Braehead Primary, Ayr

[BaconPancake]

Can anyone tell me about their experiences with this Braehead Primary? I'm considering moving into this catchment area from elsewhere in Ayrshire... alot of the information I can find is quite old (Inspection reports from 2007) and I don't know anyone with children who attend or have attended.

DS is in p3 and we should be moving just after Christmas- my main concern is that I'll be moving him from a very small, rural primary into a much bigger school but have also heard that the school is "rough" and has alot of problems with behaviour and bullying. The outside appearance of the school and the website have been a bit uninspiring too but I don't want to make too much of a judgement based on such limited information.

I have looked at some of the smaller schools in Ayr which get much better reviews, however I'm aware I can only make a placing request for these.

St. Johns is also in the catchment area but I wouldn't be happy for him to attend a denominational school.

Any thoughts would be really welcome, and please do be honest!

bump?

Don't know the area, but since you are looking at P3 entry, I'd give the smaller schools you are interested in a call to see whether they have any places available: pupils may have moved away.

Have you actually visited the school?: sometimes appearances can be deceptive.

Thanks pretty, I haven't visited the school yet but have been in the area and seen the grounds. My view is probably skewed by the fact his current school is in lovely surroundings... but the grounds of this school just look totally bare and drab... I couldn't see any play equipment or anything.

I would love for him to go to this school- it's about a five minute walk from where I'd be moving to rather than maybe a 15-20 minute drive through rush hour in the town if I got one of the "better" ones but obviously there are more factors to consider than convenience alone.

Don't.

Honestly just don't.

Can you elaborate at all RJ?

Ok I'm not familiar with the teaching staff and I'm sure they are good and doing their best but they are dealing with a large majority of children already arriving at primary school 18 months behind, major issues in home life, and every disadvantage you can think of that comes with poverty. There's a huge amount of work and money going into closing the attainment gap with them. St. John's is a bit better because of a more mixed demographic catchment area. Newton faces similar problems but has a truly inspirational and transformational head in place who I think will make differences.

The big problem with both braehead and Newton is they feed into Ayr academy and it's the poorest performing secondary in the area and substantially under par for Scottish average, again mostly because of the complex issues with many of the pupils abd families but there are other issues. You do not want to send a child there. The head teacher is being made redundant and they will share a head with Kyle who are the best performing school in the area, and a guidance team, so there is a chance things may turn around but I wouldn't want to gamble my child's education on it. On the plus side they will be moving to a lovely new campus in a year or two.

I'd say if you are in that school catchment for braehead go for a placement to grammar, there will be loads of placement requests there from close to you for friends for your children, I think around 50 per cent placement requests there, or holmston but check as I'm not sure if they feed Ayr. Grammar feeds Kyle. Alternatively in the other direction go for heathfield or King see both of which are good, possibly heathfield just edging it for me, both feed prestwick academy which is a good school slightly lower in stats than Kyle but still excellent.

That enough for you?

You're right braehead is quite bleak looking too though they do try to make it friendlier.

Kingcase sorry

Thankyou so much RJ, that's pretty much confirmed what I initially thought- it's a no-go. DS is ahead of where he should be for his age and I don't want him to fall behind/suffer if he is surrounded by pupils who are struggling. Aside from everything else, I'd worry that he'd be sidelined because he's capable.

I hadn't thought of Heathfield and Prestwick but will look into those as well. I have heard St. Johns is ok but I'm really not keen on sending him to a denominational school.

Thanks again, your post helped alot!

Glad to be of help. I don't want to reflect badly on the teaching and other staff as the issue is just the problems they are firefighting really. But I honestly would not send a child of my own there.

Let me know if you need any more info about anywhere else. Good luck with the move!