Moving within Edinburgh (or just outside) for secondary school

[TheMShip]

By way of introduction, DH and I are not British by birth, we moved to the UK as adults and are naturalized citizens. Our oldest is in primary school, but I'll be the first to say I have not a clue what to look for in a Scottish secondary school, except that our catchment one (Craigroyston) is not right. With youngest starting primary next year we're thinking about taking the next step to a bigger house, with a proper WFH space, so probably a 4 bed.

With at least 50% WFH likely to continue long term for our particular jobs, we don't mind being farther from our workplaces, which are relatively central. I don't think we can afford the size of house we want in either Gillespie's or Boroughmuir catchments. Budget is £420K tops, £400 comfortably. The Royal High is a definite possibility, but also ok to look farther afield.

What school catchments would be a good bet? Oldest child is high functioning autistic, very bright, has not needed any support for mainstream but we foresee issues in teenage years, so I'd be particularly interested in hearing about anyone with a similar child and what their school has been like.

Have a look at Balerno or Currie. They should be affordable though I did a very quick look on Rightmove and the 4 beds, up to £425k are all either sold or under offer.

I think it'll be a competitive house market but both schools (used to be anyway) have good reputations. I don't have personal experience of either unless you count the one term of teaching experience I got at Currie in the 1980s!!

Balerno, Currie, Buckstone. I googled the Scottish state schools performance table recently and was surprised at the variation. The good are very high. The less good are very low.

Variation in performance of Edinburgh secondaries that is.

Buckstone is probably the best bet for a reasonably sized house in catchment for Boroughmuir, it's a lot less than the more central areas like Bruntsfield or Morningside. For example:
espc.com/property/14-buckstone-dell-edinburgh-eh10-6pg/35865269?sid=205541

In your situation, I'd go for Royal High or Craigmount catchments, possibly Broughton high.

You'll get more for your money in as you go further out - for 3 bedrooms that will be fine but I think you'd struggle for 4.

From experience as a parent of a child with an ASD and from being in a few different schools in different LAs including Edinburgh - a better performing school doesn’t mean they’re particularly good at supporting pupils with ASNs... in fact, it’s often the opposite tbh.

I’d second Buckstone for the Boroughmuir catchment. Buckstone primary is great. This looks nice and is 4 beds in your budget.
espc.com/property/11-buckstone-crook-edinburgh-eh10-6xr/35866116?sid=713517

@tabulahrasa

From experience as a parent of a child with an ASD and from being in a few different schools in different LAs including Edinburgh - a better performing school doesn’t mean they’re particularly good at supporting pupils with ASNs... in fact, it’s often the opposite tbh.

Yes, we are keeping this in mind. Our current primary has been excellent in many ways, but it hasn't stopped DS being bullied by a group of children who are clearly from some pretty unhappy homes. I'm quite honest that one of our goals in moving is a less problematic peer group. Our neighbourhood is full of litter, kids as young as 7 or 8 (I know because they're DS's class!) out swearing and throwing rocks at houses past 10pm at night. We're in the part of town that's had all the problems with motorcycle theft and I've called the police a few times to report stolen motorcycles on the bike paths or being ridden dangerously. DH is frankly sick of it.

Balerno/Currie look promising, though I still like Silverknowes/Davidson's Mains. DH is keen to have somewhere walkable with a pub/cafe/shop or two within easy reach. Buckstone is attractive, we hadn't considered that at all, thank you for the recommendation. We really do need an office space, so either a 4th bedroom or a separate dining room, and I'd very much prefer the former so we could install a wall bed - both sets of our parents are overseas and as they get older we want them to be able to stay with us on visits.

Corstorphine for Craigmount or Barnton/Silverknowes for Royal High? Both decent schools and probably not too far from where you are just now. A few decent pubs and cafes in Corstorphine. Not so much the other two areas.