Moving to Glasgow from NZ with 16yo

[Tinofcurses]

I posted something similar in Education, but someone suggested I might get more info here.

I have tons of questions...

We're planning on moving to Glasgow from NZ at the end of 2020. ds will be 16.5 by then. He will have completed year 11 in early Dec 2020, with 2 more years of school to go if we stayed here. I'm thinking he should probably go into S4 in January, and then carry on from there.

Does that sound right/possible? Will he be super old compared to the rest of his year? If so, does it matter? How does the secondary school system work anyway? I went to school in England about 500 years ago, and ds has only been in the NZ system so far, so I'm clueless.

Also, any thoughts about which parts of Glasgow to look at? We're looking for an inclusive, mixed, non-catholic school, and plenty of shops, cafes and places to walk a dog. Ideally fairly central, or at least with great public transport (no car).

We'll be renting initially, and then wanting to buy a 2 bed flat or house with a budget of around 200-220,000 (is this realistic? I have no idea).

Actually, another property related thing...Do flats for sale in Scotland have rules about pets? I know it can be difficult to find a place to rent with a dog, but is it generally ok if you buy? We will be bringing our dog, but she will stay with my parents at first if we can't find a rental property with her.

Sorry, I did warn you I have tons of questions!

"If he goes into S4 in Jan 2021, will he have much catching up to do? Will he have missed exams and assessments?"

My daughter (15) is in S4 and her first prelim is a few days after the Christmas holidays, Your son would start at the new school when everyone in his year is busy with prelims.

Here are some typical flats in streets that I know/think are fine in Shawlands. There is also a house at the moment in Newlands (close by) and a couple of examples of Clarkston, just to give you an idea of the typical styles and prices. On app so hope these work!

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/72416329

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/65853708

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/86982128

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/66576747

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/85663142

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/75456286

I'll read whole thread in a bit but don't you have family in Glasgow? Can they not help and advise??

Anyway, I'd suggest Hyndland. Jordanhill is great but very pricy.

Bearsden or Milngavie, also.

Or how about getting bang for your buck and moving 20 odd miles out to Helensburgh area. Beautiful scenery which might help any NZ homesickness! Good local school.

This would divest are my 16yo, can you not stay where you are for a couple of years?

Devestate my 16yo

This thread is ridiculous!
We don’t even do A levels.
Glasgow is fine. It has its dodgy areas like everywhere else.
You’ll get a house/flat for your budget.
But...does it need to be in Glasgow itself?
How about areas like Ayrshire? Or East Kilbride?

Yes, I know you don't do A levels in Scotland. It was the middle of the night and I was tired and forgot to type Highers instead. Happy now?

Brilliant move - Glasgow is full of opportunities for young people...! Music scene is brilliant, beautiful scenery on your doorstep, by 16 some kids start leaving school for apprenticeships or jobs or college/uni so you are usually left with the most academics groups, very interesting time politically which will be very educational for your son. Glasgow is hosting COP26 next year. There are very niche high tech industries - satellites etc and plenty of jobs. Go for it!

Welcome to Scotsnet

I'm glad to see that others have already recommended Shawlands. I can't speak highly enough of the school - fantastic school for all kids, from the clever ones to those that need extra support. And just as important, they have a holistic approach - they don't just concentrate on exam results, they also encourage sporting and artistic/musical achievements, as well as the full range of Duke of Edinburgh awards for anyone who wants to do it.

I'm going to presume that your ds plays rugby as he is in NZ (but don't know if he enjoys it ) but you might be interested to know that Shawlands Academy is a "School of Rugby" - although I'm not sure that there is a U18 team (so unless your ds' 16th birthday is after 1 September 2020), mostly because the young people are concentrating on exams. There is however a good local rugby club called Cartha Queens Park which has a thriving youth section and which has good links with the school.

As others have said, Shawlands is skilled at dealing with kids coming from all over the world, so would cope with your ds. In a similar situation, when I knew someone who might be coming from India after their dad had sat their exams (they didn't move in the end), they'd said that while the kids are away sitting their exams/on study leave, they'd be able to use the time to catch up on the curriculum. FWIW: Shawlands sits its Prelims before Christmas, so your ds wouldn't be affected by his new school friends being off sitting their Prelims.

Ds went to Shawlands and both he and his friends thrived. He's now in his 2nd year at Aberdeen Uni doing Politics & International Relations - but he has friends doing Engineering at Strathclyde. (He's also now playing Senior rugby at Aberdeen Grammar or he would be if he wasn't out for 8 weeks with a mallet finger in his pinky )

Shawlands is a brilliant neighbourhood (we're actually in Pollokshields, which neighbours it and although part of it is in the catchment for Shawlands, ds was actually a placing request as he should have gone to Bellahouston): lots of lovely areas, parks (good for dog walking ), easy access to the city centre - and plenty of coffee shops It's also better value than the West End/the catchment for Hyndland (which is also a good school). For your budget, you should be able to find a 2 bed tenement flat. Pets are no problem - we had 2 cats when we lived in a tenement (2nd floor) in Shawlands and other flat owners had dogs.

