Cargilfield or ESMS

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Hi all,
I'm hoping to gain some clarity...
My son has been accepted to start P1 at both Cargilfield and ESMS and I need to respond to them ASAP. I really liked both schools, but I think the smaller, more individual nature of Cargilfield might suit him a bit better at this young age.

That being said, I'm slightly concerned that due to Cargilfield's higher fees and feeding into the traditional boarding schools, that it tends to attract quite a homogenous clique?
I am a lone parent, without support in Edinburgh, working in the civil service and am only considering independent school due to generous family support. I would hate for my son to feel left out or different for not fitting a particular mould.
Does anyone have any experience with these two schools that they could share?
Thanks in advance.

Another question, sorry! I noticed that Cargilfield doesn't follow the same term dates as other Edinburgh schools, which means they wont coincide with holiday camp providers' dates...is there any holiday provision to help?

Are you set on one or the other? Edinburgh Academy is smaller than ESMS and has term dates that coincide with the other Edinburgh day schools so there’s always holiday care available.

Cargilfield is a feeder to boarding schools. Good reputation but definitely more a boarding type of parent. It has long holidays too.

Incredibly different vibes to these schools and intake will also be completely different. My experience is more of the senior schools but ESMS much more mixed - middle class/upper middle class but also some generous bursaries so several from lower income backgrounds - and I wouldn’t say anyone cares especially which category you fall in to! Absolutely all ex-Cargilfield pupils I know are from the MUCH more

Sorry - pressed post too soon - the MUCH more wealthy end of things - think estate-owning, children of the notable and eminent, etc etc... all very nice people and I’m sure your son would be accepted just fine, but certainly he may feel more aware of differing social classes here.

These schools are so different. In my experience a school will feel right for your child. For us it was ESMS. It has the advantage of being a through school and you wont have to look for another school unless you move. Cargilfield only goes up to 13. We were a bursary family and no-one knew because approx 10% receive one. My dc never felt different. While ESMS is bigger it is still very nurturing and I cannot praise them highly enough.

Both my DCs attended Cargilfield. We are certainly not in the landed gentry category though! The school is fabulous, the teaching is 2nd to none. We loved it! It is very nurturing and very inclusive. I didn’t find it a clique however lots of the parents did know each other through being old boys or from Uni etc. We knew nobody to begin with but we were made to feel very welcome. They used to have tea after Chapel a couple of mornings during the week for parents to meet up and there were quite a few other socials.
FWIW, The thing is, you can’t really compare Cargilfield with ESMS as they are 2 completely different experiences. We chose Cargilfield as we felt that if we chose an all through day school our child would be there for the full duration of their schooling and I personally didn’t find that appealing. I wanted to be able to see how my child developed and choose a senior school based on the character they had become. Rightly or wrongly, I think a child can get pigeon holed and it can be difficult to break out from that so they are seen as the sporty one, the shy one, the class joker but by moving onto another senior school they get an opportunity to reinvent themselves which I think is quite healthy. Obviously, you could still do that at ESMS but they aren’t preparing your child for it.

The school also follows the Common Entrance syllabus not the Scottish Curriculum so again not really comparable. They follow the English school holidays too - this is because many of their former pupils will be at Boarding School all over the UK so it helps the parents who have kids at both prep school and senior schools to have co-ordinated holidays.

Thank you all so much for your input.

@Notsureabouthis I hadn't considered Edinburgh Academy before (we're new to Edinburgh), but perhaps should look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

@guessmyusername I really liked ESMS and did feel that it attracted a wider range of family backgrounds, but after seeing Cargilfield I felt that the smaller more personal nature would suit my elder son (sensitive and needing of some support) better, but it's great to know that you've found ESMS to be very nurturing too.

@motherstongue thank you for your input, do you mind me asking if your DCs went on to English system or Scottish system secondary schools? I know most from Cargilfield attend bording schools, but I'm wondering if children are also well supported to join secondary schools such as Stewart's Melville/George Watsons etc. as well as the likes of Fettes/Merchiston etc?

Thank you all again

I highly recommend you have a look at Edinburgh Academy. In my view it combines the day school element with a small school /class size ethos. 😊

My DS went down south whilst my DD stayed in Scotland. Both chose, in the end, to board but it hadn’t been our intention when we began at Cargilfield. Both of my children chose the senior school they wished to attend.

It would be disingenuous of me to say many of the Cargilfield pupils go onto Edinburgh day schools because that wasn’t my experience. The fact Cargilfield is a prep school and not a primary school means that the children are there until aged 13 as most of the main Public schools start at age 13 whilst the Edinburgh day schools for senior years start at aged 12. This means you need to look at changing school a year earlier than most of their peers to get a place at the day schools as they don’t tend to do an intake at aged 13. Not a problem though if they are heading to Merchiston, Fettes or Loretto as a day pupil. Of the children that I knew that went onto Heriots etc they all did exceptionally well in the exams and the ones I was aware of all received scholarships so yes very well supported.
I cannot, however, stress just how fabulous a school Cargilfield is ( I could get all evangelical lol) and it does feel completely different to a day school. It has such a warmth and enveloping vibe that we really wanted to replicate that feel at senior school. It was a big ask.

@motherstongue

Can I ask what impact doing Common Entrance had on their final year? I spoke to a parent at another prep school who wished she’d known about the amount of focus there would be on preparing for that exam. Given they were sending their child to a school that didn’t require it she said she felt it had an unnecessarily negative impact on his final year.

I can’t really comment on that as both my DC were in the Scholars class so they didn’t sit Common Entrance.

I would have thought you would move your child at the end of year 7 if they were going to a normal day school (ESMS, Heriots, Edinburgh Academy, Watsons, St.George’s) as there isn’t an intake at age 13, as I said before, so you would be trying to get a random place if you waited until the end of year 8. However, preparation for Scholarships and Common Entrance both start from the end of year 6. This is because any child sitting scholarships usually have them around February or March of year 8 so they really need to be through the syllabus by the end of Michaelmas term.
I really have no idea what is covered in Common Entrance as the Scholars cover completely different work tailored to the individual school’s scholarship they are working towards but the headmaster, Rob Taylor, is the nicest man and he would walk/talk you through any questions you have because, as I said previously, there were children who left to go to the day schools (normally at the end of year 7) when my DCs were pupils. What I would say is that the education your child gets at Cargilfield is incredibly well rounded with dedicated teachers for all subjects from year 4. The facilities for music, art and sport are fabulous. The opportunity to try different clubs and activities is fantastic too. There are down sides though. The days from Form 4 are long. Starting at 8.30 and finishing at 6.00 pm. Clubs afterwards until 8.00 pm if a child wants to (and many many do) so you need to be that kind of invested parent I think.

I think it depends on your luck for any school .

I.e a new headmaster come in .One is retiring .
One is leaving as found new job .
A new head who wants to impress everyone and won’t want to hear different voices .
Or want to achieve beautiful records to impress / get promotion — to hide all the slow kids .

Which school did you choose? From my experience they are so different. Cargilfield is a small nurturing school with a family feel. Children from all over and bursaries offered so not all rich!! They don’t have homework and do sport every day. Lots go to big private schools but lots also go to Edinburgh schools but by going to Cargilfield they get the chance to be at the top of a small school for a bit which is amazing for their confidence and gives them a chance to have authoritative responsibilities.
ESMS is also a great school but is much larger and classes are bigger but year groups are huge so children can get lost of joy particularly sporty, musical, theatrical, bright. Lots of opportunities at both.
Go look at both and follow your heart