Moving from S.E England to Borders advice please

[Bibbitybobbitybollocks]

Will be relocating to Borders (Eyemouth/Dunbar regions). Would like opinions on Chirnside, Dunbar and any other areas worth considering.
Kids aged 14 yrs -2. Eldest 2 currently in Yrs 10 & 7. Would they go back a year in school? Both late Aug birthdays so currently among the youngest in their year.
Any advice greatly received.

Gratefully received

Late August birthdays means that they will be mid year in age now (cat off is March, but because of the option to defer, the average gets skewed a bit) rather than the youngest in the year. So the 14 year old will be S3 and do their Nat 5s at the end of S4.

The 10 year old will be in P6 with one more year of primary (P7).

Don't know the Borders, so can't advise on areas.

I grew up in a wee village called Coldingham right on the coast. Is magnificent and well worth checking out. Would live there in a heartbeat if my hardened city-slicker husband would even consider it!

Berwickshire as a whole is a lovely place. Gorgeous wee villages. Good luck.

Thank you so much.
We loved Coldingham (we were there in August). Will definetly add that to the house hunt list.
I had no idea cut off was March, v useful info as I assumed it was August due to Summer holidays.
Thanks again.

Eyemouth is in the Borders, Dunbar is East Lothian, that will make a difference in terms of which websites to look at for school catchments etc.

Ah thanks Wax

Sorry I don't know much about that area other than being on holiday to Dunbar (from Edinburgh) as a child. Beautiful beaches :)

Haddington is nice and if you want to go further down the Borders, Innerleithen is a vibrant village.

Wax just had a nosey at some houses for sale in Innerleithen. Looks lovely but unfortunately just outside DPs very specific radius for work as laid out by his employers. Wonder if there is possibility to negotiate with them

That's a shame. My Dh is from around that area and the village has become quite fashionable! I have no idea what its like, but I know Pathead has some quite high profile stars from the Folk scene living there so presume it must be reasonably decent, that looks to be closer to your area and might be worth a look?

Hmm. Know this area quite well.

DUNBAR - without question!

It is vibrant and full of those who've moved out of Edinburgh so less insular than the Borders.

ELothian Ed Dept FAR superior to Borders, imo.
Have teacher friends in both, parent friends in both, know kids at primary and high school in both.

I'd avoid Chirnside re schooling... happy to pm details.

Pathhead okay as a village but driving up over Soutra in winter no fun.

@pinkingshears pm would be great. Concerned about moving my eldest especially as they'd be potentially close to exam times and not really sure how different the Scottish curriculum is to the English one. Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply

My niece moved back up from the English system half way through s4 and she ended up not doing any exams until the end of 5th when she sat her highers, they sort it out when they have to.

her birthday is 1st September so quite a bit of shuffling years I think.

Coldingham is lovely but maybe a bit ' in the sticks' for teenagers. Eyemouth is nice enough for a wander around but I wouldn't live there. Dunbar has a lot more going on and the station takes you into Edinburgh in 20 mins. House's seem pretty nice too. Berwick's a bit run down and although it has a good theatre and is ok for a day trip it's it's not really somewhere that would be the top of my list of places to settle.....

SingingSeuss Good point about the teenagers. Especially as they do lots of activities like dance and cadet type stuff at the moment. I think Dunbar has Sea Cadets IIRC. Plus we have no family or friends so I would be looking for playgroups etc for the toddler. I won't be working for the first 3-6 months while we get everyone settled so will definitely need somewhere that has things going on. We're semi rural I guess at the moment but with good buses and both drive so similar would be ideal.

I mean family or friends in Scotland not in general..