What is Sterling like for living with children?

[UrsiHun]

Hey there,
I've never been to Stirling but heard it's a good place to live. Since we will be moving from Germany I need to find out as much as possible online about best spots for family life.
What are schools like in Stirling?
Is everything there that one needs or does it feel small?
DH is German and the boys have never lived in the UK so we need a community that is accepting of international backgrounds. We're looking for a friendly place where children can grow up moving about by themselves at some point. Does Sterling have everything children require in terms of sports and holiday clubs?
Many thanks for any insights :)

I am biased but think Stirling is a fantastic place to raise a family. It is small for a city but I quite like that and Glasgow and Edinburgh are in easy reach. Due to Stirling University being a centre of excellent for sports we are well served for sporting tuition. The Peak (sports centre) also offers an impressive range of activities for DC and grown ups.

There are all the levels of Guiding and Scouting packs but they will be linked to where you live. Community football teams are thriving too. There are a selection of dance and theatre companies.

Housing is varied and will depend on your budget and taste. Look up postcodes on the SIMD site as Stirling has some very desirable (and expensive) properties but also some deprived areas. That said, you don't see deprivation as severe or widespread as you would in a large city.

For a more "international" flavour you may find that Bridge of Allan or Dunblane fit the bill. Proximity to the University and train stations makes these attractive to many - reflected in property prices too. Dunblane High School has offered German speakers the chance to sit additional qualifications in this subject in the past.

Schools are varied and you should look at the HMIE reports for individual schools for clarity. Primaries range from tiny rural schools to larger schools in the more larger villages/small towns.

That's fantastic thank you!

Does HMIE work like Ofsted in England? Is there an overall grade?
What areas of Stirling to avoid?
Many thanks

I know you have a few threads running and I've not read through everything. Here's another thread in the local pages that I gave a bit of a breakdown on places in Stirling:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/local/3038368-Considering-Relocating

I can't recommend the area enough for raising a family. The uni does make it a bit more international, my own street has many nationalities (indian, italian, english, scots (of course :) ) south african, canadian).

There is any sport or activity you can possibly think of available somewhere locally.

HMIE is the school inspection body in Scotland and schools are rated on a 6point scale across a range of descriptors. So you don't get a grade as such but an unsatisfactory rating results in a rapid revisit.

I'd hate to say areas to avoid in case I upset any fellow Stirling Mumsnetters and come across as a thundering snob . Where I live is a fairly average small town if my house was in Riverside, Bridge of Allan or Dunblane it would be £500,000 . It's not but I have 4 DDs and wanted 5 bedrooms and lots of living space . And some people might hate the rather homogeneous (well off) suburbs if they're accustomed to a more diverse blend of affluence.

Defintely horses for courses Lidl I hope it wasn't me slagging your area off! .

I think it also depends on whether you come from an area in the first place. DH and I both come from rough council estates (mine city, his village). I'd be happy to go back and live in either of those as we'd be locals if that makes sense, but wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable in a similar area in a different place and wouldn't choose to move to one of the rougher areas locally as I can afford not to now. I think it's easier to be an incomer in some places than others. Similarly despite all their advantages, I personally wouldn't necessarily choose to live in some parts of BofA and Dunblane as having mixed in the general circles, they are not necessarily my people (personal opinion only). However, they are areas that have a quite high turnover of incomers and have a fairly diverse nationality range and you'd be bound to find people on your wavelength. I find parts of Riverside particularly quirky (my DSs went to nursery there). It's also the case that one street might be great but you wouldn't want to live in the next one along. We moved to Denny initially and just couldn't settle at all. We moved fairly quickly to a house of similar value in a similar estate but in Stirling and felt fine straight away. It may be worth renting for a bit to suss things out before buying. I wish we'd done that.

My wee corner of Stirling rarely rates a mention as it is neither posh nor deprived. DH is a 3 generations in the cemetery type local so I was an local by default.

Would hate to name areas that previously would have had a bad press but that have benefited from new builds and regeneration investment (Highland Gate for example ).When you look at the price of exLA housing stock there's not many areas of Stirling that would be affordable to first time buyers. Sniff sniff ,bye bye DDs

That's very true Lidl I think all most of us want is a sense of belonging. I'm now in my 10th property, only 4 have been in the same city and only 2 of those in the same area. My DSs were in their 4th home in their 3rd town/city by the time they were 4 and 3. We've been settled in Stirling and I wouldn't change that. Will I still be here when DSs have flown the nest? I really don't know tbh. I don't really have any strong pull "home" anymore so I guess we should really start to think where we want to "retire" to. We are hoping when we downsize that we can give DSs a start on the ladder, that's obviously easier with 2 than 4 though. Stirling is the only home they can really remember.

Gosh, that really sounds tricky! Thanks for all the insights. We will most likely rent for starters to be sure. Wanted to avoid another move tbh but if it means a better result later then it's worth it I guess.

