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The Royal High School
Commemoration and Prizegiving Day
Friday 29th June 2018
COMMEMORATION AND PRIZE-GIVING DAY
Friday 29th June at 10.30am
Chairperson: Ian Cowie
Order of Ceremony
Chair’s Address: Ian Cowie
Reading: Tom Campbell, School Captain – Examplar by Taylor St Onge
Presentation of Prizes: Mrs Fiona White
Music: Lewis Petrie - Tears in the Rain by Joe Satriani
Former Pupil’s Address: Anne Richards
Valedictory Address: Dux of School – Robyn Smith
Reply by Rector: Mrs Pauline Walker & Depute Rector Mr David Simpson
The School Song
Ceremony of Leave-taking through the Memorial Doors
Passing on of the School Captaincy
Leave-taking through the Memorial Gates to the clubhouse
PRIZES & SCHOLARSHIPS
Session 2017/8
S1 Prizes Lady Glenorchy Prize for Religious Education Ben Jones
Merit Prize in German Emma-Louise Newlands
Merit Prize in Drama Heather Newell
John Murray Prize for Music Matthew McNarry
Merit Prize in Music Matthew McNarry
Maclean Prize for Dedication & Hard Work in STEM Subjects Mia Morrison
Merit Prize in Home Economics Mia Morrison
Merit Prize in Science Phoenix Nelson
Merit Prize in CDT Phoenix Nelson
Merit Prize in Mathematics Ruairidh Williams
Merit Prize in French Ruairidh Williams
Merit Prize in Modern Studies Ruby Smart
Merit Prize in English Ruby Smart
Merit Prize in Geography Sebastian Porter-Romero
Merit Prize in Art & Design Sophie Gynn-Poisson
Jessie Young Prize for Meritorious Effort Madeleine Douglas
Robertson Bursary - Proxime to Dux Ruby Smart
Tait Prize - Proxime to Dux Ruby Smart
Robertson Bursary - Dux Form 1 Ruairidh Williams
Boyd Prize (1857) - Dux of Form 1 Ruairidh Williams
S2 Prizes
Maclean Prize for Dedication & Hard Work in STEM Subjects Aditka Kumar
Merit Prize in Science Alison Paterson
Merit Prize in German Ellen Buchanan
Merit Prize in Art & Design Eloise Lawrence
Merit Prize in French Emma Walsh
Merit Prize in Music Finn McGovern
Merit Prize in Drama Grace Read
Merit Prize in Home Economics Josie Ketley
Merit Prize in Modern Studies Josie Ketley
John Murray Prize for Music Mahathi Challagali
Sir James Purves Stewart Prize – (II) Dux in German Mahathi Challagali
Merit Prize in CDT Sanika Chandankar
Merit Prize in RMPS Sofia Barron
Sir James Purves Stewart Prize – (I) Dux in French Tatiana Honeywell
Alex Aitken Prize for Scottish History Tatiana Honeywell
Merit Prize in Geography Tatiana Honeywell
Merit Prizein English Tatiana Honeywell
Merit Prize in Mathematics Vincent Yu
Ritchie Prize (1824) - Dux of S2 Mahathi Challagali
Ritchie Prize (1824) - Dux of S2 Tatiana Honeywell
S3 Prizes
The William Corlett Memorial Prizes for Art Anna Millar
Donaldson Bursary Boy - English Calum McCrindle
Morrison Bursary Boy - Science Cameron Fordyce
PFG Prize for Meritorious Effort David Smith
Hartman Prize – (I) Dux in French Douglas Macartney
Sibbald Bursary Boy -Maths Douglas Macartney
Maclean Prize for Dedication & Hard Work in STEM Subjects Douglas Macartney
Hartman Prize – (II) Dux in German Duncan Biggar
Prize for CDT Iona Pritchard
Donaldson Bursary Girl- English Laura Young
Morrison Bursary Girl -Science Louise MacArthur
Prize for Home Economics Mairi Napier
Evelyn Small Prize for Drama Marie Shopland
John Murray Prize for Music Nathan MacInnes
Alex Skinner Prize for Computing Ruth Stewart
Sibbald Bursary Girl -Maths Shruthi Vijayakumar
Carmichael Club Prize (1878) Dux of Form 3 Douglas Macartney
The Royal High School PFG Junior Prize (S1-S3) for demonstrating responsible
citizenship within the school community consistently throughout the school year David Smith
The Royal High School PFG Junior Prize (S1-S3) for being an effective contibutor
to the school community throughout the school year Panav Sharma
S4 Prizes
Prize for CDT Abbi Wilson
Chisholm Prize -Dux in Geography Anna Young
NH Small Prize in Dux in German Cameron Millar
Ness Trophy for Craftmanship Erin Gallacher
Alex F Hall Prize for Computing Fraser Tomlinson
Maclean Prize for Dedication & Hard Work in STEM Subjects Georgia Brennan
Evelyn Small Prize for Drama Grace Taylor
Richard Green Memorial Prize for Art & Design Hannah Schafer
Carson Bursary, Dux of English Lucy Krauth
NH Small Prize in Dux French Lucy Krauth
John Marshall Prize (1910) Dux in Mathematics Sravani Challagali
Nicholson Prize for Music Sravani Challagali
Noreen Richardson Memorial Prize for Home Economics Zoe Ross
Mary Hunter Memorial prize for best fourth form leaver Shona McQueen
MacKay Prize (1877) Dux of Form 4 Fraser Tomlinson
Senior Prizes
The Royal High School PFG Senior Prize (S4-S6) for demonstrating responsible
citizenship within the school community consistently throughout the school year Fraser McAslan
The Royal High School PFG Senior Prize (S4-S6) for being an effective contibutor
to the school community throughout the school year Lucas Ferguson
Mabon Prize for biggest improvement of a pupil in S5 Fraser McAslan
Evelyn Small Prize for Drama Ella Brady
Dux in Physics Emma Walker
John Turner Prize – Dux in Mathematics Emma Walker
James M Moore Memorial Prize – Dux in French Eve Harkness
Dux in Home Economics Faith Gwasira
The RHS (London) Club Prize Dux in Art Holly Ng
Carson Prize Dux of English Jessica MacLeod
Burgoyne Prize – Dux in German Jessica MacLeod
Prize for Accounting Laura Harris
