Merchiston Castle School
Motto	Ready ay Ready
Established	1833
Type	Independent all-boys Junior & Senior
Founder	Charles Chalmers
Headmaster	Mr Andrew R Hunter
Faculty	49 full time - 9 part time
Students	430 (approx)
Grades	J4-UVI (Year 4 - 13)
Location	Colinton, Edinburgh, , Scotland
Website	http://www.merchiston.co.uk

This page is about the School. For the Scottish castle it was originally housed in and named after, see Merchiston Castle. Image File history File links Merchiston_logo. ... A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. ... Educational institutions are often categorised along several dimensions. ... Colinton is an area of Edinburgh in the south west of that city. ... , Edinburgh (() pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second largest city. ... This article is about the country. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... Merchiston Tower as it appeared in 1829, showing the addition to the front made by the Merchiston Castle School, which occupied it at that time. ...

Merchiston Castle School is a private boarding school located in the village of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has approximately 430 pupils and is only open to boys between the ages of 8 and 18 as either boarders or day pupils; day pupils make up 30% of the school. It is the only male single-sex school in Scotland. The academic achievements of the school reflect the good teacher-pupil ratio of 1:9. ^{[citation needed]} Colinton is an area of Edinburgh in the south west of that city. ... , Edinburgh (() pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second largest city. ... This article is about the country. ...

Academic standards are high and results consistently good. The school has achieved an almost 100% A-Level pass rate over the last five years, with 77% at A and B grades in 2006. The GCSE pass rate is almost as good, with a 98% pass rate in 2006. ^{[citation needed]} Also in 2006 90% of pupils achieved entry to their first choice University through UCAS. Music is particularly strong as are art, design, drama, debating and the Sciences. A wide range of sports and games is available and the school has long had a reputation for excellence particularly in rugby union with over 60 Merchistonians having played at full international level. The former 1st XV coach, Frank Hadden, who was at the school from 1983-2000 is now the coach of the Scottish national team. A number of structural additions have been made to the school over the past twenty years including a music school, technology block and library. The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in the United Kingdom, usually taken by students during the optional final two years of secondary school (Years 12 & 13, commonly called the Sixth Form), or at a separate sixth form college or further education college... GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... UCAS logo as of 2006 UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service, pronounced YOU-kass, IPA: ) is a clearing house for applications to almost all full-time undergraduate degree programmes at British universities and colleges. ... The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844–1926). ... All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Debate is a formalized system of (usually) logical argument. ... A rugby union scrum. ... Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954) is the current coach of the Scotland national rugby union team. ... First international (also the worlds first) Scotland 4 - 1 England (27 March 1871) Largest win Scotland 100 - 8 Japan (13 November 2004) Worst defeat Scotland 10 - 68 South Africa (6 December 1997) World Cup Appearances 5 (First in 1987) Best result 4th 1991 The Scotland national rugby union team...

History

In May 1833, Charles Chalmers took a lease of Merchiston Castle, (the former home of John Napier of logarithm fame) - which at that time stood in rural surroundings - and opened his academy, starting with some thirty boys. Merchiston Tower as it appeared in 1829, showing the addition to the front made by the Merchiston Castle School, which occupied it at that time. ... For other people with the same name, see John Napier (disambiguation). ...

Like his brother, Dr Thomas Chalmers, mathematician, physicist and theologian, Charles was also interested in Mathematics and Science so he included these subjects in the curriculum at a time when secondary education in Scotland was focussed more on the study of the classics. Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (March 17, 1780 - May 31, 1847), Scottish divine, was born at Anstruther in Fife. ... Classics, particularly within the Western University tradition, when used as a singular noun, means the study of the language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of Greek and Roman culture during the time frame known as classical antiquity. ...

Over time, the pupil number at Merchiston swelled to over 200 and the Merchiston Castle became too small to accommodate the school. In 1930, the governors decided to move the school to Colinton House and the ruins of Colinton Castle, four miles south-west of the Edinburgh in the village of Colinton. The school opened its doors in Colinton that same year. Colinton is an area of Edinburgh in the south west of that city. ...

Three years later, in 1933, Merchiston celebrated its centenary, attended by the Duke and Duchess of York. Fifty years on, in 1983, at a time of further expansion and with 350 boys on the roll, their daughter, Queen Elizabeth, in turn visited the School and honoured its 150th anniversary with her presence. Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ...

