@TSeeker
0h dear, that bad! We were looking for 4bed detached for under 300K. Troon and Ayr had a few advertised as well under that but ended up going for well over that. That's when we thought of trying South Craig in Kilmarnock. One possibility is to ask for placement request at Fenwick primary if OnThank primary is going to be that bad (I just finished watching the 1st 2 episodes of "The Scheme").
But I get the hint - I suppose we continue renting for sometime and hedge out bets on getting an in-budget house in Troon/Ayr/Prestwick.
How's Irvine? It has some blue (ie., good) bits in SIMD map So does South Craig and Annadale in Kilmarnock, being rated even above Troon in Decile value, though so not quite sure how to read into that overall).
We could try villages as suggested but we found they lack high speed Internet which is primary for our remote work (at-least above 250Mbps, currently we're at 500Mbps in Kilmarnock).
Another option is to explore East Kilbride but we've never been there before and it's far from the attractive coastal setting of west Ayrshire.
Hello neighbour 👋 We have lived in Southcraigs for the last 18 years.
ds(17) was in P2 in Onthank primary when the Scheme aired. What you see in the series bore absolutely no resemblance to reality throughout his time at Onthank, try not base your decisions on that program. Onthank primary has an intake from Southcraigs, Wardneuk and Onthank so is very mixed. Onthank itself also has varied areas and I know business owners, teachers, and professionals who live in Onthank, the majority are not at all like the vulnerable people dramatised and exploited in the program. I have never personally met anyone in Kilmarnock like the people dramatised in the program, I must just mix in different circles!!!
As someone said above every town in Ayrshire, and probably beyond, has good and a few bad streets.
The outstanding and well respected headmaster and depute head at Onthank when ds was there were very involved with all the children and promoted a zero tolerance culture of bullying and poor behaviour while supporting a small number of children from challenging backgrounds. Almost all parents from Southcraigs happily sent their children to Onthank primary. The excellent head retired when ds was in primary 7 and I don't know anyone with primary school aged children there now so not sure if the reputation has held up.
You could ask for a placement at Fenwick primary, I know someone who did back then but moved their child to Onthank after a couple of years and they were much happier there. The Fenwick primary school was too small a friendship pool, with composite classes and the village residents, while lovely to her face, a bit cliquey when it came to birthday parties etc and she found her child being the only one not invited.
The catchment academy for Southcraigs is the new Kilmarnock Academy opened in 2018 (on the James Hamilton site and merged with the original Kilmarnock Academy) and it is still finding its feet. ds is in S6 now and has done well at it with straight As in his NAT5s and Highers, but it is fair to say that is unusual and it was from his hard work outside of school. What I have seen with ds's friends is a huge part of the motivation to study and do well at school comes from the home environment/friendship groups and it is fair to say if kids don't have positive support they can fall behind and struggle to catch back up. The school does seem to focus more on vocational routes than academic which is understandable with its high intake from deprived areas and the challenges that gives them, but if your child is academic and supported at home they should succeed at school.
My nieces and nephews have had more problems with bullying impacting them and their education in schools in Irvine and Ayr than ds has seen in KA, but that will be dependant on the individual child and their cohort. ds seems to have struck lucky with his year group in comparison.
It is also fair to say Kilmarnock has its issues, like any town there are areas you would want to avoid and its town centre very poor but Silverburn and EK shopping centre are a very quick car journey away from Southcraigs, Braehead isn't too far either. Most people I know are either self employed, WFH, or commute outside Kilmarnock for work as there are limited professional jobs within the town.
I am not originally from Kilmarnock, but I have personally found the people I have met as warm and welcoming to me as I have been to them. It has a no airs and graces feel to it that is not for everyone, but it is also not the complete shit hole people make it out to be, there isn't a locked gate keeping us all here and many completely normal, professional, non-scheme-esk type people do enjoy living here. As you have been living here for 2 months now, take the people as you find them, not how others perceive them.
PS. Have you found the local Southcraigs facebook page? I'm sure if you have further local questions you could get replies there from people who actually live here now and get more feedback on the school from people who have children going there now.