag is shocking and the police should investigate, arrest and charge the perpetrators. It's crime we need to stop, not democracy .