Waid Academy and Anstruther - anyone have children at this school or live in the area?

[WhatsTheKerfuffle]

Hi

We are looking to move back to Scotland from England and have been looking quite literally all over Scotland. Houses are in short supply just now (unless you want a new build, which we don't) so once we find a house, we are looking at the primary and secondary school provision in the area. The latest property I've found is in Anstruther so I have two questions I guess 1/ what's it like for children growing up in this area? Is there enough to do etc? and 2/ What is Waid Academy like? The curriculum looks very broad and the ethos looks good from the website, but it would be great to hear first hand observations. 3/ What are the primary schools in the area like?

Thanks so much!
Miranda

I don’t have kids at Waid, but I think it’s a reasonable school. Similar to the other 2 high schools in NE Fife ( bell Baxter and madras) though I think madras is maybe academically better.
The East Neuk is a lovely area to live but like all rural areas not the most exciting for teenagers. It is also quite far to get to Dundee/ Kirkcaldy/Edinburgh so you are looking 30 minutes minimum to get to a cinema or a big supermarket which does add up if you have to go frequently.
High quality of life though. really popular place to buy a home or second home. Apparently things are going about 20% over the asking price recently! And selling fast so if you have your eye on something you will need to be in the position to offer quickly

Thanks @BigGlasses very true about things selling fast. It's going to be a hard decision between country living and a town/city with lots for the children as they grow up. Thanks for all the help :)

I live in Anstruther and have a child at Waid Academy. It is a good school with a good reputation and it does well by all it's pupils -i.e. if you're university destined it will see you there but equally will see pupils into local trades and vocations. It's, I believe, the smallest secondary in Fife and therefore can't cater for quite as broad a range of subjects as other schools and I know of some parents who's chilren go to Madras (St Andrews) to get the subjects they want. Ordinarily there are loads of lunchtime and afterschool clubs although they're not running at the moment. There's also loads of other clubs and activities.

St Andrews is 15mins by car and is reasonably well linked from Anstruther by bus (although the last bus back is a little early) and has a cinema (in ordinary times), swimming pool, and a decent sized Morrisons as well as Aldi, M&S, Tesco Express and Sainsburys Local etc and likewise Leven in the other direction which has a decent size Sainsburys as well as the likes of Home Bargains/B&M/Iceland/Farm Foods. Even the coop in Anstruther itself is a decent size.

Primary schools are good too but vary massively in size - Anstruther is largest with 1.5 or 2 classes per year group whereas some of the other village schools have 2 or more years per class and you may find there's no or only one or two children of the same sex as your child in their year.