Scotland from Devon

[Madmummyx5]

Hi everyone
Partner has been offered a promotion and will be based in Rosyth.

The kids and I are really excited about it but having absolutely no idea about Scotland I need some advice.

Question 1
Partner would ideally like to be within 30/45 mins travel time to work and I’d like a village/nice community. Could you give me some starting areas. He likes the look of Kinross but that’s as far as locations we have.

Question 2
Are there any areas we should avoid? I’d like the kids to be outside as much as possible like they are here, we both drive but would like to be able to walk with the pushchair as much as possible.

Question 3
Do we ALL have to be living in the catchment area of the school or if my partner is up there first can he apply for the schools before the kids move up?

Question 4
My Daughter is currently in year 9 and has chosen her GCSE options are they the same and will they transfer with her?

Question 5
I sort of understand the secondary school part and understand that it’s based on month of birthday (April ) so would she be a S3?

Thanks in advance

I'm not from the area and I'm just finishing my lunch break, but I can quickly say that (ignoring those who deferred entry) the current s3 will have been born 1 March 2005 and 28th Feb 2006.

Villages in Scotland are not necessarily the same as villages in England. Lots of them aren't quaint/village green type places and also places tend to be smaller e.g. We have cities of 40k people which would be a town in England. I used to have a boss that lived in Kinross but can't really remember much about it. Another boss lived in Dalgety Bay. I like to visit Aberdour and it's lovely but no idea what it's like to live there.

No idea what your budget is but you also look out Dollar way or Culross or also over the bridge towards Edinburgh depending on travel times - he would mostly be going against the flow I think.

I'm in Stirling and know people who commute out that way so you could even look at Bridge of Allan which would be about 40 mins.

I believe you can apply fo schools before you all arrive as long as he has an address in catchment. My DSis and BIL returned to SCotland from Devon about 6 years ago and he was able to apply for their DC - different council to where you'd be looking though so worth checking.

Your daughter will not get exactly the same options and obvs the curriculum will be different. There is no double/triple science for a start. There will be English/Maths and a general range of other options (Science/social science etc) Depending on the school, she will be able to select between 6 and 8 Nat5s, schools will begin these either in S3 or S4 (it's a bit complicated). Once you know where you will be going, you'll need to ask the school directly.

As said above, that would be the relevant birth dates, but there is a degree of flexibility in the Scottish system that would allow her to be placed in the year below which would be less usual but may be considered due to her transferring in and depending on when they've started the Nat5 programme in the chosen school and when you actually move.

Good luck with it all.

As an April born she’d be old for the year anyway, you wouldn’t want to put her in the year below, I wouldn’t have thought.

Y9 would equal S2, not S3

The subjects don't quite map but she should have time to get to grips with the new curriculum before sitting her Nat 5s in S4.

Somewhere along the hillfoots - Blairlogie, Menstrie, Alva, Tillicoultry, Dollar.
Lots of active Guides groups, hills to walk in, horses; Stirling University has sports facilities, theatre, cinema.

By the time she is 16 Glasgow and Edinburgh are an hour away in the train.

Crossford and Cairneyhill are perfectly pleasant and about 10 minutes away from Rosyth! Both lay on the outskirts of Dunfermline.

Aberdour is a nice coastal town too, about 15 minute drive from Rosyth.

Will post links to any nice homes I see! X

Yes, but year 7 is still P7 so year 9 is S2. I didn't put any thought to comparing originally, just giving the dob for the current S3. I'm presuming then that the OPs DD was born in April 2006?

Schooling may influence your decision on where you live. If you are looking at state schools then kinross high has a good name and produces good results. Dollar is a local private school but if you live in Dollar you will be in the Alva catchment which is in Clackmannanshire. Kinross has over the years had many placing requests from outwith the LA but they were not accepted this year so you would need to live in catchment for this school. You can look up inspection reports from HMIE for more information. Kinross has many opportunities for young people - numerous sports facilities and clubs in rugby, hockey, swimming, basketball, netball, badminton, curling etc as well as the usual guides, scouts groups. There are also local dance companies offering lessons. It is not a big town so walking is easy. There is a path around Loch Leven which has been an excellent addition to the town. You can walk or cycle on this and it has a number of different stop off points for food and coffee.
In terms of education, it would be easier for your daughter if she was in to S3 so that she can get to grips with the subjects before embarking on her nat 5s in S4. Some schools cover some of the content in S3 that will be required for the nat5. Schools can offer anywhere between 6-8 nat 5s in s4 so that is something you should enquire about.

You can't draw direct comparisons between years. There's a six month mismatch. What year she goes into will depend on her DOB.

You'd need to speak to the school OP about her subjects. There are some differences, we dint do separate English language and literature, for example. But in a reasonably large school she'd usually be able to get a combination which suits. Suggest you come up here in your half term in October and high isn't the same week as outs, visit and ask.

Milnathort is lovely to live in. We had family there and the teens did well at Kinross High.

Thanks everyone, some great places to look at. Tbh I think when I say village what I really want is somewhere with a nice community and somewhere I can make friends and the kids can have some social life with their friends as well.
Apologies @prettybird I meant S2
Yes daughter is April 2006

We would probably be renting at first when we arrive but looking to buy once settled. Is renting the same as it is in Devon? Sorry if that’s a stupid question

We are looking at coming up soon for a look around and I’m so excited and can’t wait to start.

Coming up for a look around is definitely the way to go.

