Alva vs Stirling vs Wallace High School, placing request?

[graceandmercy]

hi there, would seek advice from all regarding this. We have come to the stage of settling in hillfoots and the catchment high school be Alva Academy. Originally we plan to go for Stirling HS but just couldn't rent a place, needless to say purchase given the budget. What will be the procedure after I got my completion and utility bill on hand? I register with the catchment school ie Alva Academy online and then place my request with Stirling HS? for latter any comments regarding Stirling HS vs Wallace HS? my DS is age 16 as we move up to Scotland this June.

So far I have emailed with Stirling HS for our application and they responded very fast, but want to know more from parents' perspective which school is best for my DS (ADHD, talent in arts, rooms to improve academic wise , want to study art in future universities )

thank you so much.

@El4nor

Alva to Wallace High would be a pain of a commute every day, they'd likely need driven there or several trains or busses I think. The road between clacks and Stirling get v busy. I'd check out the drive at school drop off time before committing. ( disclaimer I commuted through clacks regularly but it was 10 years ago)

There is a regular bus service (about half hourly) that goes from Tilly (where OPs DS needs to travel from) directly to Causewayhead (near Wallace High School) and takes about 25 mins - it also goes through Alva.

I went to Alva but 20 years ago so not recent experience sorry but jumping on to echo the comments about travel to Stirling - absolutely not something I’d be wanting to do every day (Wallace would be the easiest of the Stirling schools to travel to from tilly but still a lot of running about). I grew up in Alva and realistically any socialising your son is going to be doing is likely to involve travel into Stirling/ further afield - not sure I’d have the energy for a daily commute to school as well.

There’s free buses from all of the catchment towns to the school, when I was there the majority of pupils travelled by school bus and I’d expect this is still the case.

As mentioned above Alva is definitely the best performing school in Clacks. I did art and music up to S6, the art teacher I had will have retired by now but back when I was there Alva had the best art and music dept of the 3 Clacks schools too. The county orchestra was based there, there was an annual student art exhibition, we were entered into competitions etc.

I don’t agree with the comment about Alva being the worst of the Hillfoots towns to
live in. Dollar and Muckhart are certainly
more affluent and the house prices reflect that. Personally I don’t see much difference between Alva, Tilly or Menstrie - there’s good and bad parts everywhere.

Re the Catholic point here; is this specific to this school or Stirling Council?

You don't need to be baptised to choose to attend a Catholic school in Lanarkshire. Plenty of people do for a variety of reasons.

I only mention it in case it's relevant here

@PoloMintPatty think it was our council website I read it on. There is usually no problem with placing requests but transport would then be under your own steam. I am aware of a family whose (non catholic) children attended the feeder catholic primary, and had to apply on placing request for the high school, got place no problem but got no transport and council stopped allowing other children to buy a space on the school service bus. They would have got free transport to their non denom catchment school due to where they lived anyway so it was a bit of a farce.

In this case the OP will be living in Clacks and the catholic catchment school is in Stirling council so might be different circumstances applied. It's allways worth asking

thank you so much for all the info, felt not so lonely as I have no friends in Scotland, need to start everything anew, so would ask so many questions here, but so thankful here is such a helpful community ☺️

As suggested by you all, I sent emails to all four schools before the holiday, but only SHS and WHS replied me. Then I called to each of them moment ago and now waiting for their feedback. As paperwork for the property we are going to live in is still in progress, does that mean I cannot apply for the school until address proof and utility bill are on hand?

I just received call from St. Modan and the administrator told me as we are not RC (we are Christian) we have to go for placing request and the year DS will be admitted be s6. That seem not the best option for him, I believe. So my next question is, is it only one placing request I can make? Still struggling between WHS and SHS....

