Edinburgh Academy or George Heriot

[oasishelen]

We are going to move to Edinburgh in this summer, my daughter (13 years old) received those two schools offer. Strong acadmic is our priority, also the school envoirment is more important.
Please give me some advice , which one should we choose? Really need your help.

Just one family's opinion, but we did not have a good experience at EA and have taken our kids out. Found the environment to be toxic/negative and really unimpressed with some of the teachers as well as the rector. Wouldn't say academics are particularly strong. Plenty of people will feel differently, but that's just been our experience. I don't know anything about Heriots except they have a reputation for strong academics.

Thank you for your advice, much appreciated!

Both my children went to Heriot's. They loved it. It is very academic and some extremely clever people there so being in set 3 /4 (as mine were) might have felt low but they still did very well.
Staff were great. There has been a few change of heads over the last 7 years since my youngest left but they have a new one now and he sounds very good.
Friends still have kids there and happy.
Playing fields are at the other side of town to school but Edinburgh has a good bus service so wasn't a problem.
Pastoral care excellent. My husband was ill from when my daughter was in P2 until he died when my son was in S5 (2000-2012) and they were fantastic. He died 8 weeks before my son's higher exams an were very supportive.

I honestly don’t think you can go wrong. All the Edinburgh private schools are much of a muchness under all the marketing blurb.

I know a bit about Heriots. it is perhaps a little more diverse in that they have a large number of ‘ foundationers’ supported by the charitable foundation and most of the teachers also educate their children there. I found the pastoral care to be excellent - lots of common sense people and parents. Little ostentatious wealth or posturing. Quite down to earth.

Thank you for your advice, it's very help.

@cricket13 Not sure if you are still reading this thread but would you be able to elaborate how toxic EA's environment was and what were some of your experiences towards the teachers that you were not impressed with? My son received an offer (P7) from both EA and ESMS. We are in a dilemma now as we are currently overseas and have to base our decision on the virtual open houses and websites. Anyone with any experience on either school is welcome.

@Eightytwenty Congrats on your DD's offer! Is your DD starting in Geits in Aug 2022? Who knows, our kids might be in the same class if we decide on EA :-)

May I ask what makes you so sure about EA that you didn't even apply to any other school? We like the smaller classes and more individualised attention. EA seems more academic to us than ESMS. However, we are not so sure about the adequacy of facilities at EA's senior campus, such as whether they have a gymnasium/sports hall etc. I understand that students have to walk to the junior campus for sports/PE. Am a bit concerned about safety and wonder how often do they need to commute since DS will be very new to Edinburgh.

EA didn’t impress much when we looked around when we relocated. We felt it was less academic than other schools. Small campus. We went with ESMS. Many, many reasons. Mine are very sporty and strong swimmers and the facilities were excellent.

Excuse my ignorance. I don't quite understand why people are prepared to spend a fortune on education.

Is it because it is a family tradition to send DC to an independent school?
Is it because the DC are not intelligent enough to succeed in a state school?
Just curious to know. If your child is bright surely they will succeed regardless of the educational establishment they are sent to?

I'm sure you realise that privately educated people on average do less well at university than those educated in the state sector,.

I guess there is less spoon feeding at university!

@watermelom edinburgh has a very high number of private school places/ head of population. Catchment areas are often fixed too.

Therefore you either fork out for school fees or a fork out for a house in one of the desirable state school catchment areas. Some parents do both!

We moved there when I was a teenager and I was state educated until mid secondary level (at one of the desirable state schools). The creaming off into the private sector has a very negative effect on the state schools and if I still lived there I would be prioritising private education.

The private schools also offer better wrap around care at primary level which makes it easier for families where both parents work.

@Eightytwenty

en masse!

@Eightytwenty
Apologies I'm French x

@watermelom

Excuse my ignorance. I don't quite understand why people are prepared to spend a fortune on education. Is it because it is a family tradition to send DC to an independent school? Is it because the DC are not intelligent enough to succeed in a state school? Just curious to know. If your child is bright surely they will succeed regardless of the educational establishment they are sent to?

This thread is about the merits of a few schools in one particular city.

If you want a more general debate about state v private education it would be better if you started a new thread on a more appropriate board, rather than trying to hijack this one.

@Eightytwenty Good to know that EA caters to a range of kids and that your DC have flourished during their time there. It is important for a school to be able to support students' weaknesses while stretching their abilities. I should probably look at the area too. Heard that Stockbridge is nice but expensive and there are also not many listings on Rightmove. Are there any EA students that you know of who commute from the suburbs to school? Maybe more space but at the expense of longer commuting time. Lots to ponder!

@EvelynBeatrice

I honestly don’t think you can go wrong. All the Edinburgh private schools are much of a muchness under all the marketing blurb. I know a bit about Heriots. it is perhaps a little more diverse in that they have a large number of ‘ foundationers’ supported by the charitable foundation and most of the teachers also educate their children there. I found the pastoral care to be excellent - lots of common sense people and parents. Little ostentatious wealth or posturing. Quite down to earth.

This. Heriots is quite diverse compared to some other private schools. But also very academic. New head seems excellent. But EA could also be good. I don’t know much about it.

@ForsythiaInBloom Agree that ESMS facilities are excellent based on the virtual tour and this is definitely one plus point. I suppose EA does not have a swimming pool (from the website but I may be wrong?) which is important for your DC. May I ask what makes you feel that EA is less academic...gut instinct, students' behaviour etc.? Have your DC started at ESMS and if so, how's your experience so far? Do the 2 campuses have their own extra-curricular facilities such as sports hall, pool, music theatre etc.? I believe DS might have to commute to the pitches at the MES since he will be based in the SMC campus for P7 and above.