St Leonards, ST Andrews

[Ladolcevida]

Hello Is anyone on here living in the St Andrews area? Anyone with kids at St Leonards? We are considering a move from London and would love to hear what your experiences are. Despite Covid, the area seems to be thriving. Houses are snapped up quickly. What is driving this? People moving there from Edinburgh? From other countries? What is the mix like at St Leonards? Lots of Scottish families from the immediate vicinity? Children of academics? We know the school has a fantastic reputation and we love it. Just trying to also drill down a little more into what it is like living there and the dynamics.

Yes - I do and I have. St Andrews is a good place to live and St Leonards has suited the kids brilliantly. Moved here a few years ago. I like the international mix and academic vibe. Lots of local families plus people from all over the world, which the children have definitely benefited from. Think we've all gone native, LOL!

Houses are often bought by parents of students or as holiday rentals, this pushes the prices up, especially of flats in town. Its also popular with retirees.
It's one of my favourite places, it has a special feel. Are you moving up for work?

There has also been a lot of interest in properties in attractive areas and cottages with a few acres since lockdown, its being reported in the media here as a trend, the "race for space" and people from the South East have generally far more to spend on properties than locals, this combined with the offers over system is pushing prices up rather quickly at the moment. I think it's the same in Wales and other scenic areas.

Hello Is anyone on here living in the St Andrews area?
North East Fife is a lovely, scenic area with good links to other towns and cities.
Anyone with kids at St Leonards? We are considering a move from London and would love to hear what your experiences are.
All St Andrews schools have a nice mix of local and international kids. Local private schools cover St Leonards, Dollar, Dundee, Strathallan, these are schools friends went to, I grew up in Cupar.

Despite Covid, the area seems to be thriving. Houses are snapped up quickly. What is driving this? People moving there from Edinburgh? From other countries?
Lits of housing in St Andrews is student, but it is also a desirable place to live or have a holiday home. Most of this end of Fife are sellibg quickly just now.
What is the mix like at St Leonards? Lots of Scottish families from the immediate vicinity? Children of academics? We know the school has a fantastic reputation and we love it. Just trying to also drill down a little more into what it is like living there and the dynamics
Don't firget to look at the surrounding areas, Ceres, small village between Cupar and St Andrews has been named the most attractive village in Scotland. It also has the oldest running highland games held on the Bow Butts.
If ypu haven't visited the area plan a good visit when restructions lift so you can see what part appeals to you.

My kids are at St L - senior school but recent experience of the junior - and would highly recommend. It isn't super academic in the way we had come to expect from the SE of England but they really do (in normal times) live by their Ad Vitam motto. Real emphasis on personal development and extra-curricular activities, lots of pastoral care. They've been good - and an awful lot better than the local schools - through the last year.

We live in St A. It's not just student flats and holiday lets once you get out of the centre. Also feels like good value (vs most of England) for somewhere that is just a really lovely place to live. We feel confident allowing our kids to develop independence here and plenty going on here for us too (normally!).

Would absolutely not recommend St Leonards - we had a very poor experience at the junior school which has undergone leadership changes and not for the better. There is a real difference in academic standards to what you are probably used to at independent schools in London and the lack of discipline is shocking. We didn’t find that there were lots of academics sending their kids there & it doesn’t have an international feel at all, given the demographic of the junior school. The senior school has a lot of international boarders but you won’t see the parents obviously. Teaching staff at the junior school were generally unimpressive with a couple of exceptions (who interestingly are not in leadership positions) & a distinct lack of will to do a good job & actively respond to concerns. The senior school is supposed to be better but that’s potentially years of a poor experience until then. Sorry, but we were not the only one’s who felt this way and I know of quite a few parents who were unhappy with the junior school but there aren’t really any other options locally.

@Tweetsta It is sad that your experience wasn't good. Our years at both junior and senior have been completely the opposite. We are very glad we made this choice for our DC. Fantastic on all counts

Sorry - meant to reply to @Tweetster not @Tweetsta

@Ladolcevida there are many academics that send their children there. Being in closer proximity to Abertay, Dundee University and St Andrews this is a real draw for many academics. It is not uncommon for them to quote about how better prepped students that do the IB are than other qualifications. There is much to do in St Andrews and the local area. Having lived South of the boarder and in other parts of Scotland I would have to say this has been a really positive experience for us. You can be as actively involved as a parent as you wish or equally not.
Overall the parents are a real mixed bag! Many farmers, academics etc particularly in the Junior school. Sadly when you reach senior school there isn’t the same opportunity for a chat at the school gates. There are parent groups, socials and even with Covid we have managed to meet up socially online. I can honestly say you won’t be disappointed.

