Edinburgh Hopefuls: Primary school advice, please!

[NeedCrisps]

Hi all, we found a buyer for our house in England after our previous buyer pulled out at the last minute, so we’re in house hunting mode again. We are planning a visit to Edinburgh in the near future to have a good look around without tourist goggles on.

My son is 5, he’s a bright and happy child but seems to struggle a little when it comes to engaging with other children. We are looking for a primary school (State) which is gentle and nurturing rather than one which focuses on academic excellence. We are hoping to find a school which has a strong focus on inclusiveness and pastoral care.

Where we will buy will very much depend on the school (budget of £550-650K). Which primary schools would you consider to be most suitable, please? It would be great if it wasn’t too far out but it’s not a dealbreaker.

Are you set on Edinburgh itself or looking to commute to Edinburgh? Will it be a long term stay, if you are going to be there when your DC is in secondary school then I’d focus on the secondary school choice and work from there.

The advice we were given regarding schools when we moved to Edinburgh was to look at the secondary we wanted to get into and work from there. The suggestions were either Boroughmuir or Gillespie's. For a primary you could think about school size maybe? Some are very big. There is also the Roman Catholic schools which have their own network if that's something you'd be interested in.

With the budget you have you can live in either catchment unless you want a detached house.

I’d agree about secondary. You don’t want to have to move again.

@celtiethree I think we’re set on Edinburgh (my SIL lives there too). I’m a psychologist and would be working from home so there wouldn’t be a commute.

@celtiethree, @Callisto1 and @GreyishDays, thanks for the suggestions; we will start looking at secondary schools. Please hit me with recommendations if you have any. I’ll look into Boroughmuir and Gillespie's, thanks @Callisto1!

About a quarter of children in Edinburgh are in private school, is it definitely state you want?

There are no official "league" tables, tables are produced by media and Edinburgh schools suffer in terms of these tables because a lot of DC who would achieve well (supportive, educated parents blah blah) are not in the state system.

And as we all know, academic success is not the only measure - however it can be a good indicator of those schools less likely to suffer from issues such as classroom disruption.

Scuse the link to the sun, but at the bottom there is a link to all secondaries in Scotland ranked by passes at Higher grade. It doesn't say which council unfortunately, but as well as aforementioned Boroughmuir and Gillespies, Firrhill and the Royal High are also well rated.

The schools being suggested are on the basis of exam passes, which doesn't seem to be your top criteria.

@Slightlybrwnbanana

The schools being suggested are on the basis of exam passes, which doesn't seem to be your top criteria.

Agreed but is also why i said:

"And as we all know, academic success is not the only measure - however it can be a good indicator of those schools less likely to suffer from issues such as classroom disruption."

True, though that doesn't mean there isn't bullying etc (done quietly!) There really isn't an indicator of a school with a positive ethos - inspection reports might give you a feel. Though I think it's hard at 5 to know what would be a good fit at 12. Also important to pick an area of the city you like and are happy to live in!

Leith Academy has an excellent pastoral support system I think, plus I think it offers music, drama and other non-academic subjects

You need to arrow it down a bit - it’s a decent size city!
Do you want space (big garden etc) or to be more “city”? Do you want to be near the sea (North edinburgh) or the hills (South edinburgh)?
Do you need access to the motorway? Or train stations? (Post-covid)

Again true. And life plans can change a lot. We moved to somewhere where we thought would be a good place for kids, great primary, decent secondary. then we had our DC, and then we ended up moving to another area of the country, we moved another twice before they started primary! So DC never got to go to the primary we intended, never mind the secondary

A very large number of secondary age children go to private schools in Edinburgh, which tends to cream off many of the more able kids . Have you definitely ruled out private education?
The Royal High is in a nice area and has a generally good reputation. I have heard bad things about Boroughmuir first hand from parents. I agree that looking at Secondary first and then deciding on feeder schools is a good policy. For the RH it is Cramond primary or Davidson’s Mains primary. Flora’s in Stockbridge is very good and the Secondary is Broughton.