RHS FP President’s Prizes – (I) Dux in History Lindsay McLellan
RHS FP President’s Prize (II) Dux in Modern Studies Maisie Evans
Dux in Chemistry Megan Aitken
Royal High School (London) Club Prize Dux in CDT Olivia Maclean
William Young Memorial Prize – Dux in Classics Rachel Cronin
Elizabeth Wemyss Prize for Music Rachel Sunter
RHS FP President's Prize (II) Dux in Geography Ross Lowder
Maclean Prize for Dedication & Hard Work in STEM Subjects Serena Ozkan
William Young Memorial Prize – Dux in RMPS Sophie Wright
Muir Memorial Prize - Dux of Form 5 Emma Walker
W J Watson Prize for Original Research (AH Science) Maalavisha Sanker
Open Awards
Grigor Prize for Debating (Senior) Alex Enaholo
Classical Studies Prize (Dux) Alia Davies
Nicol Prize for Service Audra Nisbet
RHS PFG Prize for Modern Studies Ava Turnock
Bruce Prize – Dux in History Ben Petrie
J G Cattanach Prize for Scottish Literature Catherine Bough
Percy Malcolm Stewart Median Catherine Bough
MacKelvie Trophy (1928) Award for Best Piper Charlie Forsyth
Dr Barclay's Memorial Prize for Service Charlie Paterson
Rectors Award for Resilience Connie Brogan
Noreen Richardson Memorial Prize for Courage and Determination Corin Shepherd
Grigor Prize for Debating (Junior) Douglas Macartney
Tullis Prize – Dux in Mathematics Douglas Macartney
Grigor Prize for Debating (Senior) Emma Walker
Prize for Engineering Technology Emma Walker
Sir Walter Scott Centenary Prize Erica Grauso
Neil McCurrach Award for Participation and Enthusiasm to the Full Finlay Boath
Dr W King Gillies Prize for Scottish Literature Gregor Ashworth
William Rutherford Bequest Award for Art Hannah Rowney
Mouat Scholarship Holly Davis
The Malkin Prize for Service in the Community Iain Jackson
James H Scott Prize for Mathematics James Riches
Nicol Prize for Service James Riches
James Montgomery Bell Memorial prize for the study of Scots Law Jamie Harris
N H Small Prize Dux in Spanish Jessica MacLeod
Nicol Prize for Service Josh Murray
The George Grubb Award for Outstanding Achievement in Athletics Kasper Lemvig-Allan
J G Cattanach Prize for Scottish History Katherine Hunt
J W Loudon Prize for Public Speaking Katie Hepburn
Rector's Award for service to the School Katie Hepburn
Mouat Scholarship Katie Hepburn
Martin Pearce Family Prize Dux in Business Management Kesar Hassan
Dr Barclay's Memorial Prize for Service Lara McMahon
Grant Memorial Cup – Dux in Music Lewis Petrie
Grigor Prize for Debating (Junior) Luke Blair
Steven Armstrong Roy Memorial Prize for Courage and Inspiration Matthew Adams
Percy Malcolm Stewart Minor Matthew Rowlands
Sir John Greig Dunbar Prize for Citizenship Megan Aitken
Ian Steadman and John P Mackintosh Prize for Politics Natalie Pearse
Hector McIver Memorial prize for Literary Appreciation Natalie Pearse
James Scott Bursary (1970) Natalie Pearse
Dux in Computing Patryk Marciniak
Inches Prize Dux in Physics Robyn Smith
Inches Prize -Dux in Chemistry Robyn Smith
Philip Harris Prize Dux in Biology Serena Ozkan
The RHS Distinguished Award Taylor Miller
W J Melrose Prize for Art Tessa Minshull
John Paterson Small Prize for Music Thomas McNarry
Steadman Prize for Philosophy Togan Turgut
Malcolm Knox Prize for best creative writing Tom Campbell
The Royal High School (London) Club Prize for an English Poem Tom Campbell
MacMillan club Prize (1865) – Dux in English Tom Campbell
Andrew Wilson Prize for Service and Leadership Tom Campbell
Carson Prize (1851) for an English Essay To be announced
Crawford Taylor Memorial Prize for Music & Drama Fiona Wilson
The Janine Whitecross Trophy for all round endevour in PE Holly McGill
William Rutherford Bequest Award for PE Kian Gallacher
Chris Gray Swimming Trophy for Lifesaving Lewis Crosbie
Heriot-Watt University Award for Leadership/Go-Global Awards Lucas Ferguson
Percy Malcolm Stewart (Major) Dux Proxime James Riches
Sir Alexander Stevenson Prize Proxime to Dux James Riches
Sir David Yule Scholarship Robyn Smith
RHS Exhibition - Dux of School Robyn Smith
RHS Club Prize - Dux of School Robyn Smith
Crichton Cup To be announced
MEMBERS OF STAFF – SESSION 2017-8
Rector – Pauline Walker BSc Hons Computer Science (Heriot Watt), PGCE(Edinburgh)
Depute Rectors
David Simpson, BA(Mus) Hons Exon, DipEd
Jen Menzies, BEd(MH), MEd(Stirling)
Paul Chambers, MA Hons (Aberdeen), PGCE (Edin)
Business Manager – Kalina Haralampieva, BA Hons Business Management with marketing (Napier University), CMI
Leadership and Management
Art & Design: Sharon Black BA Hons (Edinburgh College of Art), PGCE (Edin), Carol Haley, MA Hons(Edin), PGCE, Lois
Combe, DA(Edin), PGCE, Julie Howie BA Hons (Robert Gordon), PGCE, Emma Elizabeth Boyd BA (Hons) Art & Design
(Edinburgh College of Art), PGDE (Edinburgh University)
Biology: Katy Robertson, BSc (Honours) St Andrews and PGDE (Edinburgh), Gillian Kelly BSc Hons (Stirling), PGCE,
Gordon Rutter, MSc (Edin), BSc Hons (London), PGCE, Alison Coleman, BSc Hons(St Andrews), PGDE(Aberdeen), Nicole
Docherty
Business Education: Irene KS Brown, Dip Com (Glas Coll of Tech), Yvonne Dagnall BA Hons, PGCE
Chemistry: Dr Avril Henney, BSc (Hons) (Edin), PhD (Lond), PGCE (Lond), Philip Wootton, BSc Hons, (Glasgow), PGDE
(Edin), Dr. Fiona Scott BSc (Hons) St. Andrews, PhD Edinburgh, PGCE (Moray House), Katie Will BSc Hons (Edin), PGDE
(Strathclyde)
