News: Autumn Term 2008

Week 15

On Tuesday, Mr and Mrs Deakin brought their new son James to assembly for a blessing by the Chaplain. Later in the day, all sections of the School enjoyed their Christmas meals, which included appearances by a variety of boy and staff rock groups.

The final event of the term was the Carol Service. Those who could not be fitted in the Memorial Hall were able to watch on a live video link to the Old Library. The service had to be moved from its orignally intended venue of St Mary's Cathedral to School because of the logistical problems caused by the ongoing roadworks in the city.

Afterwards, the 175th Anniversary Year formally ended with a magnificent firework display in clear, crisp conditions at the front of School.

Week 14

Frost and snow disrupted the games programme throughout this week, culminating in the cancellation of the last matches of the term on Saturday because of frozen pitches. Pringle House gave its termly concert on Tuesday evening. Parents, friends, family and staff came to watch the boys perform monologues, songs and musical ensembles.  Also performing this week was the Colinton and Merchiston Choir, who gave their Christmas concert on Sunday.

On Wednesday, the School CCF had a parade to mark the end of Fifth Form Cadet training at the front of the school.  The Headmaster inspected the Cadets, which was then followed by all of Shell year on parade.

This week's dramatic production, like last's in conjunction with St George's, was Lord of the Flies staged at Merchiston from Wednesday to Friday, and adapted from Golding's original to incorporate girls! As well as a sizeable cast, a large number of staff and boys were involved in many other ways.

Week 13

A dozen boys from Shell to LVI took place in a magnificent production of Die Fledermaus at St George's. A hugely ambitious production, it was superbly executed in all respects, not least its fabulous costumes and stage-set. On Friday, Lower Sixth Form Biology pupils took part in the annual DNA Technical Workshop led by Mr King in the Biology department (photo left). The workshop ran throughout the day which saw the boys look at DNA sequencing, genetic fingerprinting and isolation of their own DNA. The same day, a group of 24 delegates from the Tyumen region visited to find out more about Merchiston and education in UK independent schools.  Mr West accompanied the group on a tour of the school and invited teachers to present to the group on specific academic areas. Pringle boys have been raising money by selling cakes to raise money for CCLASP (Children with Cancer and Leukaemia Advice and Support for Parents), a local Edinburgh Charity. 

Week 12

The school was one of only two in Scotland to successfully navigate the Regional Stage of the Bank of England's prestigious Target 2.0 competition. The team of UVI boys defeated Fettes, Glenalmond and George Heriot's in Dundee in Dundee. 10 UVI economists also went to London for the IEA's Political Economy Conference. They listened to speeches from MPs, newspaper editors and the heads of various economics think tanks and action groups A group of younger boys took part in the annual Stock Market Challenge at Edinburgh University.

Mr Heathcote became the first person officially to move into the new Sixth Form House on Friday. The English department was pleased with its experiment of a theatre trip to Perth.

On Friday evening many boys took part in the Choral and Instrumental concert, featuring both small and large groups playing a wide range of styles of music ranging from popular to classical, secular and sacred. The 1st XV's undefeated season came to an end on Saturday with defeat at the hands of Stewart's Melville (photo left). In the afternoon, Miss Cordiner, who officially finished her time as Director of Marketing last week, was married in the Memorial Hall. We wish her well for the future and thank her for the many contributions she has made, in particular to this website over the last few years.

Week 11

Another busy week! On Wednesday, author Chris Ryan gave a talk during which he got Claude (Shell) to put on an ever-increasing number of items of SAS clothing until he was unrecognisable. After his talk he stayed to sign copies of his books and answer boys' many questions. On Wedensday evening, the Languages Department staged an Languages Evening in which a variety of things, including short films boys had made, plays and other presentations were staged to an audience of boys and staff. Also that evening, the bonfire - which had been postponed from the weekend - was finally lit and enjoyed. Theatre trips this week included a visit to The Ideal Husband. On Thursday, a group of IV Form boys took part in the annual Construction Challenge at Napier University (pictured below).

Week 10

A small group of our musicians travelled to St Mary's, Melrose, on Monday to perform and answer questions about the School. Various talks by outside speakers took place this week. These included, on Monday, a Physics lecture about the use of laser technology in medicine and healthcare, and on Thursday, a talk for boys in the IV Form, along with Sixth Form politics students, about Palestine. On a cold but sunny Sunday morning, the Service of Remembrance was well attended, and we were joined by Merchistonian veterans and some girls from St George's, two of whom joined 26 boys to represent the 28 nationalities at the two schools by lighting candles, symbols of our hope for peace. Over the weekend, a junior rugby tour (I Form) took place in the South of England, led by Mr Osborne.