Hi OP - ignore the bonkers responses which likely come from English people who think Glasgow is basically ‘Trainspotting’

You’re fine to have a dog in a tenement flat, 220k is a decent budget and the move will go fine!
Good luck!

You would be able to get a pretty decent flat in the south side of Glasgow for that budget. As someone said, you might want to consider East Kilbride - great sports facilities and easy commute into Glasgow. Renfrewshire is also good but pricier.

I moved in fourth year from a large city comprehensive to a remote Scottish island (had to board at school during the week). I found it difficult at first but absolutely grew to love it. The family moved again several years later but I'll always think of the island as my home.

The replies on here are hilarious! Drugs problems, school problems 🙄

Glasgow is a city like any other in the UK. Affluent areas, less desirable areas, favoured schools, less rated schools ...

Your son would be up to 18 months older than other kids if he joined S4 and the education department may not go for that so if contact Glasgow City Council first time enquire the school year and take your search from there. Good luck!

Just had a thought: if he goes into S4 and then does a "gap" year, he'd then have the 3 years residency for Uni and wouldn't be classed as international

He'd be slightly older than most of the other 1st years at Uni (although students from England are 19 when they start).

"Yes, I know you don't do A levels in Scotland. It was the middle of the night and I was tired and forgot to type Highers instead. Happy now?"

We also don't have GCSEs, and there is no such thing as 6th Form!

Another vote for Shawlands Academy. I grew up in Edinburgh and Glasgow but live abroad now. We thought about moving back a couple of years ago and we narrowed our search down to Shawlands. I have family in various parts of Glasgow and Edinburgh and miss both cities enormously.
Glasgow has rough areas and they are pretty rough but you have a decent budget certainly if you look in the South Side of Glasgow.

IMO Edinburgh is very overpriced.

We didn't end up moving back mainly because our children are schooled in a different language to English and we thought it would be too hard for them. If they had been schooled in English we would have done it.

Glasgow is a fab vibrant city with great further education opportunities. If your son is doing well at school, makes friends easily and is up for the move he will be fine.

Good luck 😊

If you can get him in to S4, then yes he will be a bit older... but putting him into S5 he’d have missed half an exam course that he needs, going into S4 he’s basically got half a year to play with and settle in as he’ll have equivalent qualifications already due to the mismatch in when the school year ends.

I think you’d need to check you can definitely do that though. (I mean I suspect you should be able to, but you’d want to make sure)

I’m not 100% sure, because I’m not as up on Glasgow but I think you’ll get a better house/area in Glasgow for your money than in Edinburgh btw and there are some very rough areas in Edinburgh...

Ermmm, yeah vet although Trainspotting is set in Edinburgh...

Glasgow is a fantastic city, you’ll be absolutely fine here.

The west end and southside are both good places to live and totally affordable

Ignore the crazed doommongers.

Here are some nice flats in budget and Shawlands catchment:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66707064.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65552736.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73898359.html

@Piggywaspushed but mostly filmed in Glasgow, and where it’s set is actually irrelevant to my point - which is that the doom mongering previous postered talking suggesting that Glasgow is a hotbed of drugs and crime and that the OPs budget is too small and you definitely can’t have a dog in a flat, is a load of crap, and the chances are that posters making those comments are likely not particularly familiar with the city.

What was your point?

@Tinofcurses I would really think about putting off any thought of returning until after university is done. It is so disruptive moving them at that age especially from NZ to UK as apart from the academic issues, there is a good chance he is not going to be as happy as being in NZ (have experience)

From what I know of Glasgow, that and their weather won't help either

My point was that most people think Edinburgh is some twee paradise and Glasgow is a dystopic Trainspotting vision whereas Welsh's dystopia is actually Edinburgh. I was actually making the same point as you!

I was being pedantic.

The school scenes were indeed Glasgow : that's my DSis's school uniform!

Just to prove my point about Helensburgh : here at large flats and whole houses you can get for under 250k!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E621&insId=1&radius=0.0&minPrice=&maxPrice=250000&minBedrooms=&maxBedrooms=&displayPropertyType=&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false

Sorry about enormous link!

Weather in Wellington and Glasgow is not that different - in fact Wellington is windier And both have maritime climates which means rain - as opposed to the dry east/South coast of England.

In fact, when we lived in New Plymouth, we were often colder than we were in Glasgow as we didn't have central heating as a matter of course and when the wind came off the (snow covered) mountain it was bloody cold

Piggy, I'd say the local school there failed my Dd enormously, however her bf and many friends did well, though I know of others who were quietly pushed out, mainly due to SEN, autism in particular.
I luckily managed to get Dd into Hyndland from here though so all turned out well, though we had a very specific set of circumstances, it's just not possible ordinarily.