As far as I am aware, you can only make one request at a time. That might have changed though. Also remember that your address will be in Clackmannashire council and you'll be applying to Stirling council. Technically I think that puts you further down the list, but for a place in senior years of high school I honestly think you'll get what you apply for. The two councils do work fairly close together I think. I still think you'd need some way of him being able to travel independently if you chose SHS as it's much more difficult to get there by public transport.

thx @BinBandit the only option for catchment school be Alva now, so will do the application but wonder if I need to wait for documentation before doing so? am checking with jobs in Stirling and if DS go to school there will drive him there and then I go to work, but am I underestimate the traffic ?

I've no idea about the paperwork sorry, I suspect you'd need some sort of evidence of residency though.

Traffic depends on your route but it's generally not too bad ime but then I've now been working from home for over two years and my office isn't far from where I live. Remember the population density is a lot lower than you might be used to. What sort of jobs are you looking for?

@graceandmercy

thx @BinBandit the only option for catchment school be Alva now, so will do the application but wonder if I need to wait for documentation before doing so? am checking with jobs in Stirling and if DS go to school there will drive him there and then I go to work, but am I underestimate the traffic ?

You usually need proof of address to apply to catchment school, it's usually council tax or utility bill but I think if you're moving to area then rental agreement or house purchase documentation

*house purchase documentation

I intended to apply for Alva this afternoon but couldn’t find the link for application, so i called the school but no one answered. I called the C council and the staff said he has no idea either 😢. He directed to apply under placing request but I queried should i apply within catchment area and guess what? Council staff told me better call school tomorrow. Totally 🔁.

yes, you don't apply as such to your catchment, you just register with them. If you get the school tomorrow they should be able to tell you what you need in order to register with them.

I called Alva twice, left messages, emailed but no one replied. Will that affect my placing request with Wallace? Is it really so busy not to reply?😳as St Modan, Wallace and SHS all replied on same day.
For Wallace HS I successfully placed the request online via council system and didn’t require any document at this moment.

@graceandmercy don’t write of Alva due to delays in replying to you. That can happen with any school and isn’t necessarily a reflection on the teaching or learning environment. I’ve heard good things about Alva and think for a arty student it would suit. There is a lot of snobbery regarding the hill foots. I grew up in stirling and went to SHS and my cousins different ones in the council area and really they are all fine. Don’t take any account of rankings eg Dunblane always comes out with lots of good results but I went there to do one subject and honestly they all had tutors! SHS always seems to also be the “go to” school for people moving into the area but lots of kids in my year and other years spent ally whir feee time hanging around in Kings Park drinking and doing drugs so I didn’t see how it was more prestigious that any other school. My cousin went to a less well viewed school and had none of those issues. Obviously things change and it depends on the child themselves but my point is … don’t fall into the hr trap of thinking these schools (SHS etc are any better just due to higher results). It’s not like England that way.

I know lots of teens at Alva through work and they are all happy there and all nice well rounded children. Yes there will be bad bits of Alva Tilli etc just like anywhere but the housing is much more affordable than stirling and there are really nice villages. Menstrie and Alva have a mix of residents and what I’d call quite middle class sections of the village. They are nice places to live. I choose hill foots over stirling despite growing up in stirling.

I’d choose Alva personally. Your son will get transport or walk and is more likely to make local friends. They finish early and at different times so he’ll ve able to get home himself and you’ll be less pressured ferrying him to and from school daily. The roads are fine though - busier at “rush hour” but not terrible by any means.

good luck with the move

@BabySheep thx so mich for your sharing. Its so great to get first hand experience there ☺️. Facing with so many unknown ahead and somehow worry if i make the proper decision for DS. Will take your advice and keep on calling Alva and just do what I can.

the distance between our new home and Alva academy indeed is not as close as I thought, walking distance is 45 mins so couldn’t possible for DS to walk to school as now. Is it common for kids to ride bike to school if school bus is not provided? As I have no idea what job i can get there after relocation and seemingly more jobs opp in Stirling. Used to work in legal field but long time ago. Looking for jobs in council, also considering if estate agency possible as i found so many EA in Stirling.