Week 9

At half term, footballers enjoyed their visit to Spain, and Sixth Form Historians their joint visit with St Margaret's to America. The footballers were in action at home on Thursday against the Edinburgh Academy in a friendly match.

On Tuesday we heard from OSCR that we had not met all the conditions to automatically retain our charitable status: further details are on this link. We had the first of this year's visits from the Care Commission Inspectors on Thursday and Friday; they were very favourably impressed by their experience of the School.

Some 950 people gathered at Murrayfield on Friday night for a celebratory dinner on to mark the 150th Anniversary of the fixture against the Edinburgh Academy, prior to the match itself, which Merchiston won 11-8 in good conditions at Raeburn Place on Saturday afternoon.

Week 7

On Monday, members of the L6 filled in their questionnaires which are used as part of the 'ALIS' assessment. In Tuesday's assembly, Mr and Mrs Appleson brought their new daughter, Emily, to receive a blessing by the Chaplain. Mr Lucas gave the latest in our series of 1833 talks, on the subject of Thomas Chalmers, brother of Merchiston's founder Charles Chalmers. This week's excursions from school included an A level Biology field trip on Wednesday (photo left). We broke up for half-term on Friday lunchtime: tours to Valencia (Football) and the annual rugby tournament at Ipswich both take place over the break, along with a Histoary Department visit to New York and Washington.

Week 6

This was certainly the busiest week of term so far. Midweek we held our annual Primary and Prep Schools Science and Technology Days, at which we entertained some 260 children with sessions in Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Electronics and Computing. Varied theatre trips took place with juniors seeing Mary Poppins and some of our pupils studying English going to see Macbeth. Members of staff went over to St George's on Wednesday evening for a lecture about aspects of education by Prof Lindsay Patterson, followed by a joint dinner. This term's Information Morning on Saturday saw 31 sets pf prospective pupils and parents touring the School, the largest such event so far, and the Harvest Thanksgiving service was on Sunday. At the end of this, an oak tree was planted near the front of the School in celebration of the 175th Anniversary.

Week 5

The Pipe Band were involved in the filming up an upcoming programme on Channel 4 on Thursday. The Headmaster attended the annual HMC meeting, where short films were shown about a selection of schools: for Merchiston's film, click the link. Some teams travelled to Sedbergh the night before their Saturday matches, as this school is the most distant of those we play regularly. This proved worthwhile as they were able to play their matches before the rain became too heavy: those who travelled on the day had a fruitless journey as matches had to be abandoned on arrival. The first round of report cards were completed for some year groups, and meetings with tutors to discuss progress are ongoing.

Week 4

We had the first of this term's talks in our 1833 celebration series on Tuesday, when Mr Williams spoke about Tennyson. Members of the Lower Sixth studying Geography departed for a field trip from Tuesday until Friday. On Friday the whole School gathered to congratulate the Headmaster on the occasion of his 50th birthday (actually on Sunday when we were away!) On Friday we hosted a talk for the Lower Sixth about studying at American Universities; other schools also attended.
Saturday was Edinburgh's annual 'Open Doors' Day, and we welcomed a large number of visitors this year to look around the School and grounds. After many rugby fixtures in the morning, pupils departed for the first leave-weekend of the term.

Week 3

Our thoughts were naturally dominated by concern over our injured pupil and his family, but the usual raft of activities went ahead, with academic events including the V Form's Career Aptitude testing and reading tests for many pupils. A wide range of other events during the week included a disco, squash and football matches, a theatre trip and the first of this year's Pringle small group camps.

We were pleased to hear that one of our VI Form, Anh, who is Vietnamese, gained one of the top scores in the country in his A level Russian exam in the summer.

Week 2

This was a week of settling in for all, with teachers and classes continuing to meet each other for the first time. Our tennis players were in action in the HSBC Scottish Finals. Variable weather made for mixed experiences in rugby practices leading up to the first full programme of fixtures against Stewart's Melville on Saturday; the 1st and 2nd teams had already started their seasons on Tuesday with wins against club sides. We are extremely distressed that a member of the 1st XV was very seriously injured in their match on Saturday, and he and his family are very much in all our thoughts and prayers.

Summer Holidays and Week 1

Many boys participated in School trips over the Summer. These included: a group of 15 younger boys to Rua Fiola for the Island Adventure, a cricket team to Gloucester, Pipe Band and Close Harmony Group touring Canada, and the first two rugby teams to Argentina.

Term started for all on Thursday morning with a whole school assembly. On Sunday, the first whole school service of the year saw a packed Memorial Hall, and included the Christening of Harry Charman, son of Richard (our Head of PE) and Deborah.

Having started the school year in sunshine, the weather turned to rain at the weekend, making the first rugby practices of the term, and the various outdoor activites a rather wet experience.