Arran high school and rugby football

[Corajoan]

I am very disillusioned with the secondary education where I am on the Cornwall Devon boarder. We are part of a MAT and the behaviour policy is causing huge absence from lessons for many children with SEN, and for minor issues.

I am considering a move to the Isle of Arran for a small school experience and a more family environment. Our current school is 1,400 plus.

What are peoples thoughts?
Is it a welcoming place?
Can children take part in competitive sports with other schools off the island?

My kids love rugby and football.

Any freed back on the state of Scottish education will be appreciated.

You too, I just posted about growing up on Arran. I do kind of think it might have been fun to take kids there to see grandparents, bit like Katy Morag!

I know what you mean about not much for teens, it was similar in the rural area we moved to in the Borders.

Thanks everyone. I currently live in West Devon and have been here for 7 years. The first winter we moved here it rained non stop! It’s particularly wet here so I’m used to rain. Where we are now the kids don’t have anything to do really. It’s a small village but no shop or social club for teens.

My main reason for moving is the schools here are terrible. Arran high looks good and smaller so the kids should hopefully be known well by staff. We have supply teachers on a regular basis here which is not good as they don’t know the kids or where they are at academically.

I was hoping Lamlash would have sports and a social club at least… behind the school seemed to have a cabin with snooker / pool ect? And they run a bike maintenance club? Water sports too maybe? These are the sort of things I was hoping for? Maybe a film club?

it would be a shame if the hotel closed. Our local hotel here own a few houses which they let rooms to staff at a low rate. One is next door to me. It seems to work well. I wonder if they have considered offering accommodation to staff?

Both my adult kids in somerset and Devon are struggling to buy a flat. Prices here are pretty high. Probably simular to Arran maybe a little more. Cornwall is even worse. Anywhere tourists want to visit seems to suffer in a similar way. I’m in a quieter spot so a small pocket of cheaper housing. But prices across the board are levelling out.

The hotel owns a lot of accommodation for staff.

If you want a cheap rural life with decent schools then Scotland isn't a bad choice but the Islands are probably the least sensible choice for this.

I'm not sure why you drawn to this idea?
I wonder if it is some romanticism? The isolation of the Islands reduces the quality of the education and increases the costs compared to the surrounding areas.

Have considered Ayrshire or Argyll?

I only really know Ayrshire from travelling through it on the way to the ferry, but my impression from what I see and hear is that you'd need to be very careful about which bit of Ayrshire to live in. Some very rough areas.

As is the way with many many places …

I personally feel small schools offer such a lot in human terms. I hate large institutions. It doesn’t suit my children either. They are thriving in a tiny school at primary level. Arran high has the best results outside of the Glasgow schools. There was one other school at Calder which was better but housing there was less affordable. So it was a choice based on research.

Possibly when they are older. At which point they will be able to leave if they choose.

Fair enough, though as your inital query included the sport and extra curricular opportunities on island for young people, I think you might struggle with this aspect.

Good luck whatever you go for, Arran is a lovely place - though I can only say that as a rose tinted holidaymaker x

Which set of exam results are you using? Because the highers table has Arran at 113th out of about 360 in Scotland last year. Highers are really the gold standard attainment wise up here. Theres even better performing schools elsewhere in north Ayrshire.

Theres a huge amount of better performing. Scottish schools that aren’t in Glasgow area tbh. I’m not quite sure where you’ve got that from?

There is no Calder High school? There's Calderglen in East Kilbride, but that's a new town?

There are better rural schools, why not look at Aberdeenshire?

Or Dunblane?

There is more rugby on the east coast.

If you want somewhere small but has some degree of back up that isn't a ferry look at Dunoon area. Very similar to being an island but you can go up and over if the weather isn't too bad...probably more accessible for activities as a result as I've heard from friends who grew up there (but left as soon as they could with no plans to return beyond the odd visit to family).

I agree about the secondary school situation in West Devon, we lived there pre kids but part of the drive to move away was school concerns.

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotlands-best-high-schools-2024-31601983

Beware of league tables. They probably don’t factor in enrichment like the extra curricular aspects you have been wondering about.

