Cargilfield

[BabyBurtons2]

Hello,

We are considering Cargilfield for our son. I feel we’ve had a good look at all the Edinburgh schools now and feel it’s the best fit for him. We’d be looking for him to start in P1 and have a tour/meet the headmaster in 3 weeks. Our main concerns are whether he will fit in: we are not particularly wealthy, he is mixed race and we are a same sex couple. We are worried about bullying. We are considering private school because his catchment school is full to bursting and we’d prefer more intentionality around his education than a state school can currently provide. I wonder if anyone has experience of the school and would be able to tell us more about the culture / feel and general day to day workings of the school before we go?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

I'm no help to you as I don't know anyone who has attended Cargilfield. But as a teacher I'm desperate to ask what "intentionality around his education" means?
I wouldn't want to be the poorer parents at a private school personally, but your idea and mine about what not particularly wealthy means might differ.
I don't think your ds will be bullied at primary, primary age children are incredibly accepting compared to teenagers. Hope you get some replies from parents at the school.

Don’t have kids there but I’ve heard good things. However I’d say it’s very long hours until 7pm and from the parents I know very traditional and conservative (Edinburgh lawyers/investment community). However that’s just my small little window of it and that’s not to say they wouldn’t be very welcoming and inclusive. The ones I know are lovely.

You are committing to a very long day and ultimately a boarding set up which may or may not suit you.

@MistressIggi thank you for your reply. I taught for many years myself. I mean no offence. We moved to our current home for its school but simply can't imagine our son managing in such a big class. I left teaching as I felt needs were not being met-too many children, not enough space and unsupported additional needs. We lost my brother to addiction last year (I feel school had nothing to offer him. He was exceptionally bright but more of a practical learner for which there was nothing on offer). My state school was not ideal. For my son I'd like smaller classes, differentiated learning, familiarity, space, time and choices. The intentionality from both his new school and from us.

@gardenhelpneeded thank you. That is helpful. My understanding is that the longer days starts from P4? He is exceptionally active so we are hoping he can take advantage of sports clubs there too.

I know of a couple of families who's kids go there / have gone, and they're definitely that fairly conservative, wealthy "old money" type. The kids are all really sporty which may be due to the school's influence or just a coincidence (I also know them through sporting channels!). Looking at the website I don't think you'd need to worry about being mixed race, it seems to be fairly multi-cultural. It always get talked about highly on local social media groups.

Thanks for explaining OP.
I'm sorry for your loss.

@emmathedilemma thank you. I hadn't thought about social media pages. That's good news as he's very sporty so far.

Both my DC were fortunate enough to have a Cargilfield education. I couldn’t recommend it enough. Your race and home life would not be an issue in any way in my experience. The school was very multicultural whilst my DC were there. We really like Rob Taylor, the headmaster. The teaching is second to none. As previous posters have said though it becomes a long day 8.30 am till 8.00 pm in the later years on many days and it is a proper prep school preparing for the big name Public schools. It doesn’t feed well into Edinburgh day school for high school years. You need to bare that in mind and give it proper consideration so think long term now about what you foresee as being possible final destinations.

@BabyBurtons2 no experience of Cargilfield except good word of mouth but moved my dc from central state primaries for reasons you've identified. Central Edinburgh primary had a cohort with a virtually identical wealth distribution to the private.

@motherstongue thanks so much! All good to know. Can I ask, where did your children end up? We are open to wherever this journey takes us. We hadn't initially intended for him to go to private school of any sort but his schedule is pretty busy already so I'm hoping there will be less running around for me if he does his clubs etc AT school.

@Unodosyz oh that is very interesting re wealth distribution. At what age did you make the move?

Upper primary (held on for way too long, I wish we hadn't) and early primary. By the time the second one started the overcrowding, lack of space, attempts to do learning through play with no facilities and inadequate staffing were much worse.

@BabyBurtons2 I have PM’d you

Eeep. Are they much happier in their new school?

Oh it's an unbelievably positive change for both. One of our main regrets is that we didn't do it sooner and tried for years to see if the older one would settle in.

Fab. Know you made the right decision then.

