The Kintyre Forum

What is the school like? Has anyone got any kids at the school? Good learning environment? Any problems with bullying?

We're considering moving up to Campbeltown, and having two young kids, need to find out about the school.

I've found a site (think it was www.ratemyteachers.co.uk) which shows that the kids and parents like and respect most of the teachers, though not sure how representative this is.

There doesn't seem to be league tables in Scotland (found some for 2002, though none after that).

Most I've read about the school seems positive.

I did find a page on the Argyll & Bute Council's website saying that the school was to be re-located - is this still on the cards? Noticed last week that they were building a new school at Lochgilphead. Wonder if CGS is next?

Any comments / experience of the school?

[Apologies if this is the wrong forum - mods, please feel free to move to the correct forum if it is wrong ]

general jack o'niell wrote:great school, great teachers, great enviroment to bring up kids.

Just what I want to here

most beautiful place in the world, despite what some might say

I think it is lovely. There's a much better community up there too. People talk to each other in the street! People definately seem to get friendlier the further north you go.

house prices cheap compared with other places, work situation? i can't comment on

Some of the houses at the Sound of Kintyre development aren't that cheap (for Campbeltown). But then again, if they were in Dorset, they'd be at least double the price. I haven't got a beach one mile from my house either, so I suppose that bumps the premium up. (See my thread on the MOD houses - http://www.kintyreforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2480 )

It's very difficult to weigh up the property market around Campbeltown as there is little for sale. Unfamiliarity with the Scottish system of house selling doesn't help either.

All there seems to be for sale are the old MOD houses, and the odd flat in the town

As for work, I am in a position where I can work from home - I'm just hoping my boss will be okay with me working from home permanently. As long as there's Broadband, I should be fine. I'd probably need to get down to the Midlands once a month which would be a pain, but definately worth it to keep me in a job!

The town seemed to be going down hill for years, but it now seems to be back on the up. Apart from the new swimming pool, we saw several new builds going up. I can't remember ever seeing any building work in my previous visits. (Apart from the Jaeger factory - but I think that's long gone now)

Sorry - I'm going off at tangents here! Any more comments on the school?

Kevin Mc

Re your monthly trip to the Midlands, there is a twice daily flight to Glasgow from Machrihanish which could connect you to a flight to your destination.
Only takes you about 40 minutes to Glasgow.

petewick

I moved to the area 5 years ago and have 2 children at Drumlemble Primary school and 1 at the Grammar. My kids have adapted to country life well and love living here. I also stay at Sound of Kintyre and think its great It is near enough the town to be close to all amenities and is now beginning to feel like a communtiy. I live in a refurbished house not a new one, and feel the reason the new houses are slow at selling is most certainly the price. When the houses started selling they were extremely cheap - a two bedroomed house was £29.000!!! They were slow sellers from the start and locals seemed to thing they would never take off. However, people bought them as holiday homes and retirement homes and slowly but surely they filled up. The trend has changed over the last year or so and more and more families have moved in making it a nice place to live.
The new houses are a different kettle of fish. They were built from scratch and therefore targetting a new market. They are pricey compared to the refurbs and I am not sure who can and would buy them. Not for any other reason than cost. They are too pricey for the holiday home market and also for the average home buyer in Campbeltown - most salaries locally would struggle to afford them. I do feel they are ideal for people moving to the area as they are probably average price compared to most other places.
if you are considering moving here and working from home then I think you would love it. It is a beautiful place to live and great for kids in that its safe and secure. Well worth considerinig!

Thanks for that Kintyre84

Is Drunlemble the catchment school for the Sound of Kintyre? Is that the one on the Macrihanish straight with the new 20mph limit outside? If we moved up now, both kids would be in primary school, with the eldest moving up to CGS next year. Is Drunlemble a good school?

The kids are in a very small school now (probably the smallest in Leicestershire), so that would be perfect. Our eldest left a big primary school (600+) to go into their current school which at the time had less kids in the entire school than the class he was leaving

Everyone who's moved into the area has said it wasn't a mistake I had heard rumours about people getting chucked out of council houses all over the UK and being re-housed in Campbeltown. I was concerned that this would have a negative effect on the town, though from the sounds of it the rumours were probably unsubstantiated(sp?)

We did notice that the refurb houses on the Sound of Kintyre were a lot cheaper than the new builds - even the 5 bed ones are cheaper than the new build 3 bed house we saw. The 3 bed one on the corner plot would be over £200k down here. I must admit I was hoping they'd be more like £150k. Nevertheless, because of the excellent location, it still looks attractive.

The more I hear about the Sound of Kintyre, the better it sounds While I'm talking about the Sound of Kintyre - is Broadband available out there?

We're getting a prospectus from the CGS, so we'll have a look when that comes in.

Any other comments on CGS and the primary schools in the area?

Thanks,

Kevin Mc

Kevin Mc wrote:While I'm talking about the Sound of Kintyre - is Broadband available out there?

Broadband is available in all areas of Scotland now. In the smaller rural areas it was courtesy of the Scottish Executive.
The speed varies depending on how rural you are but can be up to 8Mb.

Malky

Castlehill Primary is the catchment school for S.O.K. Drumlemble is the one you are describing and is my school of choice, however, no transport is provided for the kids to get there and back. In my opinion, and it is only an opinion before people get up in arms, it is the better school asthe pupil - teacher ratio is much smaller etc etc. I think there are 40+ pupils at the moment.

Not sure about the evicted council house tenants etc, but surely there is an element of that everywhere...

When moving to an new area it is a gamble anywhere - but the odds are good in Kintyre!

p.s. a strange incentive from sales person!!! Sounds as though they are ripe for deals!

Am I right in saying that the kids start at the senior school 1 year later in Scotland as opposed to England?

The CGS website states that it takes children from the ages of 12-18. Down here they move up to the senior school at age 11.

I hope this is right, as we'd really like the kids to start in primary school first to make friends there before moving up to CGS. A small primary school will be far less daunting than moving into a big school where they don't know anyone.

Yes, they start at age 5 up here. My youngest has started P1 just this autumn.

Malky wrote:Broadband is available in all areas of Scotland now. In the smaller rural areas it was courtesy of the Scottish Executive.

In theory, anyhow. There are still communities too far from the exchange to be reliably connected.

Beachcomber wrote:

Malky wrote:Broadband is available in all areas of Scotland now. In the smaller rural areas it was courtesy of the Scottish Executive.

In theory, anyhow. There are still communities too far from the exchange to be reliably connected.

Agreed,
it is far from all the country that has coverage. There is still plenty of exchanges awaiting upgrade but try and get the map to load on BT's site .