Computing Studies: G Wendy Reith, BSc Computer Science(Stirling), Holly Davidson, BSc Computer Science
(Stirling), Gillian Murray BEng Hons Network Systems Engineering (Glasgow Caledonian University), PGDE
(Strathclyde, Glasgow)
Craft, Design and Technology: Euan McLean, Mark Stevenson, BSc Ind Design (Napier), PGCE, David Allan, DipTechEd,
(Moray House), Krysia Smyth, BEd Hons, Ashley Marshall, Emilia Tankard, Interior Design, BA Hons, (Edinburgh), PGDE
(Edin)
Drama: Alan Wilkins, M.A. (Hons) (Glasgow), P.G.C.E (Aberdeen), Ana Costas BA Hons (University of London, Queen
Mary & Westfield College), PGCE (Kingston University)
English: Douglas Arbuckle, BA Hons English (Anglia) PGCSE, Ailsa Clarke, MA (Hons) Glasgow, PGCE (Edin), Daniel
Craig, MA Hons(Edin), PGCE, PGCE, Bernice Ford, MA Hons (Glasgow), PGCE (J’Hill), Martin Moonie, MA(Abd),
PhD(Oxford), PGCE, Gillian E Pia, MA(Edin), DipEd, Mollie Skehal, BA Hons (Stirling), PGCE, Helen McLean, PGDE,
Alistair Robertson, MA Hons, Andrew Rooney, Kate Hendry, MA English (Glasgow), PhD English (St Andrews), PGDE
(Edinburgh), Amy Hogg
Geography: Stefania Mariani, MA Hons (Edinburgh), BSc Hons (Stirling), Ashley Fulton, BSc Hons, (Stirling), Liane
Hooper, B.Tech (Edin), PGCE (Nottingham), Hannah McGowan
History: MA Hons Scottish Historical Studies (University of Edinburgh), PGCE(Edinburgh), Alison Gallagher, MA(Edin),
PGCE, Mairi MacDermot, MA (hons) History Glasgow, PGCE(Edinburgh),
Home Economics: Kathryn Kelly, BSc Hons (Queen Margaret), PGDE (Strathclyde), Rachel Murphy BSc Hons
Nutrition (Queen Margaret), PGDE (Strathclyde)
Mathematics: Alison Underwood, MA Hons, (Aberdeen), PGCE (Open University), Abdallah Serhani BEng(Heriot
Watt), PGDE(Edin), Joanne Campbell, BSc, MSc (Aberdeen), PGDE, Isabelle Dupraz B.Sc. Mathematics (UWO), PGDE
(Edinburgh), Ryan Docherty, BSc Hons Mathematics and its Applications (Stirling), PGDE (Strathclyde), Neil
Millington, BSc (Hons), PGDE, Andrew Curry B.sc Mathematics (hons) Heriot- Watt University, PGDE, Helen Crow,
PhD, BEng Hons Civil & Environmental Engineering (Heriot Watt) , PGDE (Edin), Laoise Ward Bcs mathematics
(Glasgow), PGDE (Edin), Heather Harpur BSc (Hons) Pure Mathematics (St Andrews) PGDE (Edinburgh), Gary Laidlaw,
Steve MacColl BSc Hons Mathematics (St Andrews), PGDE (Glasgow)
Modern Languages: Caroline Welsh, MA Hons (Aberdeen), PgDip (Napier), PGCE(Edin), Tom Cook, BA, MA(Edin),
CertEd, Claire Landsburgh, LL.B Hons, (Glas), PGCE, Bianca Mariani, BA Hons (Stirling), Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in French
with Spanish, PGDE, Franziska Sieger BA (Universitaet Bremen), PGDE (Strathclyde), Beata Figueira BA (Napier), PGDE
(Dundee) PGDip in Spanish (Dundee), Stephanie Mitchell BA Hons (Heriot Watt) PGCE PGCG, Sarah MacRae
Modern Studies: Gary Snedden, MA(Edin), PGCE, PGDE, Jennifer Reynolds, BA Hons, (Stirling), Bed, (Stirling), Domonic
Forbes, M.A Hons(Glasgow), PGDE, Annessa Ashkanani, MA Hons Sociology (Edinburgh), PGDE (Aberdeen)
Music: Louise Holland, Bed (Hons) Music (Aberdeen), PGDE, Jennifer Good BEd Mus Hons (RCS), PGDE
Physical Education: Steven F. Raeburn BEd (Hons) Physical Education (Edinburgh), Fiona J MacMillan, BEd(Edin),
MSc(Edin), PGDE, Heather Clark, Bed Hons (Edin), Daniel Lane, Bed Hons (Edin), Mark Gair, BEd hons (Edin), Gordon
Fraser
Physics: Stephen A Bakke, BSc(Lon), PGCE, Ricky Thorbjornsen BSc (Edinburgh), PGCE (Edinburgh), Callum Ferguson,
BSc (Hons) Physics (St Andrews), PGDE (Edin), Kenneth Hodge BSc Science Studies (Strathclyde) PGDE (Strathclyde)
Religious and Moral Education: Sebastian C Sewell, MTh(St Andrews), PGCE, Alexandra Lockhart, Meghan Brady-
McDonald BA Honours History (Laurentian), BA Religious Studies (Laurentian), PGDE(S) (Strath), PGCert Inclusive
Education (Edin)
Support for Learning: Deborah Hislop, BEd Technology (Edin), Ben Davenport, Adam Reed: Bsc (Hons), Heriot-Watt
University, PGDE (Edin)
Support for Pupils: Fiona M White, BSc Hons Maths and Statistics (Edin), Iain Welsh, BA Hons, PGCE, Scott Rodger
BEd Hons (Edin), PGC (Aberd), Hannah Sim MA Hons (Glasgow), PGDE (Edin), Robert Watson BSc(Hons) Sports
Science & Physiology (Glasgow), PGCE (Edinburgh)
Careers Adviser: Caroline McArdle
Librarian: Stephen Shiels BSc(Hons) Geography (Glasgow), PGDip (Strathclyde), MCLIP
Administrative Staff: Shirley Duncan, Diane Aitken, Lorraine Lorraine, Karen Reilly, Lisa Tocher
School Support Assistants: Jill Hunter, Audrey Pannozzo, Lindsay Quinn, Margaret Scott, Elizabeth Sneddon, Lindsay
Howard, Joy Jin
Pupil Support Assistants (SFL): Lesley Baird, Elizabeth Baird, Elaine Berry, Elizabeth Ivinson, Julie McKeever, Marian
Wootton, Ami Rowley, Jasmine Ryan, Elinor Barbour CHECK
Pupil Support Officer (PSO): Joanna Withers
Sports Coordinator: Mathew McLachlan
Community Police Officer: PC Gillian Young
Senior Service Support Officer: Mark Gilchrist
Service Support Officers: Stevie Burns, Norrie Christie
Senior Technician: John Stables
ICT Technician: Lindsay Miller
Laboratory Technicians: Ian Young, Kathryn Clark, Helen Westfield
Workshop Technician: Kevin McQueen
Catering Supervisor: Karen Sloan
SCHOOL SONG
Vivas, Schola Edinensis
Schola Regia venerabilis:
Sicut arx in colle sita -
Sicut sol e nubibus densis -
Splendes, splendeas in aeternum,
Alma Mater atque amabilis.
