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encyclopaedic knowledge of The Beatles worthy
of an appearance on Mastermind. Many are the
classes who have mischievously engaged him in
the Rolling Stones versus The Beatles debate on
a Friday afternoon! Numerous previous pupils
have fond memories of being educated in Lennon
and McCartney’s discography as well as CS. In
the words of a former Heriot’s pupil: ‘Having
had the pleasure of being in one of Jeremy’s
first Higher classes after joining Heriot’s, then
latterly being one of his colleagues, I know he
is going to be sorely missed. As a young pupil, I
found his knowledge and passion for computing
science infectious, and I’m sure he’s responsible
for many a young person’s decision to pursue
further education and careers in the field. Being
a teenager in the early 2000s, it was great to
see a teacher as enthusiastic about the latest
technology as the pupils; from his amazement
at the first generation of iPods and their storage
capacity to the latest development in digital
cameras.’
He is also an accomplished guitarist and his
Ave et Vale of Technology, to speak at China’s inaugural band has quite a large fanbase in Brazil. Jeremy
international conference on Computational
suffers from chronic GAS (Guitar Acquisition
Jeremy Scott Thinking Education in Guangzhou and to Syndrome) and it is not uncommon to find him
contribute articles to various academic
sitting sheepishly in the department office on
publications. Jeremy has served on and has given
evidence to various committees and government a Monday morning, confessing to the purchase
Jeremy Scott, known affectionately by many advisory bodies including the Royal Society of of yet another guitar (much to the chagrin of
pupils over the years as ‘Jezza’, has been London, Computing in the Curriculum, Scottish his tolerant wife, Elaine). When he isn’t playing
Principal Teacher of Computing Science since Government committee on Girls in Computing, his guitars, Jeremy can often be found dodging
joining Heriot’s as a hirsute young man in 2001. Computing At School and Edinburgh University’s adders in the hills while gold prospecting or metal
Computing Science (CS) was a niche subject CS in Schools group, amongst others. detecting in his quest to discover the Eagle of the
in those days and over the past two decades, Jeremy is a keen film buff and can quote from Ninth.
Jeremy’s passion for his subject and meticulous copious films at the drop of a hat, littering his Although he is not retiring when he’s 64, he
attention to detail has grown the department into lessons with relevant and pithy one-liners. As will no doubt have more than one hard day’s
one of the most successful in Scotland. well as his career-long determination to promote night tinkering on his elderly Porsche. Most of
Prior to Heriot’s, Jeremy taught at James Young and provide the very best CS education, he all, however, he will enjoy spending more time
High School in West Lothian for 13 years, inspiring enthusiastically ran a film-making interest class with Elaine, Sarah and Anna. He will be missed as
pupils to pursue their computing studies. An Apple for many years. He also established a digital a supportive, kind and knowledgeable Head of
fanboi, he still talks fondly about the competition photography club which quickly grew in popularity Department and colleague.
his pupils won which involved an all-expenses and pupils have won or been commended in We thank him for his dedication to the Heriot’s
paid trip (with their teacher) to Apple’s numerous national photographic competitions; community and we wish him a long and happy
headquarters in Cupertino, California. Upon one such prize was a trip for the pupil, parent and retirement.
joining Heriot’s, Jeremy spent the next couple teacher to travel to Shamwari Game Reserve in
of years establishing formal CS courses in Upper South Africa for a photographic safari. Mrs Judith McColgan
Primary and S1/2, developing curricula that Jeremy is also a music aficionado and has an Jeremy Scott left Heriot’s in June 2021.
introduced computing science concepts to
younger pupils.
Alongside his Head of Department duties,
Jeremy used his desktop publishing skills to
produce various school publications and event
programmes over the years. He also researched
and developed the first computerised reporting
system at Heriot’s which provided tracking of
pupil effort and attainment throughout their
school career. This system went on to become
runner-up in Filemaker’s UK Developer Awards.
Jeremy’s desire to improve the national
teaching of computing science led to his
secondment to the Royal Society of Edinburgh
from 2011-14, leading a national project of
exemplification for the new CS curricula in
Scotland and the rest of the UK. The materials
he developed are used across the globe and
as a widely respected authority on the topic of
computational thinking, Jeremy was invited to
Boston to lecture at the Massachusetts Institute

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