At Thomas Aquin’s / Trinity Academy-Edin

[Juslooking2]

Apologies- aware this gets asked a lot. Has anyone got any recent (last few years) experience of Trinity Academy or St Thomas Aquin’s Edinburgh? About to move into catchment for both and we are catholic so either is an option.

St Tams looks better on paper re results. But I am aware of some bullying. And there is also quite a lot of religion which wasn’t for us. Building is nice and in a lovely location.

Trinity has new sports facilities and is being rebuilt. Apparently disruption not too bad according to kids I talk to. They have a core group of fantastic kids who achieve well. Bit more of a mixed catchment than some of the other schools. Lots of good extra curricular activities.

Brilliant thanks for this.

We have been happy with Trinity. The head is young and energetic, great communication, I rate him. Obviously the works are a pain but DS never mentions any issues. Bullying is stamped down on hard in our experience. I’ve always been impressed with the pastoral care we have had. The teachers we have met at Parents evening have been absolutely lovely.

It is a more mixed catchment.. S1 was a bit ropey but things have settled down in S2. If you want to
work and do well you will and extra curriculars are great too.

Thanks this is really encouraging. Trinity would be good because it would mean she could come home for lunch if she wanted. I also get good impression from the head. Thanks for your input.

im not sure the league tables tell the full story so leaning toward trinity.

Hi @Nomorepants just wondering with the bullying thing at st TA, is that through accounts from people you know who go there? I read something about bad behaviour in 2015 but can see new head in place since then.

I would also consider the difference in "commutes". Assuming you're living in the Trinity catchment then your child will be able to walk to school or easy to drop off by car, and all their friends will come from a similar area. St Thomas' doesn't look far on a map but I sometimes use the buses from the Trinity catchment to that side of town and they take longer than you'd expect at rush hour and their friends will come from a wider area and it could make friendships harder to sustain outside of school.

A couple of cases of kids who have moved to Trinity due to the atmosphere at St T. But likely you get bad behaviour and bullying at all schools. I believe the current head is good.

Used to teach at St Tam’s - loved it! It just has the usual problems that state schools these days commonly share.

And the no 27 and 23 buses will take her straight there, just in case you wanted to avoid the city centre traffic.

Aquinas

Not in this case. The OP was quite right in her spelling of the Edinburgh high school.

I heard of quite an extreme case of violence last academic year at St T’s, but understand it was dealt with very firmly by the head and the school police officer (I don’t know if police officers are standard in schools?) I haven’t heard anything about trinity.

@JMSA, thank you, and apologies to OP and to both the saints.

Absolutely standard to have community police officers attached to schools. Of course some will be more rushed off their feet than others in certain schools 😆

Ha ha, no problem! 😊

Experience of both professionally, more so Trinity. I really rate it. Great pastoral care.

Thanks for this. We went with St Tam’s in the end after initially thinking Trinity. Trinity does sound really good though.

What did you love about it?

I’ve heard bad things about Trinity too. No school is immune from criticism.
I loved the staff at St Tam’s and the vast majority of pupils are great too. The pastoral care is good; I enjoyed working closely with the Pupil Support Leaders there. It’s a lovely big building and has a modern feel. Fab and easy to reach location. The SLT there is very caring too, especially Mme J-P.
I work in a different school now with more challenging kids. It’s great but I never realised how good I had it at St Tam’s!
Oh, and should your child ever need it, the Wellbeing Hub there is very well run.
Also, I work with a couple of people whose kids are in S1 at St Tam’s. They’re loving it.
You need to just settle into your decision now. I hope it all works out and that your child will be happy there 😊

Ahh thanks so much for this. I met someone who worked there in the well being hub and she was great.

Hope you are enjoying your new post!

Do the children get spanish in S1 and what trips do they do in high school at st tams abroad over the years?? I cant find this info on site