Scotland (West Lothian) - Nursery and Primary Schools?

[karmalk]

Hi, I need some advice/help! We currently reside in Canada but are returning to Scotland with our 3 year old son having been away from the UK for 6 years. My husband is from Perth but has not lived in Scotland for many, many years. We are looking at the following areas to move to; Bridge of Allan, Linlithgow, Balerno, Ratho, Corstorphine, East Calder. The main reason being nursery/ primary schools. Having hunted high and low, I have managed to find only a handful of school reports in each area - some of which are over 6 years old!
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, opinions, experiences about any of the areas mentioned above and the primary schools there. We are not worried about secondary, due to the nature of my husband's work, we will be moving again in about 5 years. I really want to get my little guy off to some great foundations.
Objective views, pros and cons are welcomed.
Thanks in advance :-)

Ratho and Corstorphine come under Edinburgh Council.

To be honest, the reports can be often very old. I find websites can really help. Corstorphine does cover a large area with quite a few schools in the area.

Out of all of the areas you have listed only Linlithgow is in West Lothian, its a lovely wee town with great schools.
My colleague also has children in Corstorphine primary schools and seems to be a good school, very nurturing. She has said it is quite socially diverse demograph.

Thank you both! I need to check my geography! :-)
I have checked out several schools' websites and they are hit and miss as well. Are there any areas we should avoid completely?

Hello. I live in East Calder. There are currently two lovely primary schools and soon to be a third in the newly developed Calderwood. I'm English rather than Scottish and really like living here. It's changed quite a bit over recent years as it's grown and is definitely more diverse than it was. And housing is cheaper than in the areas surrounding Edinburgh.

Also, I have to disagree with previous poster as East Calder is definitely in West Lothian! ( the other areas mentioned aren't though)

The primary schools in all these areas will be fine. They will either be mixed demographic or middle and upper demographics. None are in areas of high levels of deprivation where a higher proportion of the kids may not be getting proper support or are dealing with significant issues at home. Not to say there aren't many lovely families of all sorts living in poorer areas, I come from one myself. There are also plenty of kids dealing with issues and with poor parenting in more affluent families.

But you can't really predict too much in primary, you might get a pupil in the class who uses up a lot of teacher time in any school, your child might thrive in a more deprived school and suffer from bullying or poor teaching in a less deprived school. I'd expect at least one poor teacher in the 7 years of primary regardless of how the school is overall.

Bridge of Allan for example would be a sought after school but had a couple of poor reports, it's still popular and kids do well and although it is mixed to a point, it's mainly seen as "middle class" type school.

If you are considering BofA, you could probably include much of neighbouring Stirling too, many perfectly nice schools/areas to live in.

East Calder and Linlithgow are both West Lothian.

Balerno is also Edinburgh. I missed that.

Thank you all! I am from London originally and taught for 15 years as a primary school teacher. It's hard to find any recent OFSTED reports as such which is why I am reaching out. Where we currently live in Canada has been under lockdown for over a year with no social interaction for my toddler - no daycares, toddler groups, library mum and toddler groups, Little Gym activities - nothing. In addition, we are quite rural to everything and the nearest store is a 15 min drive away. the nearest city is a 30 min drive. I am keen for us to be living in amongst families where he can start to build friendships as well. All your posts have been very helpful :-)

We aren't inspected by Ofstead. However Education Scotland and Care Inspectorate can help with nurseries and school but may still not be recent as no inspections have taken place in over a year. The last inspection for the nursery I work in was a completely different team from the current one too and things have really changed.

Thanks Groovee. and TheApprentice! This is the website I have been trawling;
education.gov.scot/education-scotland/inspection-reports/?orderBy=dateDescending
A lot of the times when I am looking for a nursery/primary school, it is coming back with 'No current report available.' I have been going onto the school websites as well to find any additional reports. This has been hit and miss. Because we are so far away as well it is proving very difficult to get a feel for areas and schools :-(
The areas I originally mentioned are areas that my husband has suggested from the time when he was living in Scotland.
I have been reading quite a lot about East Calder and would welcome any more information about the new nursery and school there?

Ofsted doesn’t cover Scotland. You need to look for the reports on Education Scotland.

I can say that Linlithgow is very family friendly. There’s plenty going on for children - drama, dancing, sports clubs, guides, scouts. There are good outdoor activities at the Loch and Beecraigs Country Park. Although the local council are making moves to close down the centre that houses all the equipment by the Loch.

Primary schools are all decent and feed into Linlithgow Academy which also gets decent results.

Transport links to Edinburgh and Glasgow are good so it attracts a lot of families who want to move out of the cities but still be able to warily commute in. The high street is doing well compared to lots of others locally - a good range of independent shops and cafes.

Bridge of Allan also has a similar demographic

East Calder is lovely, although growing exponentially, but you definitely get more value for money property wise than in Linlithgow.
Also worth considering Mid Calder (lovely village school) and even maybe West Calder or the Murieston/Bellsquarry areas of Livingston. They all have smaller village/good community vibes, whilst being near to local amenities, with easy access to the A71 and M8.

Thank you cazzyg and UltraVires - very informative!
I will check out mid-Calder and West Calder as well. We are open to any suggestions :-)

Any of the areas you mentioned will have great primaries @karmalk. We're very lucky with primary schools in Scotland.
I'd say Linlithgow, Balerno and Corstorphine particularly good for young families. Linlithgow particularly great, on mainline train Edinburgh to Glasgow and short drive to airport, but pricey

I will get more info about new Easr Calder school out to you later
....at work right now.

TheApprentice- Thank you for your help and insights so far :-)

I missed that you mentioned East Calder, yes that's West lothian too.

Many schools won't have a recent report as inspections haven't been happening through the pandemic but also because there's not requirement to inspect a school within a certain time frame anymore and it's done on a sample basis. More about that here education.gov.scot/education-scotland/what-we-do/inspection-and-review/standards-and-evaluation-framework/07-how-often-do-we-inspect/#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20longer%20a,college%20on%20an%20ongoing%20basis.

Of the areas you've mentioned it would be hard to get a 'bad' primary school. Instead I would focus on what you want to get from location and budget and take it from there.

I have PMd you re East Calder!

Thanks Invisimamma!