No direct experience of Cargilfield but have friends who do from nursery stage onwards and everything I’ve heard from them over the years all backs up what @motherstongue says, including - importantly - that high school choices are often outwith Edinburgh.

@Williamshatnershorses thank you.

I may be out of date, but formerly my understanding was that Cargilfield was essentially a prep school - and that it was geared up to getting children ready to attend boarding schools. If finances are an issue, is this really what you want? Private day schools are much cheaper and a child can at least escape from any tormentors at home or tell parents about issues face to face. And if you opt for an independent day school for secondary school after Cargilfield, you will obviously face greater competition for a place than you would as a child already attending the junior day school. Additionally if many of your child's friends from Cargilfield are going to board, it may be a wrench for him going in another direction.

@EvelynBeatrice thanks so much for your response. We have had a good look around the day schools but they don't seem to have what we're looking for in the early years. It is possible that we will opt for a day school later but we really enjoyed our tour of Cargilfield and can't see past it. If he wants to board for high school we would be open to that. (Sorry, name change).

I hear you. Edinburgh private day schools do not have class sizes much smaller than state - although historically they had a higher teacher/ teaching assistant to child ratio plus add- ons in terms of on-site child psychologist designing learning, matron etc. You're right to go with where you 'gel'/ feel at home. If not right later on, can always access day schools at P5,6,7 or S1 intakes when some of these schools have an entirely new class of children, making integration easy for new kids.
All the best.

@EvelynBeatrice thank you! Yes, the class size is dreamy! The nursery is perfect for our son and the tree house is just too cool! We think he'll have a lot of fun there.

Sorry to crash your thread, OP, but I just started a thread in Education and someone directed me to this one. Can I ask those with DC there (or recent leavers) whether there is a "divide" between those who are headed for the Edinburgh day schools and those are headed for boarding? We definitely wouldn't be doing the latter so I wouldn't want DS to be a misfit... Also, is there a significant intake at P4 and if so, what sort of percentage join at that stage? Tempting to do state till 8, but maybe that's silly if he'd be leaving a year earlier than many as well.

We got a prospectus when we visited. There are a few kids going to Edinburgh day schools but the vast majority 2011-2021 went to Fettes (116) Then Glenalmond (52) Eton (22) & Oudle (20). Merchiston and Loretto had around 12 kids go there. We discussed the same while we were there and the advice given was move them sooner than later if you're going the day school route. We took that to mean leaving around P6 before the prep begins for the common entrance. They also said that you won't know if a child is a boarder until they are older. We are happy to wait and see what DS is when he's older and have chosen Cargilfield specifically for the early years. Not sure if that's helpful :/

Thanks Arthursmom that's really interesting. I think we couldn't realistically keep boarding as an option due to finances (other DC to consider etc).

I read that they do an hour of sport a day which is great from a fitness pov but also a slight concern from a social pov. Does anyone with a DC there know whether it's a school that suits unsporty as well as sporty boys? I know some schools have a pretty macho culture around sport... DS seems fairly bright so we're swayed by what looks like a really great academic curriculum, lots of specialist teaching from early on etc, but he's neither sporty nor confident so I don't know whether it would suit him from that side of things. It's quite hard to grasp a school's ethos and atmosphere from the outside.

@Goldenroses
If you email they will set up a tour for you. You will meet the headmaster and his wife and have a chance to chat to them in they're living room (they live on site). And a full tour. We were there for 2 hours and really felt we left with a good grasp of the school. We spoke to 3 parents we knew through friends who have children there-all very different kids. The sports is more about having a go and becomes more competitive from 8 but at that age they can choose something called outdoor pursuits I think it's called which is things like hiking / cycling etc to suit the less sporty kids. It felt very nurturing to us. There's loads of clubs with everything from Lego to fencing so lots of choice. They also said that kids go to Dollar and Strathallan as day pupils as well instead of boarding. Sorry, can't give first hand info just the chats thoughts we had. Best of luck

Thanks, that's all really helpful! Sounds like it would be a good idea to book a visit as they're able to take so much time to answer questions and give a proper feel for the school. Did you manage to get a space for your DS to start this autumn by enquiring this spring, or did you have to put his name down much earlier?