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2 SCOTSMAN.COM !THESCOTSMAN INDEPENDENTSCHOOLS PROMOTEDCONTENT
Tailored
individual
learning
Even virtually, schools are focused on getting Hthe best from every pupil, says Judy Vickers
ome schooling, blended to just under 30,000 pupils, with learning, Google Teams more than 90 per cent day pupils. and Zoom – the last few These numbers have proved
THE SCOTSMAN Saturday 19 September 2020
CONTENTS
TALKING HEADS
School leaders explain the steps they have taken to help pupils cope with Covid-19 PAGE6
FEES SUPPORT
Assistance is available to make independent education open to all PAGE 11
THE SCHOOLS
KILGRASTON SCHOOL
PAGE5
CLIFTON HALL SCHOOL
PAGE8
GEORGE WATSON’S COLLEGE PAGE9 MORRISON’S ACADEMY PAGE 10
THE COMPASS SCHOOL PAGE 11
ST LEONARDS SCHOOL PAGE 12 STRATHALLAN SCHOOL PAGE 12 WELLINGTON SCHOOL PAGE 13 EDINBURGH STEINER
SCHOOL
PAGE 14
Independent Schools is a supplement with promoted content published by JPI Media, 30 Queensferry Road, Edinburgh EH4 2HS to appear with The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. Some editorial content has been included at the request of advertisers.
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months have seen some of the most dramatic changes ever in the education system; changes which came with a whole new vocabulary that has now become part of our day-to-day lexicon.
Parents, teachers and pupils had to adapt fast when schools were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March. It was a steep learning curve, but John Edward, director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), believes that the innovative response of independent schools sector more than proved its value and relevance to 21st-century Scotland.
He says: “Teachers worked through the Easter holidays and had a full distance-learning programme in place by the new term. Pupils, more or less, didn’t miss a beat from one term to the next. Many had six hours direct contact time – that’s pretty much a full school day.”
The SCIS represents 73 independent schools, including the vast majority of mainstream institutions out of just over 100 in Scotland. Their member schools educate about 4 per cent of Scottish children – almost 6 per cent of secondary school pupils – equating
robust, staying steady despite crises ranging from the financial crash
of 2008, which left great economic uncertainty in its wake, to the present pandemic.
The sector is worth about
£30 million to £35m, and pupil numbers are actually beginning
to rise. Edward at least partly attributes this to the sector’s performance during the pandemic, saying: “Schools have been able to deliver, and people are putting their faith in them.”
And he maintains that this was possible due to one of independent schools’ most important plus points – their autonomy: “It is this which gives them the ability to tailor the curriculum, the methodology, the learning support, the technology to the individual pupil and to the school itself. Nothing
has demonstrated that better than the way they have responded to coronavirus.”
Dr Michael Carslaw, headmaster at St Leonards in St Andrews, believes that independent schools have stayed relevant in a modern world because they are innovative and offer different, often unique, learning programmes.
He says: “There are a lot of interesting things going on in independent schools. We are one of only of 41 schools worldwide and the only one in Scotland to be accredited to the International Baccalaureate’s four programmes. And I know a lot of independent schools are doing special things as well. It’s part of a healthy diversity.”
With the new school year and pupils returning to real classrooms, there have been fresh challenges for the sector – not least figuring out how to hold open days, traditionally a time of welcoming families of potential new pupils to see for themselves what the schools have to offer.
But, as with lockdown, innovation
has been the key. Many schools have turned to online options, including George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, which is holding a virtual open morning on Saturday, 3 October, with 69 live events scheduled covering every aspect of the school’s life.
Jenny McGill, admissions registrar, says: “Families choose from a programme of events which suit their own areas of interest in the school, with each event lasting around 20 minutes.”
Choices include Preschool: Why We Believe In Adventures,
Music – LIVE!, A Day in the Life
of Senior School, and The World Beyond Watson’s.
McGill continues: “Everyone has
MERCHISTON CASTLE SCHOOL
LOCATION EDINBURGH NUMBER OF PUPILS 400 AGE RANGE 7!18 BOARDING AND DAY PUPILS, BOYS QUALIFICATIONS GCSE, IGCSE, HIGHER, A!LEVEL
Many schools can boast about their exceptional academics, university successes, extensive sporting and co-curricular programmes, internationalists, specialist sporting academies, welcoming atmospheres and stunning grounds and facilities. Indeed, we can do that as well.
What makes Merchiston dierent, however, is a combination of things: our size, a genuine focus on the needs of the individual, and the fact that we really understand boys and how to get the very
best out of them. It is a potent trio. It is what enables us to know our boys really well and to understand what makes them tick.
Our community’s wellbeing is central; without
it no-one will ever achieve their best. That is why wellbeing underpins everything we do. Our boys thrive because they are known, understood, valued, and supported in everything they do.
Merchiston is a remarkable school where boys make life-long friends and community connections while gaining a world-class, global, outward-looking education.
“Traditional, warm and personal school – small enough for everyone to know everyone.”
Good Schools Guide, 2020
We would love to talk to you about your son and, more importantly, talk with him to work out
what makes him tick, discuss where he wants to go next and make sure he has the toolkit to get there.
We know that choosing a school for your son is an important decision, which is why we treat every application individually. No two families are the same, so there is no typical process.
This term, we are delighted to be able to oer personalised tours; we build our tours around
you and your son. Visit us in person to meet
the headmaster and tour our grounds, or experience our new interactive and immersive 360-degree virtual tour.
Our success proves that what we do works.
Great City Prep – ‘The Best of the Best’
The Week, 2019
www.merchiston.co.uk