Where is the house? Pupils at Alva get the bus unless living in Alva PS catchment.

any pupil resident in the catchment areas of Menstrie PS, Tillicoultry PS, Strathdevon PS, Muckhart PS and Coalsnaughton PS will get a bus.

As @TheTrees1 says if you live in the catchment (which includes Tillicoultry) you'll be eligible for the school bus but it is an easy cycle if your DS wants to do that, there is a safe cycle path the whole way from Tilly to Alva.
A bus from Tilly to Wallace High is also pretty straightforward and takes 20 to 30 mins depending on which so you get off at. Buses for 21 and under are now free in Scotland with a special card.
Stirling High would be a more difficult journey.

new residence be in Tillcoultry. I keep on trying to contact Alva and left message with the receptionist again. Hope will get some feeback soon.

DS always want to ride bike in London but i dare not given the traffic there. Want to realise his dream once we relocate to Scotland.

hi all, update that DS got placing request accepted by WHS, and also registered with Alva. as suggested by OPs before now checking what subjects are available . Wanna ask, s5 students to sit for Nat 5? or Higher?
thx a lot for all your input and help.

That's good news :)

The "gold standard" would be sitting 5 Highers in s5 but it obviously depends on ability/what their intended destination is. Some Unis prefer that the highers used to apply are all sat in the one year but it doesn't always matter. My younger son needed some from 6th year to meet entry requirements.

So, yes in the main S5 will mainly be sitting highers with some sitting a mixture of Nat5 and Highers and others sitting Nat 5/Nat 4 and a few maybe sitting Advanced Highers (usually in a subject where they have existing knowledge e.g. Music or a language or a particular talent in like Maths where they may have been presented early for their Higher the year previously).

Great you got placing request accepted @graceandmercy

I think your DS is doing GCSEs at moment?
In S5 he will take Highers in the subjects he wants to continue and did well in, at least a B (think maybe that's a 6 now?)

It's 5 subjects he'll take so that may be all Highers but can also be mixture of Highers and National 5s. If there's subjects he didn't get good grade at GCSE he can retake at Nat 5, particularly if it's an "important" subject he's likely to need such as English, maths or a science.
It's quite common to take, say 3 Highers and 2 Nat 5s in S5.

But if he's very academic and aiming for a competitive university course then they will expect him to have 5 good grades at Higher in S5

thanks @BinBandit @ScottishBeeswax indeed I felt so relieved as receiving acceptance from schools ☺️.
Yes DS is now in midst of GCSE and He is not academic wise at that moment, probably need to strengthen core subjects. Are Science equally important as English and Maths?
As DS so fresh to Scot curriculum, is it advisable to avoid taking completely new course? He wants to take German but I am bit skeptical to this...

Hi,I live near hillfoots.I strongly advise you to use catchment school with a school bus service.The company First Bus which go via Tilli to Stirling are very unreliable and regularily just dont turn up.Ive waited 2 hours stranded at Tilli bus station on 2 occasions.The service is bad and getting worse.
Much better for your son to be in cycling distance of school,with a school bus for winter.He would be able to have local friends too,which will be great for him at his age.
Tilli and Alva are both nice,lots of lovely walks,beautiful countryside.There is a big shopping complex in Tilli called Sterling Mills.You may get something there,maybe admin?
Welcome in advance to Scotland.

Are Science equally important as English and Maths?

It very much depends what he wants to do after school. But quite a lot of courses or apprenticeships in technology, engineering or anything to do with healthcare fields will need a science at GCSE/Nat 5, as well as English and maths

@Kastri DS and I felt more incline to Alva after reading your sharing. We felt good with Alva after last visit, and we have never thought about winter traffic tbh.... but maybe a very silly question here, would DS chance of getting into university varies as he study in different HS? Of course on basis that DS devotes the same effort in whatever HS....