Progression through the School

The vertical house system used by Merchiston allows a yeargroup to remain together throughout their time at school, as opposed to the horizontal system which splits up yeargroups. The names of the houses are as following:

• Pringle House
• Chalmers West
• Chalmers East
• Rogerson East
• Rogerson West
• Evans

Merchiston Juniors (Pringle House)

Children can enter the school as an 8 or 9 year old pupil and will be part of the Junior School until the end of the Third Form (at age 12), which equates to S1 in the state sector. During this time the boy will stay in Pringle House founded by James Rainy Brown (otherwise known as JRB), a former pupil who still teaches at the school. Pringle is a single-storey building where the boys live in 6-9 bed personalised dormitories named after animal nests such as The Holt, The Lair, The Drey and The Den. Care of the boys is given by the Head of the Junior School and the Housemaster(s) of Pringle during this time. If he is in J4 or J5 he will also have a form teacher who will handle day-to-day matters in the Pringle Centre. Pringle has a resident Housemother and many staff Tutors who help to run a broad range of co-curricular activities.

Middle School

At the end of the Third Form (S1), boys leave Pringle and move to the Middle School where they are joined by other pupils entering the School for the first time, predominantly from prep schools. The Fourth Form house is called Chalmers West House, which, along with all the other Houses, is located at the heart of the Senior School. Historically, there have always been more boarders in the Senior School than in the Junior School, however, as was the case in Pringle, the day boys continue to be fully integrated with the boarders by having study and recreation areas allocated to them in the residential accommodation. During this time, new subjects are introduced into the curriculum including Spanish, Electronics and Design Technology. At the end of this year a decision is made regarding the subjects taken forward to GCSE. A preparatory school, or prep school in the United Kingdom, and previously in the British Empire and so the Commonwealth in current English usage, is an independent school designed to prepare a student for fee-paying, secondary independent school (public school). ... GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Unless a pupil joined Merchiston in the Third Form (last year of Pringle), the year in Chalmers West sets the pattern for most of the rest of his school career in that he will stay for one year in this House with the Fourth Form Housemaster before moving on again to the adjacent House, Chalmers East House' for his first year of the GCSE programme, with a new Housemaster. At Merchiston, this is known as his Shell year. The advantages of this system are that the boys get to know each other very well, the Housemaster is able to construct a full social and extra-curricular programme which suits the needs of the year group, and the House itself can have spaces and furnishings which are appropriate for the boys at each stage of their development.

In Chalmers West and Chalmers East, dormitories are sub-divided into semi-private areas for 2-3 beds. After Chalmers East comes Rogerson East House (Fifth Form). This is the year in which the pupils take their first public exams: the GCSEs. Here, the dormitories are again sub-divided into semi-private areas, more so than in the Chalmers facilities.

Senior School (Sixth Form)

Following Rogerson East, pupils will enter the Sixth Form. A student in the Lower Sixth will spend his time in Rogerson West House, whilst in the Upper Sixth he may find himself residing in the Upper Sixth Evans House, or if appointed a prefect, living in one of the Junior or Middle School Houses, and assisting the Housemaster in running the House. A new Sixth Form Boarding House is planned for construction in the near future. During these two years, pupils will study towards the second tier of public examinations, namely the Scottish Highers or the English A- or AS-Levels. A prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficere: make in front, i. ... In Scotland the Higher is one of the national school-leaving certificate exams and university entrance qualifications of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) offered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority which superseded the old Higher Grade on the Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE). ... The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in the United Kingdom, usually taken by students during the optional final two years of secondary school (Years 12 & 13, commonly called the Sixth Form), or at a separate sixth form college or further education college...

Lower Sixth Form and Upper Sixth Form non-prefect students will come under the care of the Head of Sixth Form and his assistant, the Deputy Head of Sixth Form. Life in Sixth form is different to that in the rest of the school. School uniform is no longer worn, rather a suit with the Sixth Form tie. Also, responsibility for academic work and the organisation of free time will lie with the student rather than the housemaster. Socially, opportunities for overnight leave, general leave outs, and in the Upper Sixth, late leaves, become part of the package of opportunities and responsibilities.

Merchiston Life

Housemasters arrange a wide array of activities throughout the term. It is not unusual for a boy, having completed his Saturday programme of lessons, to jump on a bus to play a rugby match, return in time to freshen up for the Reel Club and finish the evening with a pizza party with a group of friends. Sunday is not so busy, although Sunday morning Chapel Service is still an integral part of School life, and with a long afternoon to fill, many boys sign on for supervised activities such as paint balling, hill walking, skiing in the Cairngorms or a more leisurely round of golf on one of Edinburgh’s many courses. The Cairngorms: Ben Macdhui seen from Carn aMhaim This article is about the Scottish mountain range. ...

Links to other schools

Although Merchiston is an all boys school, there is a wide range of curricular, co-curricular and social links with girls’ schools, in particular St George’s School for Girls, St Margaret’s School for Girls, both in Edinburgh, and Kilgraston School, in Perthshire. St Georges School is an independent school situated in Ravelston, Edinburgh, Scotland. ... For other schools of the same name, see St Margarets School (disambiguation). ... Kilgraston School is a Catholic school for girls in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, Scotland. ... Perthshire (Siorrachd Pheairt in Gaelic) was a county in central Scotland, which extended from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south. ...

