Thread: helensburgh help needed!! x

hi everyone

i got married end of november and my hubby has just joined his new draft at faslane. i have a daughter who is 5 on monday and we are hopefully moving to married quarters in helensburgh between april and june as hubby has got 4 months wher he is not going anywhere!
he is bringing the forms home this weekend so was wondering if you have any advice on what area i should put as my first choice? ive heard colgrain school is the best in the area but that patch is full most of the time?
any info on houses, areas, schools etc would be really appreciated! and if anyone knows how long it usually takes from putting application in to getting a house, that would be a big help!
ive never lived more than 15 mins away from all my friends and family so im really scared!! x

Hi J! I don't live up in the 'Burgh but the OH is based at Fazzers so have spent a bit of time in the area but don't know the answers you're looking for I'm afraid, but thought I'd say hi as didn't want to read and run! Xx

Hermitage used to be better than Colgrain but that's going back a good *ahem* few years back now. I think Kayleigh is up that neck of the woods so it might be worth dropping her a pm.

We're going to be moving up to Helensburgh at the end of this year (once we've got married) and I'm having the same problems as you - I have an almost 9 year old and I'm worrying about which school to put her in. I've tried looking at the reports on the Scottish version of Ofsted but they're very short and not much help!

Have you spoken to the Hive up there? My OH will be moving up there in a fortnight's time so I'm going to send him to speak to them (armed with a list of questions cos he won't have a clue what to ask himself!). Might be worth sending your OH to do the same.

Good luck and I'll be keeping an eye on this thread cos it's something I'm very stressed about myself xxx

I've dropped Kayleigh a text so hopefully she'll be along soon

thanks for the replys girls!
ive told the oh to get as much info as possible but he has only been there for two weeks and been busy getting hs iweapon training up to date!
he's home tonight untill sunday then goes away for a week or two, then goes away again for a month so he's pretty much leaving it up to me lol!.
through google ive found that theres 3 schools in the area, john logie baired seems to be the one with most forces kids, but tbh it doesnt sound great! my dd is in an 'outstanding'( ofsted report) school at the moment and coming along great, im just dreading taking her from there and putting her in a dump!

is anyones oh in p squadron? thats what my hubby does and as he hasnt been there long i dont really know anything about it lol xx

Hi Jenni,

I would just like to say that I don't know much about the schools as I have no kids. So I can just tell you what I have heard other people say. I know people who have sent their kids to John Logie Baird and they have had no problems whatsoever. I also know of people who have sent their kids to JLB and they have had no end of issues and have had to remove their kids and put them into new schools. I think the Hermitage School is supposed to be a a good school, Colgrain school I don't know much about.

As for the patches, you can put Colgrain down as your first choice but I am sure that the area you will be placed in is down to hubbys rank. They have Rhu for Officers and such, Colgrain for CPO's/Leading Hands/Sgts and similar ranks and then Churchill is for Marines through to Cpls, and AB's and such. Having said that... I know the RSM is round the corner from me, L/Cpls are living in Colgrain and CPOs live in Churchill. So I do think that it is just luck of the draw. So if you put down Colgrain and your hubby has not long passed out of training, don't be put off by living in Churchill as that is where you will most likely be placed. The houses are supposed to be better in Colgrain than Churchill but I have never been there so I don't know. I do know they have better kitchens that Churchill as I have seen pictures on Facebook!

Don't worry about coming up here, you will make some fab friends no matter where you are put. You will make friends for life and you will be accepted into your new home from the moment you move in.

If you want anything else, just PM me and I will give you as much info as I can.

Good luck with everything, and give me a shout if you need to!

I wouldn't put down for if you are a rating/Senior rate. As a couple with 1 child you are only entitled to 2 beds and the ones on Colgrain are tiny! I was in tears when we went to look at the house, when we returned the key the Housing Office then let us look at the 3-bed 3-storey houses on Churchill. (The rules about this have since changed). The Qtrs at Churchill were refurbished around 1999/2000 and the kitchens were lovely then, hopefully if they have been well maintained they will still be OK!

One thing I will say about Churchill, it doesn't look the best, but out of all the Married patches I have lived on, it had the best feeling of community.

JLB school is not the best, however, because of the way the schooling system works in Scotland you will probably find your daughter will be ahead of her peers when she returns south!

My daughter is in an OFSTED outstanding school at the moment as well jenni so I think we probably have very similar concerns but to be honest, her current school is very tied to the curriculum and is scared of deviating in case they lose their outstanding rating so the brighter kids like DD are getting bored and restless. I have an English friend who lives in Glasgow and in her opinion the Scottish school system is much better so even a fairly iffy school will usually produce good results. For instance, DDs birthday is this month which makes her one of the oldest in her year currently whereas in Scotland the oldest kids have their birthdays in March so she will be one of the younger ones. That should mean she isn't quite as far ahead as she is at the moment!

