Moving to Edinburgh area with Yr7/S1 DD

[Luna2020]

Reposting this on Scotsnet! We hope to relocate to Edinburgh (or a car commute from there) at Easter with DDs in Yr3 and Yr7 (which is first year secondary in England but will be P7 here). Worrying about transition for her - would be good to hear any shared experiences. Also any suggestions for nice areas to live, decent schools, with access to outdoors and to kids activities (budget c 500k - which doesn’t seem to go far in Edinburgh!!). Thanks.

Currie, Balerno, Juniper Green, Colinton are all excellent areas with excellent schools.

Thanks. Those areas are definitely on my list. Wondered about North Berwick too? We’re not used to city living!! Though car commute may not be worth it.

East Lothian is beautiful, but I think the commute can be quite long. Depends where it is you will have to get to in Edinburgh. The bypass is very unpredictable and often congested at peak times. Well at least it was pre corona!

Maybe train would be an option? Have no experience of it though.

North Berwick is reallyovely too. I'm not familiar with the schools on that side of the city.

North Berwick is a fairly long commute by car, but the train service is good. I don't know many people who drive it to be honest! The school is well regarded too, however don't go thinking your money will go further than in Edinburgh - its eye-wateringly expensive.

I think (being honest) that will be a really tough time for your DD in terms of transitioning - she will be in a new primary for a term and then a new secondary a term later. I think it might be better for her if you delayed coming up a little. Our term ends at the end of June, so it really would be just a couple of months that she'd be in her primary. I would perhaps aim to have her start fresh at secondary rather than having to do it twice. Could you hang back or even homeschool?

Op I'd wait to see the outcome of the Scottish elections before you decide to move.

South Queensferry might be a good option if you'd prefer outside the city - loads of new housing there, but that means that there are bargains to be had on slightly uglier-looking 70s housing. Linlithgow is similar but again housing stock is very 70s.

Personally, I hate Currie, Balerno - it's very suburban, what's the point? Friends are very happy in Portobello. Cammo/Barnton always get mentioned on these threads but I wouldn't want to live under the flight path.

Corstorphine is worth a look. Also look in catchment for Boroughmuir. If you check espc.com you can filter by catchment area.

South side of the city in the Firrhill catchment gives a good balance of outdoors / city opportunities.
I’m interested in why you say car commute? Very few people car commute into edinburgh. There’s very little parking - even purpose built offices are severely limited parking in an attempt to control the traffic which is pretty awful. Personally I’d stick to Lothian buses routes and ditch the idea of driving.

Joining a p7 class at Easter will be weird - that term is very focussed on the end of the primary school years and saying goodbye / moving on. I’d consider homeschooling for the term and ask the council what transition opportunities she can join in with.

We're in Haddington - your budget buys you a new 5 bed with garden here. 40 minutes drive in to Edinburgh or an hour on lothian bus route.

Whereabouts in Edinburgh will you have to commute to and what is an acceptable commute time? Also what is it you are looking for in terms of house? Access to sea, cafes or something more suburban? Do you actually want to live in Edinburgh?

Thanks for all your comments so far and some really good questions. Car because I’m not just office based, I would be visiting schools round the city. I thought a term in primary would give DD a chance to get to know some kids that she’ll see when she moves up. As for where we want to live - a community feel with clubs and activities for the kids, and a bit more social life for us as the kids grow. We are quite active (run, walking, DH does triathlon, kids not so much 😂). Too much choice! Your comments are really making me think it through though. Thanks

There's a lot of shoogling about when they move up to secondary, there will be other children who don't know anyone and friendships all change... while I get what you're saying I think the negatives would outweigh the positives.

If you're active types then maybe living outside Edinburgh might be more appealing? You probably want decent bus or rail links even if you drive for work. Parking in the city can be a nightmare and buses are frequent.

Edinburgh is quite green, but it definitely has a big city feel. It's close to the Pentlands and lots of beautiful beaches. In the city maybe you could consider something like Buckstone it's close to the bypass if you want out, but not too far out for city (nice smallish primary that feeds into Boroughmuir). Or lots of people on here seem to like Portobello. You might like Balerno, you can certainty get a nice house for your money, but personally I hated it (friends were negative about the secondary). As people said look on ESPC and add 20% extra to the price if it's offers over.

My DDs best friend joined the last term of P7 and it did give her the chance to meet people, and attend the high school transition days, then she knew people to see over the holidays.
Much better than waiting until after the summer and just turning up for first day of S1.

I love Portobello - flat places to run (unlike much of the city!), good bike routes out to East Lothian for your DH, swimming in the sea or the baths and not far to the commie pool (50m) for his triathlon training. It also has a parkrun and a couple of local running clubs if that's your thing. It has a good community vibe and there's always things going on like art walks and the recent Christmas window displays. Also has really good bus routes into the city centre.

Portobello is great, I grew up near there and I love the vibe when I visit. On a summer's evening the prom and beach feel almost mediterranean.

I presume you’ve looked at cut off dates for school years to check your yr 7 will definitely be going into p7 not S1? (March to August birthday would be a straight ‘yes’ there.)

Bear in mind the ring road/bypass is flipping awful in the morning.
What side of Edinburgh do you need to get into?

I need to get into near Waverley but could be out and about anywhere in the city. Portobello will certainly be on our list though I think the high school is already oversubscribed for Aug. It’s just a weird time to be looking as we can’t travel to see schools, houses, neighbourhoods. That’s why I’m really appreciating all the insight and advice from you guys!

None mentioned the Royal High catchment yet, good for outdoors, beach, costorphine and ravelston woods and Cammo. Primaries Blackhall, Davison’s mains and crammond feed into it (and Clermiston but it’s not as nice for your budget).

*No one (unless I missed it!)