By the way it is not that we want to live surrounded by other internationals. One of the reasons for us to move to the UK are the people. We just want to avoid our boys feeling like they are the only weird ones.
BoA and Dunblane seem a little small. I think Stirling is more up our alley. Is there an area to recommend, where there's a few quiet streets and DS can move about on his bicycle freely at the age of 8/9?

Thanks for the explanation, Lidlfix. If I understood you correctly there is no grade so there is no quick way of knowing whether a local school is good or not. How do I find out which schools are very good?

TBH, BofA is more or less a suburb of Stirling these days. It has a lovely high street. Or you'll get something nice in the Kings Park area of Stirling.

Thanks ProseccoThyme! So long amenities are within easy reach and it won't feel isolated then BofA sounds really lovely indeed :)

Bridge of Allan (and its high street ) always looks lovely when we drive through it and it's close to Stirling Uni

You drive through pb? how can you do that and still be eating your Fish Supper and ice-cream? :o

I wrote a big reply OP about carious areas in Stirling but it disappeared before I posted it :(

Essentially you have a large budget for the area and even half that would get you something nice and you wont end up anywhere dodgy.

If you spot any properties, message me and I've give you a run down :) There are lots of newer estates in the suburbs which would give you the flat quiet streets for cycling around and popping in to see friends and walking to school. You'd get something very nice for around £300k. Stirling itself is quite small, you could drive from BofA to the other side of Stirling in about 10-15 minutes most of the time.

Yes I have attached a screenshot from an HMIE report for Cambusbarron Primary ( a nice village which due to new build estates is now connected to Stirling) so you can see what they are inspected on and why it's not like Ofsted with an "outstanding" rating.

You can access HMIE reports online for all Scottish schools. Just need to plough your way through them.

You can also placement request if you prefer a school that isn't your catchment area one. If the school isn't full you have a pretty good chance.

I used to be driving through either to go to the business school at Stirling Uni for work courses or to the Uni for cycling events - or the other side of the Uni for the cycling hill climb "Up the Kirk" (ds got his 1st ever podium place for his age group there ) Have never actually stopped!

The wallace monument climb?

The boys were in Wallace warriors briefly but they are essentially lazy shites! :o

I'd pick BofA over Stirling too, the centre of Stirling is not what it was, and the High Street in BofA is very nice, there is not an equivalent in Stirling. Bridge of Allan also has Stirling Uni with all its Sport and leisure facilities in a beautiful setting. a child in Bridge of Allan could walk or cycle to the cinema or swimming pool safely, this would be much trickier in Stirling where they've been moved to the edge of town. I think it's fair to think of it like a suburb of Stirling. I was working there today, always happy to have an excuse to go to The Alan Water café!

We used to regularly jump on the train to Dunblane and walk back to BofA on the darn walk and get a chippy. The scouts do it regularly and call it the chip shop hike.

Despite my DC being lazy - the amount of sports and activities available is amazing - we have tried most of the following:

Football - lots of clubs
Rugby
Judo
Karate (loads of martial arts available)
Swimming - we have access to 2 pools plus most high schools have one or access to one.
Life Guards
Cycling
Triathalon
Water Polo
Curling
Skating
Basketball
Golf
Art
Pottery
Scouts
Rowing
Canoeing/Kayaking
Bowling (10 pin and green)
Orienteering
Tennis
Athletics
Archery
Darts
Drama
Music (Folk and rock)
Plus there is the Peak and Uni which run loads of stuff - climbing wall, badminton etc
Squash and Tennis club in BofA
Air Cadets
Army Cadets
Dance
Fishing
Gaming (board type)
Book club
Probably loads that I can't remember!

And then you have the hills for walking/hiking/mountain bilking on your doorstep.

Gluten Free Monday wiggly!

We like the pool and cinema at the Uni - cheaper and handier.

There is talk of moving BofA train station further to the south of the village (closer to Stirling)

No, it's not up to the Wallace monument. I can only describe where it is: you can park on the far side of the Uni and then walk through and down to the start (past some halls of residence?). If you're driving, then it's the junction past the Uni (if driving towards Stirling) and then past the Uni on the left - but the road would be shut for the hill climb (which goes past not surprisingly, given its name ). It's apparently a really nasty, twisty hill climb. Not sure if it's been held recently though.

Wallace Warriors is a really good cycle club. Still friends with some of the parents

They used to do a hill climb up to the base of the monument I think. It's in roughly the same place so maybe I just know it as something different - we weren't involved that much tbh. Another thing DS was desperate to go to that fizzled out when he realised that you have to make an effort.... :o

That's incredible! Looks like BofA has indeed a lot to offer. I guess I need to visit both Glasgow and BofA to be able to tell major differences.

Those things listed are across the area and can be accessed from Stirling , dunblane or BOFA or surrounding areas.