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Week 15
 The last 'week' was just two days long, but quite action packed! Three separate Christmas meals were held on Monday for junior, middle and senior sections of the School. In Tuesday's assembly, the cast of Hansel and Gretel performed a number for the whole School, and Joe (pictured) played a piece from last week's Pringle Concert. A presentation was made to Mr Craig, who retires now. In the afternoon, in often fairly atrocious conditions, we played and won the last of this term's matches in the Schools' Cup series against Peebles High School. A packed Memorial Hall was the venue for the term's final event, the traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. The Choir was on particularly good form this year, and led very rousing singing from all present. We were also delighted to hear that Dr Stranock has now been able to return home from hospital, and is able to receive visitors.
The day after term finished we heard that planning permission has at last been granted for our new Sixth Form Boarding House. Also that day, tours departed for Northern Ireland (Rugby) and Cologne (German Language trip).
Week 14
 The last full week of the term was busy academically, with Sixth Form Historians going to Glasgow for the annual Reading and Study days at the University, and those studying Classical Civilisation visiting the National Museum of Scotland. Back at School, Pringle gave its termly concert to a good crowd of parents, and the youngest were involved in another dramatic production in the shape of the J4/J5/I pantomime, Hansel and Gretel; this is always one of the highlights of the year!
Members of the Chapel Choir went carol singing at local Old People's Homes on Thursday afternoon. At the end of the week there was a large variety of social activities including discos and House meals.
Week 13
 The major drama production of the term, Macbeth (scene pictured left), was staged from Wednesday to Friday in the Theatre. Tuesday afternoon's fixture in the Schools' Cup series saw a comfortable win. The week ended on a reflective note with the Advent Evensong Service on Sunday evening, which was attended by quite a large number of parents.
Week 12  This week saw exams for the IV Form, and staff were busy writing reports after their return from weekend leave. Boys involved in next week's production of Macbeth were in the final spell of rehearsing, as others prepared for Friday evening's Choral and Instrumental Concert (pictured left). Perhaps the main excitement of the week was the visit of a photographer from New York who in her three days was able to document much of Merchiston life - classes, sports teams, social occasions and boarding life. For Pringle, this was a busy 'boarding-in weekend' and a full house took part in lots of activities.
Week 11
 On Tuesday Sixth Form Geographers went on a Cairngorms field trip. As that day's assembly started, Mr Campbell managed to get a shot of a splendid rainbow over the school (left). In assembly we congratulated Mr and Mrs Lucas on the birth of Andrew last week. Unfortunately the RAF were unable to bring their Search and Rescue Helicopter as planned on Wednesday owing to unfavourable weather. The youngest boys in the School had a non-uniform day to raise money for Children in Need. The Basketball team continues to do well, winning its match on Thursday. As weekend leave started, a rugby training session took place for the 1st XV. The new edition of The Merchistonian was published on Thursday.
Week 10
 The 1st XV played its first match in this year's Scottish Schools rugby cup with a match against Watson's on Wednesday. Alistair Darling, who as well as being Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, happens to be our local MP, came to talk to the Sixth Form and other visitors on Friday (photo left).
At the weekend, some Pringle dayboys and visiting pupils joined the boarders for a busy weekend's activity. On Saturday evening, Rogerson East held its annual Highland Ball. On Sunday, 8 Merchistonians who served in HM Armed Forces joined the whole school for a Service of Remembrance.
Week 9  The annual Prestige Physics Lecture was held for sixth formers and pupils from other schools at the start of the week. The Headmaster launched his Weekly Headlines on this site, in which he will outline his main thoughts each week. Five boys in Chalmers West performed at St George's in their production of Beauty and the Beast. We hosted visiting speakers in Physics and Geography this week for senior and junior pupils respectively. In sport, the Basketball team had further success. Friday evening saw social events with girls from St George's and St Margaret's in year groups from Pringle to the Sixth Form. A large number of people, including many families from the local community came to the Firework Display in the arena on Sunday evening.
Week 8
 L6 and U6 Historians returned from their very successful joint History and Politics trip with St Margaret's School to the USA. The week long tour to Washington DC and New York incorporated many remarkable sights, including visits to the White House, Congress, Smithsonian museums, Arlington Cemetery, the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum, Ellis Island, and a Broadway show, to name but a few.
On Tuesday, the Lower 6th Biologists had a trip to the electron microscopes at the royal botanic gardens, where they had a fascinating tour of the high tech electron microscope facilities. Electron microscopes are part of the AS Biology curriculum, so it was good to see them working in a research situation. The following day, there was an Upper 6th Biology coursework field trip to Cove bay and Yellowcraig beach. Thanks to excellent weather and a low tide they collected all the seaweed samples and studied the rocky shore ecosystem at Cove, then looked at the sand dune system at Yellowcraig.
Pringle hosted a Halloween Party for teachers on Thursday afternoon, while further up the school a PSE talk on AIDS, by Emma Cole, was a fascinating account of a serious illness and how it may be tackled. Reaction from the boys who attended was excellent and the talk was a privilege to attend.