I'd really recommend Tollcross Primary for pastoral support and inclusiveness. It feeds to Gillespie's, but you stand a decent chance of getting into Tollcross from out of catchment.

You could think about the feeder primaries for Broughton high school, The Royal high school or Craigmount high - the latter 2 being very suburban - but you'd get something nice here for your money.

Download the ESPC app & you can search by school catchment - that will give you an idea of what you can get for your money - but remember to add in extra 10-20% for the "offers over" system here.

Oh my gosh, I didn't realise so many of you had responded, I only just saw your messages; thank you!

We just had a meeting with my son's teacher yesterday and she believes it is very likely that he is on the spectrum. I'm still trying to process this because we didn't think it was anything more than weak social skills. So finding the right school has become even more important. We can't really afford private schooling at this point, though hopefully that may change by the time my son reaches secondary school age.

In terms of what we are looking for re housing, we'd need a garden (or a park v close by) and parking. We'd prefer not to live too far out/the depths of suburbia but we could make it work if we absolutely had to. Ideally no further than a 30-min walk to the station. We like south/west Edinburgh but aren't very familiar with the rest of the city.

Tollcross Primary has come up a lot during my incessant googling. Do you have any thoughts on Preston Street Primary and Royal Mile, please?

Which station? You've said not suburbia, so presumably you're thinking Waverley or Haymarket. 30 mins walk of either with parking and garden is so restrictive you'd be best to start with that criteria and go from there. If you walk briskly you might get to Waverley in 30 mins brisk walks from Newington, which would Preston Street in play.

I think you'd have more choice of housing if you went for 30 mins of Haymarket, which would put Tollcross in play.

Both of those would line you up for Gillespie's.

Parking and garden is going to be challenging within 30 mins of station, but not impossible.

Catchment maps here:

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12844/primary-school-catchment-maps

We found this useful when we moved here, but it’s a bit old now. I don’t think anything major has changed though.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/local/2348738-Edinburgh-secondary-schools-some-alternative-ratings

Bruntsfield?

The problem with Edinburgh is that you are unlikely to get a garden/private parking at that price within 30 mins walk to the centre.

Yes, perhaps further out. You might get 1 or 2 of these criteria but not 3.

There are other stations though? And lots of places with bus links to the main stations (particularly if you can get an airport or express bus)
I think you definitely need to visit.

There are other stations but op said she didn't want to be too suburban.

What about something like this OP?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81882751.html

Catchment is Roseburn Primary and Craigmount High but also really handy for many private schools.

Murrayfield area does have a lot of older houses that have been split up and still retain a garden and are walkable into the city, plus might have easy access to the tram. This one says they have permission for a driveway too.

Or this which is cheaper but you'd need to get a parking permit. Maybe you'd save enough in the price to be able to afford private if you wanted?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72846675.html

Same catchment schools or Catholic option is St Marys for primary and St Thomas Aquin's for High SChool

This will give you an idea of school projections. You can apply to any school you want if you don't want your catchment but acceptance is obviously not guaranteed and applying to a school that looks like it's already likely to be oversubscribed from within it's catchment might be a waste of time.

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/school-places/school-roll-projections/1

When you say parking do you mean your own driveway? Or would you be happy with on street residents permit parking? Would a shared garden be ok?

A lot of the more central housing would be in tenement flats where you have access to a shared garden. The bottom flat sometimes has a small private bit of garden and usually it's own front door. But they are obviously more expensive. The shared gardens vary hugely. Some we've seen in Bruntsfield are amazing, but others were overgrown with rubbish so you would have to check.

From a conversation awhile ago I was told that a lot of staff from Edinburgh Uni live in the catchment of Preston Street and that it's quite a diverse school. How accurate this assessment is I can't tell.

Out of catchment request might work for some of the less busy primaries, but you might then get stuck since you would not be in catchment for secondary. And you don't automatically transfer.