School Issues - moving from England to Scotland

[allison2067]

We are moving back to the Dunblane area in Scotland in the summer from Epsom, Surrey. I have a 16 year old boy ( year 11 currently & sitting GCSE's) and an 11 year old boy( year 6 currently). We are thinking about either Dunblane High School or Beaconhurst School. The boys were in Beaconhurst for a few years prior to us moving to England 4 years ago. I wondered if anyone had experience of these 2 schools now ( good or bad) and could give any advice about how to help my 16 year old in particular settle down at school. I am a bit worried about the differences between GCSE and National 5's and whether this may make the move to Higher difficult. any advice / experience of this would be great to hear.

meant to say, hope your visit goes well and if you need any other info, feel free to ask.

I have had quite a lot of dealings with Glenalmond in Perth. We seriously considered a place there for our DS but in the end opted for an English Boarding school. It is a beautiful school in amazing surroundings, the head is a lovely man and so is the registrar. We found all the kids to be delightful that we came in contact with. It is not the most academic school, my impression was of a warm and nurturing environment with the kids turning out to be lovely well rounded individuals. All this comes at a price though as it is the best part of 30k per year. They definitely cover the English curriculum.

The other private school locally would be Dollar Academy (who do Drama) but a quick look at their website confirms they are following the Scottish curriculum. Dollar get good results and my own personal view would be that they are more academic than Beaconhurst.

I would worry, like you about the depth, but it may be misplaced, between the GCSE and the National 5. My DS, boarding in England, is doing 12 GCSEs this year whilst his friends from up here are doing between 6 and 8 subjects at National 5. I'm sure the deputy head at Dunblane will put your fears to bed though.

Dollar has an entrance test which may mean that this is not an option for your DS. Have been called on by worried parents who wanted me to tutor kids who have not coped there even after passing entrance exam. I do not rate it's traditional teaching methods but if that's what you look for, you might. State schools are much more concerned with inclusion than independents.

Hi, a bit late to this thread - just wondering what decision you made re: Dunblane/Beaconhurst and if it was the right choice?

I'm wondering the same OP. We are looking at beaconhurst so curious if you picked it in the end and what you think?