We had many visitors to the Information Morning on Saturday.
Week 6 and half-term
On Tuesday we had a visit from Mr Paddy Watson, Headmaster of Ardvreck School in Perthshire. A second group of boys (younger this week) went to the Lyceum's production of The Merchant of Venice. The half-term break started at midday on Friday; during the holiday the History Department is taking a Sixth Form group to New York and Washington, and the 1st XV travel to the annual tournament at St Joseph's, Ipswich.
Week 5
 This has been a very busy week, partly because of the large number of visitors coming to Merchiston. Hundreds of prep and primary school children visited the Science and Technology Days. Many older students from all over the north visited the American Colleges Day on Thursday. Other events included a the termly Bag-a-book Day in the library on Wednesday, a Sixth Form visit to The Merchant of Venice at the Lyceum Theatre, and tutorials following up the recent report cards. The first of this year's concerts took place on Friday evening, with a variety of solo items performed by boys of all ages. On Sunday, the whole school celebrated the annual Harvest Thanksgiving.
The Design Department has acquired an iconic Sinclair C5, a fine example of a classic design which never caught on! Mr Pitts is pictured with his new acquistion. He was also delighted that we have reached the finals of this year's Construction Challenge. The Headmaster was at HMC in Manchester during the middle of the week. News reaching us about the condition of Dr Stranock has been distressing for the whole community.
Week 4
 We were delighted to welcome the Headmaster of Kilgraston School this week.
Boys' report cards were completed this week for all years up to Fifth Form, and these will be discussed with pupils over the coming days.
At the weekend, the first of this year's Pringle Camps at Blakerston was held.
Several older boys were also out camping as part of the final expedition for the Duke of Edinburgh's Silver Award (see photo).
The curling team had its first outings at the weekend, and was successful in both.
Week 3
 Pictured is a presentation to St Andrew's Hospice in Airdrie of money raised by the teaching staff during the World Cup, as a result of a 'Score predictions' competition. Thursday's Chalmers East House 'Gathering' of boys and staff with Mr and Mrs Hunter was the second of these, which are held for each House in turn during the term. The senior Squash team had its first matches of the season, winning one and losing the other.
Everyone was shocked to hear of Dr Stranock's very serious illness, and we are thinking of his family.
Week 2
 On Tuesday we had a visit from Merchistonian Graham Biggart, (pictured left with the Headmaster) a civil engineer who was involved with Channel Tunnel construction. He spoke at assembly and again in the evening. A member of the Upper Sixth went to compete in London in the Finals of the Young Engineer for Britain Competition. On Friday evening there was a Merchistonian reunion in the Hallion Club in Edinburgh for those who left in 1981 and 82. Saturday's rugby was against Ampleforth, but this year, rather than undertake the long journey by train, the teams met at Tynedale, roughly mid-way between the two venues. Earlier in the week, 300 prep school children attended a tournament at Merchiston.
Week 1
 This is the first time that term has started at the beginning of the week. Before the official start on Monday morning, quite a few boys had already returned for a variety of induction activities, the Pipe Band had been to Braemar for the Highland Gathering on Saturday (pictured).
After the start of term service, the whole school processed down the main staircase to be formally greeted by the Common Room in handshaking. There are 430 boys in the school this term, and 11 new members of teaching staff joined this term.
The new rugby season started on Saturday with a pleasing win by the 1st XV against Stewart's-Melville. At other levels, all the senior teams won, and most of the junior teams lost!
Summer Holidays
This was one of the busiest summers ever with very large numbers of boys involved in all sorts of trips and expeditions around the world.
 The Choir enjoyed its tour to Provence, where it had excellent weather, and contended with numerous mosquitoes. The musical highlight was a concert in Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, where the large medieval church was packed to standing room only, and the choir had to give two encores after a standing ovation. Pictured is the choir outside the church before the concert.
Also during the first week, the 1st XI's tour to Gloucester was very successful, winning all matches, and with two boys scoring well in excess of centuries each. UVI Leaver Alex Tilley notched up over 1,000 runs in 1st XI cricket this season, a remarkable achievement.
Two groups of boys went on expeditions to Peru. While there, the boys had responsibility for organising themselves, with staff just overseeing safety aspects; Dr Wilkinson reports that initial chaos was steadily overcome, and that impressive progress was made in pupils' organisational skills over their time in the country, which included much time in the Andes.
Nearer home, a group of younger boys spent a week on the island of Rua Fiola, which again required a certain amount of independence and survival skills. Mr Rainy Brown reports that their heather tea was very pleasant!
The Pipe Band went to the Channel Islands, visiting several of them and meeting a large number of resident Scots in particular, who were very keen to hear them. There was considerable media interest in their presence, with Mr Rickard featuring on local radio interviews, and the band being filmed by TV. They are pictured performing at an event below:
During the final weekend of the holiday, many of the Band travelled to Braemar to take part at the Highland Games.
The last overseas tour of the holiday was the Rugby tour to Argentina. Over the 3 weeks, the team enjoyed a variety of match play, training, and cultural activity. |