If you’re prioritising sport, I really wouldn’t move somewhere so sparsely populated and geographically isolated- if you just do the maths on that school- 250 kids across 7 years is 35 per year- half are girls- so 17/18 boys- barely enough for a rugby or football team even if they all play. All the kids on the island go to that school so there isn’t another school to play against.

My dc go to a prep with roughly that many and by year 8 it really is too small especially if you have a gender skew in any year ( which happens). If you get one v difficult or dominating personality it can be problematic. In Arran’s case there would also be no scope for “out of school”
friendships because literally all the kids on the island would be in their class so if they w weren’t gelling socially it would be awful.

I think you’d actually be better moving somewhere more populated where there might be more choice of school
size.

There are only 6 years in Scottish high school not 7.

Drug taking is a huge issue in lots of rural communities especially coastal ones.

League tables can fluctuate. Look at what schools do well over the long term and compare to their demographics.

East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire consistently do well. Some rural areas that feed into these top school may suit you, eg Eaglesham, Neilston, Waterfoot.

Other good schools with rural catchments are Dunblane, Linlithgow, Banchory.

West Calder is Livingston, a new town. It's not pretty!

I grew up in a rural area of mainland Scotland. While it's beautiful and the schools were small, there wasn't much for teens to do. I was a member of various sports teams, too. I couldn't wait to leave the area. I know very few people who stayed who were able to foster successful careers and not just fall into a job and stay there forever. Fine if that's for you, but it's very limiting.

Rural areas restrict opportunities for kids, and when they grow up, that continues into further education and working life. Essentially, you'd be limiting your kids' options by moving somewhere so remote, and they, like so many others from the islands, are likely to move away as soon as they can.

There are only 6 years in Scottish high school not 7.

ah yes- sorry- but even so i’d still say that’s too small for a secondary. I get why parents don’t like these huge, very regimented secondaries, but anything under 100 per year will limit things like sports, music and drama somewhat, and that’s particularly an issue if there’s no wider opportunities out of school through local clubs etc.

Thank you this is very helpful.

Sorry, but your reasoning for jumping to Arran seem a bit ill thought out. There are many great areas in Scotland with great schools. You don’t need to move to an island… If it’s island life you want then great! But make sure you’re making that choice for the right reason, and not saying it’s for the education value.

If you’re in west Devon you could move towards Chulmleigh school? Moving to a Scottish island when you have kids in Somerset & Cornwall just seems a bit radical!

Hi, just came across this thread looking for something else and wanted to chime in. I moved to Arran nearly two years ago (I’m English, husband Scottish) and it was the best decision I have ever made. It’s an incredibly beautiful peaceful place with a strong sense of community and welcome. I don’t have children (yet) but know neighbours with children in the high school and they love it. I am sure some teenagers do get bored but having spoken to several who work at the bars and restaurants on their university holidays, many others miss it and come back when they can.

The ferry can be a real pain, it’s okay for us as we both work remotely but it is hard if you need to get on and off the island more regularly and not much work on the island itself (except seasonally in hospitality). Otherwise the facilities are good here - one large co op and two small, great restaurants, lots of local clubs and groups. Oh, and there is an Asda delivery 🙂

Odd to see this pop up right now! We have just started using the Co-op delivery service for my Mum, who lives on Arran, and it's astonishingly clunky compared with Ocado, which is what I use here in London, but at least it's there. It will be a lifeline for us now that my Mum isn't able to get to the store in person.

Now wondering if I might have rubbed shoulders with Elly in the Co-op last month when I was staying with Mum ...

I didn't know about the Asda deliveries. I have heard there's a Morrison's delivery to a hub in Lamlash, which is no good for us as we have no way of getting the delivery from the hub to the house. Does Asda deliver to the door? (Ferries, permitting, of course.)

Completely agree about the wonderful community spirit there. I love it. Hate the ferry using Troon rather than Ardrossan, but looks like that's it for the foreseeable future.

I might have spoken too soon about Asda - it started up last year again but after checking it looks like it’s presently on pause due to the Troon situation. The co op delivery service is clunky but reliable - you might also want to try joining the Arran Community forum on Facebook for recent updates. If your Mum ever needs some extra support or shopping I’m sure there would be lots of willing volunteers - me included, we are in Brodick!

Thank you, that's very kind, but I think she'll be OK. She has wonderful neighbours and friends from the Church, and her carers are great. Annoying about ASDA!