Liberi tui te laudamus
Laeto omnium cum clamore
Et cum multis posthac annis
Tui, quam iuvenes amabamus,
Senes rursus meminerimus,
Vi clamabimus haud minore:
Refrain: Vivas, Schola Regia!
Vivas, Schola Regia!
Vivas, Vivas, Schola Regia!
Refrain: Vivas, Schola Regia!
Vivas, Schola Regia!
Vivas, Vivas, Schola Regia!
The Royal High School
Annual Report
Introduction
Rectors Annual Report, 2017/8 Session
As the 2017/8 session draws to a close it is a great pleasure to look back over our year and reflect on all that has
taken place in The Royal High School.
We began the year with very positive SQA results. Standards of attainment continue to be very good and compare
very well with results in Edinburgh and across Scotland. We continue to evaluate attainment to seek ways in which
pupils can be supported to achieve their best. Key points from this year’s attainment results:
In S1-3 students have made very good progress in their Curriculum for Excellence courses. The majority of students
in S1, 2 are currently judged to be working well within their learning within Level 3 in all subjects. In S3 most
students are working within level 4 and this leads to the majority presenting within National 5 in S4.
Our results at the end of S4 continue to be very good. Measures across the middle school have been improving with
positive trends. Within National 5, 76% of learners achieved at least 5 passes in National 5 and 31 young people
achieved excellent results with 7 passes at A band. This demonstrates a very high level of attainment within our S4.
We continue to have very good results within our S5 year group. Our Higher passes within S5 were very good. The
majority of our young people are able to gain an award in at least one Higher by the end of S5. 14 pupils gained 5 A
band awards at Higher in S5. Our results are above or in line with our Virtual comparators in all areas. 82% of
learners gained at least 1 Higher award by the end of S5. This is an increase on the previous year with a positive 5
year trend.
We continue to have good results within our S6 leaver group. Our National 5 and Higher passes by the end of S6 are
very good overall. 89% of our learners leave S6 with at least 5 awards at National 5 level and 54% achieve 5 Higher
awards by the end of S6. This demonstrates good added value from their S5 results.
In 2014/5, 64% of this cohort achieved at least 5 National 5 awards in S4 demonstrating they are successfully
converting these to 5 Higher awards across S5/6. Almost all pupils leave S6 with at least 5 awards at National 4 and
90% of pupils achieve at least 1 Higher award.
43% of pupils achieve at least one Advanced Higher with 11% gaining 3 awards at Advanced Higher. 13 pupils
achieved 3 band A awards at AH and 6 pupils achieved 4 A band awards at AH. This clearly demonstrates the climate
for exceptionally high achievement is very much evident in the school.
A number of departments demonstrated excellent attainment and the majority of our departments outperformed
comparators and national performance at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher level.
We work hard to promote an ethos of achievement across our senior school and almost all students responded very
well to our challenge. These students have been well rewarded and the number of our leavers moving on to Further
and Higher Education continues to increase. We have also opened up a wider number of academic and vocational
options for all students. Our tracking scheme is embedded across S1-6 and ensures all students know exactly what
they are currently working towards, currently working at and what strategies they need to employ to ensure
success.
Positive destinations are very strong in the school. Almost all young people who left in 2016/7 session are currently
in sustained positive destinations. Our school leaver numbers entering further or higher education, employment or
training continue to be very strong, with sustained positive destination figures of 97%. More than 50% of our leavers
move on to Higher Education.
Wider achievement also continues to be an area of strength, with pupils being presented for a wide range of
vocational and volunteering awards, as well as engaging with programmes such as JET (Jobs, Education and
Training), Career Academies and the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative. Opportunities to perform, participate and
compete in a wide range of extra-curricular activities, such as Sports, Arts, Music, Dance, and to participate in travel
opportunities, are many and varied.
Most learners are motivated and actively engaged in their learning. Active learning methodologies are integrated
well into classroom practice. Learners’ views on learning and teaching are regularly sought and most feel that they
are making good progress with their learning. Extensive curricular and extra-curricular programmes, along with
many opportunities for excursions out of school, provide a range of experiences to challenge and engage pupils,
increasing confidence and broadening horizons. Vocational courses are increasingly available, delivered through
school or in partnership with other providers, and the school has an excellent record of supporting pupils into
positive destinations, including further and higher education. Learners are encouraged to demonstrate leadership at
all levels and achievement is celebrated at every opportunity, through the bulletin, newsletters, the website, twitter,
postcards, assemblies, notice boards, performances and at two awards ceremonies every year.
We have a strong model to facilitate pupil voice and this in an integral part of our school improvement. Our Year
Councils and Pupil Parliament meet regularly and feedback to Senior Management Team. Plans for changes are
created collegiately and this is fed back to the whole school.
We continue to lead the way nationally in our ICT provision and all our S3-6 pupils are now equipped with iPad
devices which they use both in school and at home. This initiative allows us to give our pupils access to the most
innovative and relevant materials to support learning and we continue to develop their use across the school. We
continue to expand the use of digital learning across our curriculum including making use of new and innovative
devices in subjects such as Science and Geography. This equips our young people with skills for the future and the
ability to make the best use of range of devices and data sources. Our plans for next session include expanding the
project to S1-6.
Parents are key partners in the school and we continue to involve them fully. We have a very active Parent Council
who give us great support throughout the year in numerous ways including responding to local and national
consultations. This year the Parent Council have contributed to the national Governance Review, the Review of Fair
Funding and the governments review on Presumption to Mainstream. This gives us our parents a strong voice in the
local and national issues impacting Education.
The Royal High School Parent Fundraising Group also went from strength to strength. They had a very successful
fundraising year with more than £2500 raised across a variety of events for school funds. This has enabled us to buy
valuable additional resources for all our subjects.