As far as I know, I think the law changed in Scotland in respect of minimum rentals so it means that short term rentals are much more available. Not sure if that's similar to Devon

I think standard practice is to find a rental (via agent probably), pay deposit, pay rent, give notice when you want to leave and then move out.

Thank you that’s similar down here, I wasn’t sure if we would have to be living in the area before we could rent somewhere.

Sorry 1 more question from what I’ve read are the primary schools connected to the secondary schools, so which ever primary school we choose in the area would get us a place at the secondary school if that makes sense

Madmummy.... so long as the primary school is a feeder school for the local secondary and you live within secondary catchment then you should be fine.

It is worth noting that there are denominational and non denominational schools up here which mean that sometimes the pathway to a local secondary isn't as clear cut.

There are still some places where those at a primary school will automatically go to its associated secondary school (ie even if you were a placing request, you would still go to the primary school's secondary) but they are reducing in number (the expression is "delineated" versus "non-delineated" but I can remember which way round the expression are ).

Most places now require you to be in the catchment for the secondary, so if you did a placing request for primary, you'd need to do another placing request for secondary.

Re-read what you'd written - and I'd given you a complicated answer, assuming you were talking about if you'd made a placing request for the primary but Wax has given you the correct simple answer

Hello, I am very local to where you will be moving to. It’s a great area, lovely towns and villages all around, great access to Glasgow and Edinburgh for entertainment, the East Neuk for lovely beaches and excellent access to public transport and the motorway network,

Having said that, there are a few very local specifics to bear in mind. Feel free to PM me if you like.

Looking at where to live, there are two things you need to be very mindful of.

The first is the commute. The “problem” with commuting Rosyth is that although lots of places look within easy driving distance on paper, you have to get through the traffic for the Queensferry Crossing (either way) - traffic often backs way up the M90 past Rosyth. If there are any incidents, Rosyth can get gridlocked, You also have to consider the weather. There are some bizarre little quirks in certain places - the village of Saline for example gets cut off at the smallest amount of snow and the M90 at Kelty can also get difficult very quickly if there is snow, yet it can be fine and just raining 2 or 3 miles away in either direction. The latter is one to think about if you go for Kinross.

There is a train station at the north end of a Rosyth but that’s no use if you are down at the dockyard end of the town, plus the train service is diabolical at the moment. If your DH cycles, then there’s a great traffic free route along the coast from Kincardine taking in all the villages such as Culross and Limekilns (both nice and along as far as Burntisland in the other direction.

Secondly schools. Your school is determined by your address. You can ask for a placing request to a school that you are not in catchment for but there’s no guarantee you’ll get in. And if you do get in and that primary school feeds to a different high school than the one for your address, you have to do a placing request for the High School, again with no guarantee of getting a place. It’s all about your address.

High Schools in West Fife are at bursting point, not least since one burnt down last month so their pupils are currently camping out in all the others.

Dunfermline High and Queen Anne are relatively new buildings, Inverkeithing is in a terrible state and due a rebuild but Woodmill (the one that burnt down) might now get bumped up the list for a rebuild but will for the next few years probably be a mix of portacabins and the undamaged parts (despite that, it has a superb reputation and I wouldn’t hesitate to send my child there)

Personally, I’d go For Kinross or one of the W Fife coastal villages.

Thank you both my biggest worry was getting into a good secondary school for my oldest and then my others having to go to a different school because the secondary school was full.

I was reading earlier about the new development in Kinross (Persimmons) I think it was.

I'd forgotten about Kinross. I have a couple of friends who live/lived there (old work colleagues) and it's a lovely village with a great community spirit.

Also to reassure you: if you are in catchment and the unlikely event that the secondary school reaches capacity so that they need to adjust the catchment area, then it is even more unlikely that they will do it without a long period of notice and a formal consultation process. It's not like England where catchments vary on a year by year basis according to demand. Catchments are fixed and it requires a formal consultation to change them.

So many lovely places around here! If he’s based in Rosyth then I’d not want to go out as far as Dollar or anything. Culross is beautiful but a tiny village and I’d say not great for kids as there’s not many and it’s public transport into Dunfermline (local town) is a bit rubbish which might but be great for teens. Comrie is lovely as are Crombie, Cairneyhill and Crossford and all near Rosyth. Dalgety Bay is beautiful as well. I live in a village nearby that doesn’t have as great a reputation but it’s honestly such a lovely place. Such good community spirit. If I didn’t have kids I’d choose to live in Culross hands down it’s one of my favourite places ever. I love my village but if I was to pick another without anything being an issue (money, family etc) I’d choose Dalgety Bay. As far as schools go I think Queen Anne in Dunfermline has the best ratings but where you live will determine which primary school and then high school your kids attend.

Question 6. What clothing do we needs
Lots of thick and waterproof clothes as it is wet and cold compared to Devon

Everyone I know in Aberdour love it so much. Beach every night in summer. Some of them work in rosyth, others commute by train to Edinburgh. If you want/need to work op then being in a train line in fife is ideal.

Limekilns is lovely

Agree Kinross is nice & has good schools.

Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Limekilns & Culross are nice, but as others have said there are issues with high schools.

I would also consider South Queensferry- if you are going against the traffic in rush hour it's not a bad commute - about 5-10 mins. Same with Kirkliston, Dalmeny, Winchburgh.

Or West Edinburgh- the Royal High catchment (Cramond, Blackhall etc) are only 20 mins to Rosyth but more suburban than villagey.