Mary Erskine or George Heriot's

[Shveta]

Hi all! We are moving to Edinburgh in 1 month and looking for a place for our 3.5 year old daughter. While ME can offer us a place in Nursery in August, GH's is fully booked and can have a place only in P1. Is it something to worry about? Has anyone experience of these two schools? We are looking for an academic school.

I also wanted to add that my daughter is mixed, and English is her third language. I would appreciate any suggestions on the schools in Edinburgh.

Both are academic schools.

They have quite different set ups; ME has the diamond formation (single sex for most of high school) whilst GH is co-ed throughout. ME is more of a big onsite campus whereas GH has much of the playing fields offsite. Location? Where do you want to live - although they're not far away on paper going south to north (or vica versa) in Edinburgh traffic can be a challenge.

Others to consider? Pretty much any of them tbh. My DD is at St George's (all girls) and has settled very well, it's smaller than GH and ME and has lots of facilities and small classes and a lovely nursery. I have friends with kids at Edinburgh Academy who are very happy overall. I also have heard some negative recent experiences of GH. If you prefer south/west then George Watson's worth a look

I often think I should be on the payroll of Cargilfield Prep School as I recommend them so often on here. Absolutely wonderful school. Very Academic (scholarships achieved regularly to Eton, Winchester, Harrow, Wycombe Abbey, Glenalmond, Fettes etc) but small and nurturing. More expensive than the Edinburgh day schools but really worth the money

The local primary?

Where do you want to live?

Being within easy reach of school will make your life much easier (although the ESMS do have a bus thing). Leafy suburbia vs a hike over the meadows?

Also how long is this for? I've got friends relocating from out of town as they are sick to death of driving their kids in to one of these schools. They are downsizing to put their late primary children within walking distance of school.

I don't think trilinguality or being mixed race will be an issue at either school.

Thank you all for your advice. We have decided to go ahead with ME. There are no available places at GH and St George's, they might have next year, but I guess we will just stay at ME for convenience.

Cargilfield looks great, but it too far from city centre. And I heard the traffic is a nightmare.

You could live near Cargilfield!! It’s nice and leafy and was an amazing place to be stuck during lockdown.

Have heard 2nd hand of racial bullying a few years ago at ME but I really can't comment further. Should be better now as apparently they worked to address the concerns, but I don't know if this was an isolated incident that the school stamped out or a real problem. Would keep an eye out.

I am former pupil of ME and loved my time there. My nieces are current pupils and doing very well. I felt I received a good all round education and my brother and sister-in-law feel their girls are receiving the same.

My dd was at MES and it was a good fit for her. We also looked at GWC (My school), GH (My mum taught there) and St G. To be honest academically there is not much to choose between them, but there are differences, single sex, co-ed, larger school, games on site, games off site. Edinburgh can be a nightmare to cross during rush hour so ideally you need to be as close as possible to your chosen school, although some have coach services but that can make it a very long day.

How did your daughter settle at ME? I had very bad experience there growing up abs moved to George heriots which was the best thing I could’ve done. Hopefully worked out well for your family. I think I just had a very bad bully nature year unfortunately :(

We settled at ME alright, but I hated it. The nursery was very disappointing (we were in Bluebell room, maybe other rooms are better?). Bullying, disruptive boy and teachers doing nothing to manage him, indifferent teachers, lying to us when our daughter had an accident - i can go forever. We spent there one term and moved to St G, which we loved!

I can give you a good and a bad experience for every school mentioned here.

Different schools suit different families, and every school will get it wrong now and again.

It’s like buying a house. You have to visit and you’ll get the “feeling”

Urgh. Just noticed this was a zombie thread.

sorry to hear about your experience. Hope everyone is happier now