From time to time, the Sixth Form students participate with St George’s in inter-departmental initiatives, such as Modern Language events, careers conventions and fun days for the Junior School. Joint drama and music productions are undertaken and there are many social functions, from Burns Suppers and Scottish Country Dancing to discos. A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems including Auld Lang Syne, which is generally sung as a folk song at Hogmanay and other New Year celebrations around the world. ... Scottish country dancing at the 2005 Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mount Vernon, Washington Scottish country dancing, SCD or reeling is a form of social dance involving groups of mixed couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns according to a predetermined choreography. ... Disco is a genre of dance-oriented pop music that was popularized in dance clubs (discothèques) in the mid-1970s, and which dominated mainstream pop until the late 1970s. ...

Notable former pupils (Merchistonians)

• John Jeffrey, Roger Baird, Duncan Hodge, Craig Joiner, Jamie Mayer, Phil Godman, Peter Walton, international rugby union players.
• Sir Donald Acheson - Chief Medical Officer to the Government from 1984-1991
• Sir Peter Burt - Governor & Chief Executive of Bank of Scotland from 1996 to 2001, now Chairman of ITV
• John James Cowperthwaite - Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1971.
• James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1940
• Samuel Cunningham, businessman and Senator of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, 1921–1945
• Gordon Roddick - co-founder of The Body Shop.
• Irvine Laidlaw - Scottish businessman, and a member of the House of Lords.
• Thomas Rainey - Magician of some note.
• The Right Honourable John MacGregor - UK Cabinet minister
• William Grant Stairs - Canadian explorer, soldier, and adventurer.
• Charles Wyville Thomson - professor of zoology and chief scientist on the Challenger expedition.
• Lord Ian Robertson TD, a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland, 1966-87. He was also chairman of the Merchiston Board of governors between 1970 and 1996.
• Danny Bhoy - Comedian
• Andrew Knox - Rock Star (superstar) - http://www.myspace.com/andyknoxofficial .
• George Baillie Duncan, evangelical minister and conference speaker

Rugby union player. ... Roger Baird was born April 12, 1960 in Kelso, Scotland. ... Duncan Hodge was born August 18, 1974 in Dumfries, Scotland. ... Craig Joiner was born April 21, 1974 in Glasgow, Scotland. ... Jamie Mayer was born April 16, 1977 in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Phil Godman, nicknamed Mad Phil was born May 20, 1982 in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Peter Walton won 24 caps playing in the back-row for the Scottish rugby union side between 1994 and 2000. ... Sir Donald Acheson is a British physician and epidemiologist. ... The chief medical officer (CMO) is an official in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom who regularly advises their respective government on health related matters. ... The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ) is a Scottish commercial and clearing bank, operating throughout the world. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... Sir John James Cowperthwaite KBE CMG 郭伯偉爵士, April 25, 1916 – January 21, 2006) was Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1971. ... Financial Secretary, often abbreviated as FS, is a position of the Hong Kong Government. ... Sir James Craig, later Viscount Craigavon 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. ... Samuel Cunningham PC (Ire) (14 October 1862–23 August 1946) was a Northern Irish businessman, stockbroker and politician. ... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... The Body Shop in Downtown Toronto, Canada. ... Irvine Laidlaw is Scotlands second richest man, owning about 720 million pounds. ... The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as the Lords. The Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as the Commons), and the Lords together comprise the Parliament. ... The Right Honourable (abbreviated Rt Hon, The Rt Hon, The Right Hon, Right Hon) is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and in other Commonwealth Realms, and elsewhere. ... John Macgregor (1802-1858) was a Scottish shipbuilder. ... William Stairs William Grant Stairs (July 1, 1863 – June 9, 1892) was a Canadian explorer, soldier, and adventurer. ... Charles Wyville Thomson Professor Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (March 5, 1830 - March 10, 1882), professor of zoology and chief scientist on the Challenger expedition. ... The Challenger Expedition was a scientific expedition that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. ... Ian MacDonald Robertson (1912-10-30 - 2005-07-21) son of James Robertson and Margaret Eva Wilson, of Broughty Ferry, Angus, and Edinburgh, was a diligent High Court of Justiciary judge who went to lengths to guard the integrity of Scottish law. ... The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a United Kingdom military medal, also known as the Territorial Efficiency Decoration, which was given to officers for long service in the Territorial Army. ... Danny Bhoy (Real name:Chaudry, Date of birth 16/01/75) is an East Indian-Scottish comedian who has found success in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. ... George Baillie Duncan was a prominent evangelical Anglican and Church of Scotland minister, and Keswick Convention speaker. ...

External links

• Merchiston's Official Website