We also believe in keeping parents well informed and our email bulletin continues to be very popular with parents
ensuring they receive regular updates on what’s happening in the school. This has also enabled us to conduct a
number of parental surveys which has ensured parent voice is very strong in everything we do. We also continue to
make use of our website www.royalhigh.edin.sch.uk and a Twitter feed @Royal_High_Sch both of which we use to
share news and events.
Our wider curriculum is thriving with a huge variety of clubs, shows, performances and visits taking place. These
enhance the school experience of all our young people and ensure they develop strong skills for life and work. We
have had many competitive successes this year in areas such as numerous sports, debating, film, dance, music, chess
and arts. Our hugely talented pupils continue to demonstrate the skills they have developed and are a credit to the
school.
We provide a wide variety of opportunities for our pupils including residential trips. These include a very successful
German exchange, a trip to Vienna for our language students a very enjoyable ski trip to France in March. Our
Romanian Habitat for Humanity trip will also take place this term and we hope to make a huge difference to the lives
of those who will benefit.
We also planned an action-packed Activities Week in May. Our S1 pupils travelled to Belmont Outdoor Centre for a
week of outdoor education and gained many fantastic memories. 140 of our S3 pupils travelled to the Belgian WW1
battlefields for a real life-changing experience. Our S2 & S3 students remaining in school took part in a wide range
of day trips and in-school activities such as sketching, canoeing, rock-climbing, sports, crafts, bakery, cake-making
and much more!
All our trips create wonderful, long-lasting memories for students and staff and make a huge contribution to the life
of the school. They would not be possible without the hard work and commitment of staff and I am very grateful for
the time and effort they put in to these opportunities.
One of the rich elements of our school is our strong links with our Former Pupils. Both the Edinburgh and London
clubs work very closely with the school and support us in many ways including attending our events and services,
providing work experience, giving inspirational talks and mentoring. Our School and Nation Captains again attended
their annual dinners with the School Captain, Tom Campbell, giving an excellent after-dinner speech on his
captaincy. We are very lucky to have such successful and rich links and we are always looking for ways to develop
these including planning for the two clubs to be an active part of our 2018 Barnton 50th Anniversary Celebrations.
We continue to embrace our traditions and histories as well as providing innovative learning for our young people. I
would like to thank our staff for their work, energy and commitment and all our many partners, parents and carers
who all make The Royal High School such a special place.
Viva Schola Regia
Pauline A. Walker
The Royal High School Vison & Values
“The Royal High School supports every young person to achieve and attain their very best.
We respect individuality and celebrate diversity. We provide opportunities for success
through a variety of curricular and extra-curricular options and pathways. We encourage
creativity and support our young people to build the skills and resilience they need for the
future. We have the courage to aspire to be the very best we can be. We belong to our
school and we are very proud of our tradition and heritage.”
Staffing News
The school staff continue to give unstintingly and work tirelessly for the school across a remarkably broad front, in
both curricular and extracurricular activities. This year we say goodbye to no less than 19 colleagues.
Our 4 probationary teachers have very successfully completed their 12-month probationary period. Mr Gordon in
Physical Education, Ms Hogg in English, Ms Macrae in French and Ms Ashkanani in Modern Studies leave us as
confident and valuable professionals having met and exceeded the highest standards of the profession. They have
added enormously to the school during their time with us and we wish them all the very best for their future careers.
Five long serving colleagues retire this year. Mrs White, Picts Guidance (and Maths!) teacher, retires after 44 years in
the school. Mrs White has guided many generations of our community and she will be very much missed. Mr Simpson
will retire in August after 18 years in the school. During his time he has served as Senior Rector, Depute Rector and
Rector. His passion and commitment will be missed and his determination to provide every student with the right
pathway will leave a lasting legacy. Mrs Pia retired before the Christmas holiday this year. She has been a fantastic,
inspirational teacher of English for many years, as anyone lucky enough to have been in her classes will testify. Ms
Combe in Art retired from the school in March, her passion for her subject always shone through and we still see her
wonder ‘trees’ in the foyer each day. Helen Brooks our Business Manger retired after 17 years in the school. Under
her astute management the corporate side of the school has flourished. They will all be greatly missed by colleagues
and pupils alike and we hope they enjoy a long and happy retirement.
Mr Mark Stevenson has also left the CDT department this year after 26 years in the school. Mr Stevenson led the
faculty for many years during which time faculty thrived. We wish him well for the future.
Mr David Hill, teacher of Physics also left us for a new post closer to his home. As well as being an outstanding Physics
teacher, Mr Hill was instrumental is building our Duke of Edinburgh program. We wish him well in his new post.
This year we have also said goodbye to a number of our very valuable support staff. Mrs Frances Mitchel, clerical
assistant has moved to a higher grade clerical post, Ms Ami Rowley left in May and is now working in Cairn Mhor
Home for children and young people, Ms Carol McKenzie is leaving to take up PSA post at Gorgie Mills and Ms Charis
Hogg is leaving to start a teaching degree. We wish them all well and will miss their input to our school.
Mr Ian Young our long serving science technician will also leave at the summer and we wish him well in his
retirement.
A number of temporary colleagues have been working with us this year. Ms Collen Hohs, Teacher of History, Mr Rory
Murray, Teacher of History and Ms Carole Graham, Teacher of French and Spanish have all been with us this session
and we wish them all the very best in their new posts.
In Support for Pupils, Mrs Saddler and Mrs Casey have completed their secondment to the Scottish Government and
have returned to our Guidance Team. Mr Watson, one of our teachers of PE, acted as Support for Pupils Leader for S1
in their absence and has now been appointed a permanent member of our Support for Pupils Team. Mrs Ailsa Clarke,
teacher of English, remains on a Career Break. Ms Helen Crow (Maths) and Ms MacMillan (PE) also begin career breaks
this year and we wish them all well in their new endeavours.
Mr Steven Raeburn will leave us at the summer to take up an Acting Depute Headteacher post at Craigmount High
School.
A number of our staff have returned from Maternity Leave this session. Mrs Alison Gallagher, teacher of History, Mrs
Mairi MacDermot, teacher of History, Mrs Clare Landsburgh, teacher of Modern Languages, Mrs Jenny Reynolds,
teacher of Modern Studies, Miss Bianca Marian, teacher of Modern Languages and Mrs Meghan Brady-MacDonald
have all retuned to the staff.
Mrs Clark, teacher of PE, Mrs Costas, teacher of Drama and Ms Fulton, Teacher of Geography have all gone on
maternity leave this year and we wish them well with their new arrivals.