I’m afraid I don’t agree and judging from conversations I had with a significant number of parents my views are shared.Our dissatisfaction was with the leadership at the time of the junior school and some of the teaching staff. We moved up from an independent school in the South and quickly realised that the promised individual academic assessment of our children was non existent. The children were just expected to do what everyone else was doing regardless of ability or if they had covered it already. We also experienced some low level bullying but heard of other shocking bullying issues from both boys and girls which were just not dealt with. You go in and they thank you for raising the issues but nothing actually changes or happens. The choice therefore is to put up or leave but given the lack of local competition that’s not really a choice for a lot of parents. I was also told by some parents that there is a real problem of ‘influential’ local families and some staff friendships which was perceived as a clear conflict of interest when it comes to tackling problematic behaviour. The teaching staff are mixed, but a significant proportion are frankly coasting, my children had never experienced teachers shouting so much and in one case being pretty much absent from his classroom most of the time. Some of the promotions made were therefore inexplicable and demonstrate a disconnect between what the Head really knew about the staff at the junior school. Our children also witnessed some pretty shocking racist bullying directed at other children. That speaks volumes about some of the demographic at the school. It was frankly reminiscent of the 1970s and not what I want my children to be exposed to in this day and age. Furthermore, there really isn’t that much of an international environment at all as I think most of that is found in the boarding element and hence you don’t meet the parents. The junior school is largely local & don’t forget the kids of the local army:)

I really hope the new Head sorts out the Junior School and connects the dots on those families that have pulled their children out but I’m not that confident. It’s a very insular place both in terms of parent community and outlook.

I’n afraid therefore that I don’t recognise your description. St Andrews proper is dominated by students and retired couples. Our experience was that most families live further out and the reality is that you don’t see them without having to make a big effort. We were just lucky that we could move away.

If you’re moving from an urban environment I would ask you to think long and hard about the change in lifestyle. Visit off season and in the winter when there’s little to do unless you’re into outdoor pursuits in the freezing cold in a big way. It’s a stunning location but you really are in the middle of nowhere. That might suit some and particularly if you’re coming from a similar place. However, this idea that St Andrews is some sort of eclectic, international place might be true of the University but in terms of the school at least is not something we experienced. Far from it.

Please see my reply below - I forgot to tag you in. Think long and hard - London to St Andrews is a massive change. Edinburgh would be better in terms of choice of schools and not such a massive change in lifestyle.

Thank you Tweetster for your insights.
The dialogue is really helpful as we try to figure out what to do.

As a parent of 3 I’ve used a number of prep and senior schools around Perth. All 3 ended up at Strathallan the school is thriving and number of pupils much the same as when my eldest was there. What Strath are managing to do is keep the facilities in great condition whilst other schools whose numbers are lower are beginning to look shabby and in need of repair. Loads of borders with busy weekends. Friends at St L all left due to bullying and Dollar kids kicking around my town by 3.30pm. Personally it’s doing well in academics and sport etc - my lot love it!

I'm in the same boat here. We've sold our house elsewhere in Fife and are looking at a move to NE Fife. Only one of us is working now and only needs to get to Edinburgh 2-3 days a week. We've two girls age 13 and 9 so schooling is the priority. Private school was never an option from our current house due to location and travel time but we can change that now. Options seem to be suck it up, buy an expensive house in St Andrews and send them to Madras (new school and good academic record), move somewhere like Cupar and use the money saved on a house to send them to High School of Dundee or St Leonards (not sure about the baccalaureate though so probably favour Dundee) or try to find somewhere closer to St Andrews and in the catchment for Madras.

We're on a bit of a deadline time wise due to having sold. If we can make a school choice first then we can look for houses appropriate for the school choice. We will most likely have to rent for a time (although there is a distinct lack of rental property on the market too).

I know both Strathallan and Kilgraston do buses from Cupar and offer long days