Relocating to Scotland - Dunblane

[Blueskyswift]

Moving back to scotland after living abroad with 3 kids (DS 13, DS 9 and DD 6) and husband. We're leaning towards Dunblane.
I read that the HS is not all is appears to be, and owes its success to private tutors. There is also a fair but of antisocial behaviour and bullying which isnt addressed - is this the case?

Is it a good mix of families? We're used to diversity and would love to strike a balance and not have a school dominated by rich kids.

Is anyone from the area and would consider meeting for playdates/hangouts before the new term?

Thanks so much.

I’d say it’s a mix. A lot do well without tutors but there is (imo) quite a bit of tutoring. Results are good but a lot can depend of the teacher they have in that particular year.

I don’t have DC there now but have heard of disruptive behaviour but no worse than other schools in the area.

Not very diverse but not everyone is rich - previously you may have had a bigger mix through placement requests but think that placement requests are difficult now.

One of the biggest problems you might have is finding a house in catchment as there’s never very much on the market.

Bright, well motivated kids do well at DHS without tutors. I would say there is quite a bit of tutoring but the school openly acknowledges the impact of parental support (and that will include tutoring) on its exam results. I have two children there, one is in senior phase and has done very well so far (no tutor). Staff have have been very encouraging & supportive. Most of my gripes with the school are a reflection of the state of Scotland’s education system and not the school itself.

In my opinion, discipline in the primaries and high school could be better and I don’t think bullying is particularly well addressed. This may reflect Stirling Council behaviour policies but I don’t think schools can impose many consequences anymore.

Yes, there are a minority who behave badly but the majority of young people I encounter are polite, pleasant and a credit to their parents.

It isn’t super diverse but it is a lovely place to live. So close to everything the central belt offers with lots of beautiful countryside on the doorstep. I think it is a lovely place for my kids to grow up.

However, property is scarce and at a premium. What I would say is, don’t just move here for the schools. There are lots of other good or better schools, they just might not so far up the league table!

I live in Dunblane, my dc went to DHS and I wasn’t impressed, though to be fair, I’ve nothing to compare it with.
If your dc are not good at / interested in the STEM subjects, don’t go near it. The school is small so subject choice is limited and they just couldn’t/wouldn’t make a senior phase timetable work without STEM.
Dunblane is lovely, well connected by public transport , loads for kids to do in the area, mostly affluent, not very diverse, house prices are expensive and competitive……feel free to pm if you want any more info.

There is no ability setting at DHS - so the academically weak and academically strong in a subject are all in together. It is possible to do the senior phase without STEM though I think the choice of subjects is limited. We experienced some bad points and some good ones - you have to be prepared to intervene when necessary. Behaviour and I think the general atmosphere was okay. Staff often but not always also okay. The Scottish education system itself is an issue - there are threads on that. The school has reduced hours for financial reasons.

Thanks so much everyone. Lots to think about. It sounds a great fit in many regards, I guess we just have to make the move and see how we go...

I think one of the reasons for increased use of tutors in a lot of schools in Scotland ( it's also rife in the local private schools) is the mismatch between the new curriculum and the demands of the Scottish University system. The capped places mean that you can't afford to drop a grade and still get into one of the unis traditionally favoured by middle class Scots.
The curriculum is designed to provide routes to further achievement for all abilities which can be great but can be a bit frustrating for some very academic children.
I went to Dunblane High and had tutoring for one subject, as did both my siblings! It's a sign that its a school where parents want good exam results and it's always been like that, especially for subjects like Maths which are v important but don't come naturally to everyone.
As to behaviour and bullying, my kids are all ( just) through the system and I have noticed a deterioration. Multi factorial: early retirement of senior staff who were good at the tough but fair approach. Social media and phones seem to encourage annoying/ difficult behaviour. Lockdown seems to have exacerbated the above. Discipline options seem to be limited.
I do think it's one of the better places to live for teens, I didn't manage to move back due to the aforementioned shortage of suitable/ affordable housing at the right time and ended up living somewhere nice but with rubbish transport links, years of taxiing kids about, definitely wistful about the train station in Dunblane.

We moved to Dunblane a few years ago (also lived abroad a good number of years), mostly for its good rail connections to the Central Belt and London (work reasons) and further north (family reasons).

We like it, but did find the housing situation a little tricky. Luckily we're not fussy, but I have heard of people waiting 18 months+ to find something they want/can afford. We do also notice the lack of diversity, because of where we have lived previously, but we do try to chat about it with our kids to make sure they don't completely forget that we are currently living in a bit of a white, middle-class bubble!

DHS seems ok to us. It has its problems, but what high school doesn't, post-pandemic?! Hearing from friends working in various schools, discipline seems to be a problem across the board and as previous posters have noted, it's not always easy to address. That said, the interactions we have had with the school directly have all been good.

I'm not sure about the STEM-heavy focus as we haven't reached the upper end of the school yet (my older child is not particularly STEM-focussed, but has made a good selection of subjects for Nat 5s), but I am a bit confused about the comment regarding reduced hours made by a previous poster. As far as I am aware, DHS has the same hours as other schools in the area.

Good luck with making a decision, OP!

@BeanMachine - I imagine that the school may well have the same hours as other schools in the Stirling district, but they have gone down over recent years, for cost reasons.

Ah, ok, that makes more sense. It's a problem across the board, then, which is a different issue, as far as I see it.

The hours have gone up not down. I've been a secondary teacher in Stirling schools for a looong time. We used to be 30 period week 5 x6 . We are now 32 2x7 and 3 x 6. Maybe extra curricular stuff that's reduced but young people are in class longer. I think the increase took place around 2013.

That's interesting, @Lidlfix.
We've lived in various different places/countries and have seen places with school on Saturdays, half day Wednesdays (or Fridays), short days/short holidays, long days/long holidays... seems like there is no right or wrong (or consensus!) on what works best, in terms of hours in the classroom or how those hours are spread across the year.

I don't know about 2013, but I do remember that there have been 2 reductions in class hours since then, at least at DHS. The last time, from memory they went to a system of 2 long days (the original ordinary school day) and 3 short days. We also had a situation where my DC was in a small class, and this resulted in the teaching hours in that subject being cut quite drastically. On the plus side, they did run the class, where other schools might not have done. This was at the senior level. I would say about DHS that I found communication with parents to be poor. There wasn't much consultation with parents either. If you needed to speak to a teacher, you had to email the school reception, and then just hope that they would pass your message on to the relevant teacher and you would hear back from them.

There hasn't been a reduction in hours. Changes in the pattern of how the 7 period days were made up. Introduction (and then removal of) staggered breaks and lunches. The freaky fortnightly time table in 20/21 to reduce possible contact tracing. Some AHs reduced class contact but preferable to not running or the centralised provision, only running one class instead of two in more niche subjects to increase time table efficiency . S6 pupils dropping subjects like the proverbial when unconditionals arrive. But no reduction to the school day for BGE years, S4 and S5 that's not within the decision making capacity of a HT. As teacher recruitment continues to be a problem this will be how the future looks.