We wish all of them well and thank them for their outstanding support of the school.
Expressive Arts
The Expressive Arts faculty said goodbye to Mrs Combe who retired in February. We welcomed two new Art staff members, Mrs
Boyd and Miss Abraham. In Drama Mrs Costas went on maternity leave and Mrs Lundy will be replacing her and doing an acting CL
of Drama and Music, while Mrs Black does CL of Art.
In October the Music and Drama department show cased the students in their performance of extracts from well known musicals.
The students put on two evening shows, both shows were well attended and the students enjoyed the praise they received from
peers, staff and families after the show.
In November the Art Department put on a Fashion show. This included Art work from
students in S1-S6. P7 students from Davidson’s Main’s and Black Hall also took part,
designing and making 3d Body Adornment. S1 students modelled the fashion/ costume
pieces and strutted their stuff on the catwalk. The Evening was a huge hit with the audience.
The National 4/5 Drama students were involved in a project with the Traverse Theatre called
Class Act along with five other schools in Edinburgh. The students worked with an
established playwright to write their own plays. A company of actors and professional
directors performing these plays in front of a live audience at the Traverse Theatre This was an excellent opportunity that developed
the students’ experience of all aspects of the theatre and script writing.
In December the DYW event took place in school. We had an excellent representation for the Expressive Arts Faculty with Rachel
Scott Couture, MacIntyre’s Hair and Beauty, Janice Bruce choreographer and FP, Emily Hogarth, Graphic Designer speaking to S2
through to the senior phase about the different career paths they can take towards jobs/ apprenticeships in these areas of work.
S6 student Grace Oliver was so inspired by Rachel Scott Couture at this event that she has since gone on to do a work placement
with her before going into college. S6 students Lauren Gaskin is going on to work at MacIntyres Hair and Beauty to start an
apprenticeship in Hairdressing. The Expressive Arts Faculty also asked for parents and carers within the Creative Industries to come
in to the faculty to work with students. We gained a positive response and are looking forward to being involved in some exciting
projects next session.
Our annual Christmas concert was again hugely popular, with a large variety of groups performing, from the Jazz band, Senior
Dancers to the Show Choir.
In March national 5 Drama students put on a mini showcase of their SQA performance pieces to an audience of friends and family
in preparation for their final exam. National 5 pupils this year performed excerpts from Tallys Blood, Men Should Weep, and some
contemporary pieces. We are delighted that this large class of talented students are continuing on to do Higher Drama next session.
In June the Art department held an exhibition of Advance Higher and Photography work. This was really well attended and inspired
a lot of our younger students.
The Art Department have taken to social media to promote student successes. We are on Instagram called theroyalhighschoolart.
Please follow us so you can see the amazing work produced by the students at RHS.
Our talented musicians this year have also played at various prestigious events including the City
Chambers, Scottish Parliament, Young Apprentice Awards, EICC, and the Resonate concert-Queens Hall.
The RHS Fiddle Group began this academic year as guests of the Lord Provost at the Opening Concert of
the International Festival. As part of the evening they were introduced to Prince Edward. The year
continued to be busy for both the Fiddle Group and the Quartet with playing at numerous award
ceremonies at the City Chambers and Edinburgh’s Academic Service. In January the Fiddle Group started
the year by playing at the Opening Reception of the Year of Young People at the City Chambers. The last
two recent events were playing for Edinburgh’s World Heritage 2018 launch at Edinburgh Castle and the
Palozzi Prize at the National Art Gallery.
Congratulations to our Advance Higher Art students who have secured places within the Creative
Industries or in College. Tessa Minshull and Hannah Rowney- Dundee College of Art, Alexandra Murray, Zoe Millar, Tegan Miller,
Grace Oliver, Kirsty Dickson at Edinburgh College. Ellen Baird, Hannah Minshull and Alex Murray were also nominated for a Palozzi
award and had their work show cased as part of the awards ceremony.
We have completed our first year of Higher Photography, with a full capacity class and due to popular demand we have now
introduced a Photography Academy course in S3 starting in August.
Pupil trips to ECA degree show, Edinburgh College HND Photography show, Gallery of Modern
Art (S3), Senior Drama students attended Train Spotting at the Kings Theatre.
Competition winner- Alexander Priestly in S2, winning the Scottish round and then going on to
gain 3rd in Regional round of Rotary Young Photographer of the Year. Three photos on the
theme of 'Reflections'. A magnificent achievement!
Pipe Band
Davidson’s Mains and District Pipe Band was formed by Pipe Major Clare Miller in 2010 and was one of the first new
independent Edinburgh bands for pupils at local authority schools. The band is now in it’s 5th season as a competing
band and have now joined Grade 4A. The majority of the 26 competing members in the senior band and 22 members
of the intermediate band attend The Royal High School and Davidson’s Mains Primary school with both piping and
drumming tuition delivered in school by PM Clare Miller.
Playing in Hunting Stewart of Appin Tartan, 2017 was a successful season for DMDPB winning 27 trophies overall, the
Grade 4 band qualified for 4 major championship finals and
won three prizes. 2017 finished on a high being placed 6th
in Grade 4B at the World Pipe Band Championships as well
as becoming Lothian and Borders Grade 4B Champion of
Champions for the third year running.
There were so many opportunities in 2017 for the young
people of DMDPB, they have been part of parades and
celebrations across the city, performed with The Red Hot
Chilli Pipers in Princes Street Gardens and spent the
summer recording and making a video of their version of
Ed Sheeran’s Castle on the Hill. The 2018 season has now
begun and we have already added to the trophy cabinet
making the prize lists at Dunbar and Bathgate.
You can keep up to date with how the band are getting on in 2018 by following us on Facebook (Davidson’s Mains &
District Pipe Band) and Twitter (@DMDPB).
Business Education and Computing Science
Business Education
Our Business pupils have been following the story of our very own Fraser Docherty (FP) and looking at his journey
through the Jam Business; Tea Parties;Envelope Coffee and Beer52. They have been
looking at what makes an Entrepreneur and have found that Fraser has shown
numerours skills and qualities displayed by many famous entrepreneurs in the world
today. Pupils were particularly interested in the Tea Parties which show a very caring
side to Fraser's character. A truly inspirational FP!
Computing Science
In August we welcomed Mrs Gillian Murray. This session she has been running a code club every Tuesday at
lunchtime. They have been creating an Easter Game and then they judged each other’s games using criteria that
they agreed on. The pupils are enjoying coming along, they meet new people while getting experience using
different coding platforms.
