Merchiston Castle School

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Merchiston Castle School
Merchiston Castle School at Colinton
type of school Private school for boys
founding 1833
place Edinburgh
Unitary Authority City of EdinburghTemplate: Infobox School / Maintenance / ISO 2 !
Country United Kingdom
Coordinates 55 ° 54 '42 "  N , 3 ° 15' 13"  W Coordinates: 55 ° 54 '42 "  N , 3 ° 15' 13"  W
student approx. 470
Teachers 49 full time, 9 half time
management Andrew R Hunter
Website www.merchiston.co.uk

Merchiston Castle School is a private school for boys in the village of Colinton , Edinburgh . It has around 480 students between the ages of eight and eighteen, either as boarding school students or day students, who make up 35% of the students. Like the nearby Fettes College , it was built on the model of public schools . It includes a Junior School (8–13), a Senior School (13–16) and a Reformed Upper School .

history

In May 1833, Charles Chalmers signed a lease for Merchiston Castle (the former home of John Napier , the inventor of logarithms ) - which at the time was in a rural setting - and opened his academy with thirty students.

Like his brother, Thomas Chalmers , mathematician, physicist and theologian, Charles was interested in science, especially mathematics, so he made these subjects the main focus of the curriculum, although at the time there was more emphasis on the classical subjects in Scotland.

Over time, the number of students grew to over 200 and Merchiston Castle became too small to house the school. In 1930 the principals decided to relocate the school to Colinton House and the ruins of Colinton Castle , four miles south-west of Colinton . The school opened its doors later that year.

Three years later, in 1933, Merchiston celebrated its centenary, visited by the Duke and Duchess of York. After fifty more years, in 1983 at a time of further expansion and with 350 students, Queen Elizabeth II attended the school for the centenary.

Academic achievement

Between 2006 and 2010, Merchiston castle held an almost 100% A-level completion rate, with 79% A and B grades. The GCSE exit rate in 2010 was 97%. In 2008, according to the school, 87% achieved entry into the university of their choice through the UCAS .

Sports

A range of sports and activities are available at the school; especially rugby union , in which over 60 merchistonians have played on an international level. The disused Merchistonian Football Club was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union and was active internationally with three players. Former coach Frank Hadden , who was at the school from 1983-2000, coached the Scottish national team from 2005-2009. The school won the Scottish Schools' Rugby Cup, 2000-2002 and 2008, and participates in the oldest continuous rugby games with the Edinburgh Academy , the first being on December 11, 1858. In addition to rugby, Merchiston students have received recognition in recent years in the following sports: cricket , track and field , fencing , skiing , cycling , shooting , tennis , basketball and squash .

Investments

Many structural changes and additions have been made to the school over the past twenty years, including a music school, a technology block and a library.

In January 2009, Merchiston inaugurated a new Sixth Form Boarding House with 126 en-suite bedrooms. There are kitchens, open social areas on every hallway with floor-to-ceiling glass walls. There is a café on the top floor of the house while a weight room, seminar and work rooms with internet connection are on the ground floor.

Links to other schools

Although Merchiston is a boys-only school, there are cross-curriculum and social connections with girls' schools, notably St George's School for Girls in Edinburgh, and Kilgraston School in Perthshire . Connections are being developed with Queen Margaret's School, York .

These connections consist of cross-departmental initiatives such as modern language events, career conferences and fun days for the junior school. Joint acting and music productions are undertaken.

Houses

The names of the houses are:

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

Notable students and teachers

Graduates

Former students are known as merchistonians .

International rugby union footballer

Merchiston has produced 63 International Rugby Union footballers - 56 for Scotland , four for Ireland and two for England . Including Roger Baird , Ronnie Eriksson , Iain Fullerton , Phil Godman , Duncan Hodge , John Jeffrey , Craig Joiner , Jamie Mayer , William Neilson , Thomas Anderson and Peter Walton .

Former teachers

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Merchiston Castle School: Overview of the School's academic results . Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  2. ↑ Alex Gordon: The first international rugby match . Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  3. ^ Rugby Football History: Historical Rugby Milestones 1870s . Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  4. ^ Schools Rugby: Scottish Schools Competitions . Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 8, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schoolsrugby.co.uk
  5. ^ Chris Thau: The oldest running rugby fixture in the world . Archived from the original on November 2, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 8, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.irb.com

Web links