One of the lads in OHs class is from Helensburgh (was speaking to him at passout today) and he says that all of the schools up there are very understanding with RN and RM kids and a lot of the problems that occur are just the usual ones where you have a fairly transient population. He reckons the kids that are there long term do as well there as they would do anywhere else. Feel a lot better having spoken to him today!

Scarlett, I don't know how long it has been since you were last round Churchill but lately it has come to light that area is an absolute tip. There is an ongoing moan (if you like) to DHE to try and get the patch sorted. It is an abolute shambles, DHE isn't wanting to help anyone out. That is hopefully going to change soon as some big dogs have got involved from Faslane and they are determind to get something sorted to make the patch look a little more presentable and a nicer area to live in.

Squirrel - I hope you had a lovely time at Passout! From what I have heard it's very much like that. I can't imagine it's very easy to have kids coming in and out of schools whenever a new draft comes through. Hopefully, wherever you put your kids, you will end up not having any problems

hiya
ive been thinking and now feel alot better about moving! im 24 and always lived in the same town so its time for a change, if i really hate it i can always move back, and if the school is awfull i can transfer her to another one!! kayleigh, i no you mite not want to say, but do you know the reasons they took their kids out of that school?

so what are the houses like? i no the outside arnt ment to be very nice , but what are they like inside? how much space is there and have they all got gardens? any road names would be a great help so i can have a look on that google earth thing lol

is there much to do in helensburgh itself or do you have to travel to get to anywere?

sorry about all the questions, i would just like to know as much as possibe as i dont think i will get chane to go and look around before we move!!

thanks
jen x

Hi,

Honestly, do not worry! The people who live on the patch here are lovely. I couldn't ask for a better bunch to be living with! I moved here when I was 21, and I settled in fine. I was really scared as it was out first MQs but felt fine straight away! Do you know when you will be looking to move up here? Sorry but I don't really want to say as it's just stuff I have seen on facebook and don't want to say something without knowing the full story! I do know that people have moved kids out of the school and when they moved the kids were much happier.

They have al got gardens, not the biggest or best BUT it's still a garden. It all depends on what house you get. They are all so different. I have loads of space in mine, but having said that I don't have any children so it's just me, hubby and the dog! Inside they are all decorated very plainly but you can do as you please to the houses when you move in but have to change it all back to how it was at march in when you do your march out. I shall PM you some names of roads.

Nope, and yep! Helensburgh is RUBBISH! It's got a medium sized Co-Op, two Tesco Metro's (one being a petrol station) and a Farmfoods that is smaller than my living room. Dumbarton has a massive ASDA and Morrisons though, so that's good just a pain in the backside as it's such a trek! There are no clothes shops besides charity and a couple of boutiquey type places but there is a shed load of Beauty/Hair/Takeaway shops! I shall PM you the roads round H'burgh town too so you can see what it's like.

That's fine, ask away! I couldn't ask as no one was up here when I moved here!

PM sent!

No sign of that new Waitrose supermarket at Hermitage yet, then?

No, I think it will be 2013 or possibly even later? Not too sure. Old Hermitage Academy has been fully knocked down now though, so if that's where they are putting it it may not be that long until it's done!

Jenni - been doing some research on JLB and have noticed that they had a follow-up inspection to the rather worrying one I read from 2010. Have a read of the links and it should put your mind at rest, hopefully!

John Logie Baird Primary School

hiya, sorry i havnt been on for a while, my laptop died n took me ages to gt a new one!, been stressed recently as oh got deployed last minute and dint have chance to put the housing form in!!
he's back end of march and then goes again for 4 months end of june, so was just wondering how long does it take from putting forms in to getting address and moving date?
now ive got more time, have you any ides on what road preferences i should put? maybe closest to a primary school? thanks xx

For churchill any road is close. At the furthest point away you are no more than a 10 minute walk, easily done in 5... Colgrain I am not sure about as I don't know the layout of the roads or where the school is.

We put in for our qtrs and it took them a week to to get back and then 2 weeks later we were in. So not long BUT there was houses free. If there's a waiting list (which there isn't, plenty of free houses up here) you could be waiting a while.

Thanks Hun, been reading more and think we are going to put churhill down as first choice! Is there much difference between upper and lower? Hopefully it is that quick for us n we will be up there end of April :-) x

Hi Jenni - just been having a look at this:

Welcome to JLB Primary.

Actually looks an awful lot better than my daughter's so-called 'outstanding' school!

Also, my OH went for a wander round the town today and he really likes it - he never likes anything, so I'm taking it as a good sign lol. He did mention that he's never seen so many charity shops in one place before though