Involvement in the P7 STEM event at Edinburgh College. The pupils had a great time and got
involved with many different activities. One of which, is designing a car, the model then has a
rocket attached and the cars are raced. This will then lead into the S1 Edinburgh College STEM
event in January 2019.
Digital day took place in November for the S3 pupils and they had fun working in teams planning Apps.
S1 pupils had the opportunity to experience the exciting enterprise project Make £5
Grow. This enabled them to develop their communication and problem solving skills
by working collaboratively to create a product for them to sell at the Christmas Fair in
December, which was a huge success.
S1 also learnt about the components of the computer and how they are all
connected and even got the opportunity to dismantle and put a computer back
together
S2 learnt how PowerPoint can be used in variety of different ways to make it much more
interesting by creating a ‘Cludeo’ game. They had to use their skills they developed from the
multimedia editing unit to edit and manipulate relevant sounds for their game. They then
entered the world of web development and learnt the basic building blocks of HTML to
create their own websites.
Games Development:
The seniors were exposed to the games Development world and what it takes to
be a real life games designers, from creating design plans and briefs, to creating
the media assets necessary for their game to developing their very own game.
Cyber Security:
Exposed to the ‘dark web’ and the reality of the ever growing cyber crime. They
learnt how hackers expose vulnerabilities in systems and by doing so, how they
can help protect themselves and others.
In learning and teaching pupil materials are available in One note and iTunes U which gives all leaners the
opportunities to explore learning within and out with the classroom. – it also reduces our paper footprint.
Hong Kong:
Four pupils and Miss Davidson got the opportunity to visit our
partner school in Hong Kong to see the range of learning and
teaching techniques used to teach technology. This included
the use of programming to control robots. We even had the
opportunity to visit one of the biggest tech expos in the world
and experience VR
CDT
It has been another very busy and productive year in the CDT department.
Staffing has changed again this year, with Mr Stevenson leaving his post as the Curricular Leader. Having worked in
the faculty for 26 years, he has been a big part of both the school and local community, sending many young people
out into the world of design over the years. Having lead his team through Higher Still and into the new era of
Curriculum for Excellence we thank him for a huge contribution.
Mr Buekhardt and Mr Dalzell left in Early December after helping us out massively. Again, thanks go out to both of
them from the faculty for all of their hard work and enthusiasm over the previous year.
Mr McLean joined the Faculty in December as the new Acting Curricular Leader and has enjoyed his time in the role
hugely.
This year saw staff in the faculty leading pupils in a variety of new and continuing, exciting projects as the year
progressed.
Mr Allan led his Construction Craft Skills class in the production of planters which can be seen displayed around the
grounds, outside and in the internal uncovered areas of the school. These have helped to bring some nature to the
building. The pupils have enjoyed using their new knowledge of the construction industry to improve the working
environment of the school.
Mrs Smyth has taken over Duke of Edinburgh this year, delivering a total of 14 different expeditions including, 3
bronze, two silver and one gold expedition, along with overnight practice camps in the school grounds. This is a huge
commitment which will benefit a large number of pupils as they look to challenge themselves with a massive step
out of their comfort zone. The benefit to them in the future should not be underestimated.
Mrs Givan has started up a variety of projects connecting with the world of work in this academic year. Pupils have
benefited from her links with Edinburgh college and Skyscanner as they have worked together on a pilot course for
the upcoming year set up to foster creativity in different aspects of design. Pupils were also entered in the Day
Dream Believers competition which saw them putting together a presentation to promote an album. Presentations
from across the city were judged centrally, and Paulina Bysiak in S3 was selected to spend a week at Edinburgh
college in June expanding on her creativity and design skills.
This year has also seen the instigation of the new Design Engineer Construct or DEC course, which has seen 25 - S3
pupils complete a qualification which is the equivalent of a National 4 while studying in S3. The course has linked the
faculty with Napier College and Aecom – a major city based architecture firm. Pupils have worked with architecture
students, Civil Engineers, lecturers and real world architects both in school and at Aecom’s offices in Stockbridge on
a variety of projects that have contributed to their own design for a new Community Centre based in the grounds of
the school. The quality and intricacy of the work produced by pupils has been extraordinary, with university lecturers
impressed on a number of occasions at the level pupils were working at.
This year, our senior pupils have, as always, applied themselves to a very high level, showing dedication and skill in a
large proportion of the work they have produced. We saw the introduction of new Course Assessment Tasks in
Design and Manufacture, Graphic Communication and Practical Woodwork, and the whole faculty worked hard to
ensure that pupils had the tools they required to achieve in each of the subjects.
Special mention should go, in particular, to Abbi Wilson in N5 Design and Manufacture and Lindsay McLellan and
Roshi Pradhan in Higher, all of whom achieved close to full marks in their folio projects. In Higher Graphic
Communication, Lindsay and also Erin Brown, excelled, achieving full marks. At Advanced Higher, for the second
year running a pupil achieved full marks in their folio as Hannah Rowney completed a perfect score.
Some of the pupils specifically mentioned and many more besides are either on their way to college or university to
pursue a future in design, or are seeking to get more advanced grades in their final year to allow them to. As a
faculty we value the time we have had with those leaving massively, but we look forward to seeing them flourish as
they go out into the big wide world of further education and employment.
English and Media Studies
Our wonderful Mrs Pia retired before Christmas holiday this year. She has been a fantastic, inspirational teacher of
English for many years, as anyone lucky enough to have been in her classes will testify. We wish her a wonderful and
fulfilling retirement. At the beginning of the year we welcomed our Probationer Teacher, Ms Amy Hogg, who has
contributed hugely to the Faculty with her dedication, creative teaching and constantly sunny disposition. After
Christmas we were lucky enough to appoint Dr Kate Hendry as our new full time permanent teacher. She brings with
her a wealth of experience and talent in creative writing and young people are already benefitting from her knowledge
and commitment.
The Faculty continued to see very good results this year in formal SQA exams at all levels. We presented an even
bigger number of candidates this year and I would like to thank the teachers in the Faculty and our Classroom
Assistant for their exemplary commitment, skill and enthusiasm. We have continued to see an increase in school
leavers with Level 4 and 5 literacy qualifications and thanks go not only to our own dedicated English staff but also
to those in other areas of the school who have worked with us to support young people.
We have continued to develop and enrich our curriculum with new texts and new strategies in teaching and
learning. In November we introduced ten minutes reading at the start of every Block in S1-S3. We continue to
promote reading of non-fiction in Senior Phase and are learning to enhance this with the use of Pressreader and
OneNote to share work.
S1-3 pupils have been taking part in the Carnegie Book Awards Shadowing Scheme. Children and young people
across the UK 'shadow' the judging process for the Carnegie Children's Book Awards; they read, discuss and review
the books on the shortlist and engage in reading related activity online. They have been writing reviews for the
Carnegie prize website, creating their own quizzes, asking the authors questions, designing posters, entering a
writing competition and deciding which novel they think deserves to win.
Debating continues to thrive, under the guidance of Mrs McLean and Mr Forbes.
The school participated at the Mini Trials in October at the Sherriff Court and
entered two teams into the Donald Dewar Debating tournament, with one
reaching the semi-final. Other honours included the ESU public speaking senior
finalist and a junior and senior team in the Donald Gorrie memorial debate. Two
S3 pupils are Lothian and Borders Sheriffdom public speaking champions.
Our Debating Teams at the Scottish Parliament (picture)
Our Advanced Higher students took part in the Creative Writing Conference in September and also reviewed
performance of ‘The Incredible String Band’ at Edinburgh Playhouse as part of a joint project with ‘The Herald’
newspaper and Edinburgh International Festival. All reviews were published on the EIF website and the winning
review was published in the newspaper. We also took two Higher classes to a performance of ‘A Streetcar Named
Desire’ at the King’s Theatre in October.
Our National 5 Media students, with expert assistance from John Stables, have a film
shortlisted for the EIFF Schools’ Film Competition. The Film Club and Media Studies
continue to produce quality work and offer a fantastic creative outlet for young
people. Film fans are well served in the Faculty, with Mr Craig’s hugely popular Comic
Book Film Club on Mondays and Film Club on Wednesdays. The Comic Book Film Club
ran an excellent trip to see The Last Jedi in December.
After being encouraged to write a letter in a class project, one of young people was
invited for an exclusive tour and work experience opportunity by a paleo biologist at
the National Museum.
We look forward to a good set of results in August and another successful year.
Geography and RMPS
Geography
Staff in the faculty for the academic session of 2018-2019 include Ms S Mariani (Curriculum Leader), Ms L Hooper
(Teacher of Geography), Mr S Sewell (Teacher of Classical Studies and RMPS), Mrs A Fulton (Teacher of Geography),
Ms A Lockhart (Teacher of RMPS). We also welcomed back Mrs M Brady-McDonald (Teacher of RMPS) from
maternity leave after the birth of her daughter as well as welcoming Miss H McGowan (Teacher of Geography) to
replace Mrs A Fulton on her maternity leave.
This academic session has been one of the most successful yet as pupils have experienced a wide variety of outdoor
learning opportunities including trips to Dynamic Earth, Sky Academy and The Royal Highland Show. We also
enjoyed taking our senior pupils to the Isle of Arran to complete coastal fieldwork for their SQA assignments.
Finlay Boath at the
National Museum of
Scotland
As well as trips out of school we had a wealth of visitors to the school including workshops from Geobus, Zoolab and
a range of companies including The forestry commission and Baillie Gifford as part of the S2 DYW week.
RMPS
The faculty continue to grow from strength to strength and have worked
exceptionally hard this year to provide the possibilities to offer these
new and exciting SQA courses. We were delighted with our uptake for
next academic session as our subject areas increase in popularity.
Classical Studies has seen the introduction of its first National class as
well as a strong senior cohort. Both Geography and RMPS continue to
build on their success. We also delivered the Scottish Studies award for
the first time, which has led to the introduction of Travel and Tourism in
the faculty for the first time. We look forward to continuing building on
this success throughout next session.
The faculty have also been involved in the wider school. Mr Sewell has
continued offering pupils the opportunity to engage in Classical Studies
through the lunchtime Classics club. Ms Mariani launched a Fairtrade group
that ran a number of successful events. Events included a staff Fairtrade
coffee morning as well as a Christmas and Easter Fairtrade raffle. Ms Lockhart
continued to run the Equalities group and Ms Hooper led the S3 Enhancement
opportunities which gave pupils experiences in a
range of different and exciting activities including
volunteering, cycling and fashion to name but a
few.
We have enjoyed this year immensely and look
forward to more exciting opportunities next year.
The Faculty of Geography, RMPS and Classical
Studies.
Health and Wellbeing
On the back of an excellent set of SQA results in August the Health and Wellbeing faculty has continued to thrive and
provide high quality teaching and learning throughout the year with good practice being recognised in both Physical
Education and Health Food Technology. Offering students a clear and full progression pathway in both PE and HFT has
seen our numbers continue to grow. The introduction of certificate dance this year has been hugely successful and we
look forward to seeing this grow as part of the curriculum. The launch of the S1-S3 RHS football academy has been a
huge success with those participating reaping success in the Edinburgh Leagues, Lothian Cup and Scottish Cup. The
official launch of the rugby academy has seen a surge in numbers across all age groups with five teams fielded in the
Grandis conference each Saturday. The HFT department has benefited from seeing the S1 cohort for two blocks per
week allowing the students to fast track and hone their practical skills. The S3 elective course students successfully
completed the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland certification. The extra-curricular baking club has
been so popular that a weekly rota was created to cater for all students. We had a particular focus on promoting
subject specific language in the faculty this year as well as preparing students with skills for work and life.
The S2 career day was yet again very successful with many of our students gaining a clearer picture of the pathway
opportunities available within our subject areas. We have built upon our positive mentoring programs that have a
health and wellbeing focus, which in turn has led to a positive engagement from many of our students across the rest
of school. The inter-nation events continue to grow year on year with the whole school Sports Day being the last
opportunity to gain nation points towards the Crichton Cup. The Brits proved to be triumphant in lifting the Sports
Day shield for the second year in a row! The Sports Ambassadors have done a superb job in promoting sport across
the school and have exciting plans afoot for next session.
The extra-curricular program continues to grow with increased numbers of participation in the majority of clubs. This
year has seen the development of swimming, triathlon, water polo, volleyball, table tennis and girl’s football on top
of many other sports. The Community Sports Hub has continued to provide great links and partnership opportunities
with local clubs. This has provided the opportunity for pupils to attend sport clubs out with the school extra-curricular
program, creating a great development pathway. The introduction of the Edinburgh School Sport Edinburgh
Competition has allowed teams to try competition at the first level. We have entered Royal High teams in Volleyball,
Netball, Water Polo, Cricket and Athletics in festivals over the year. The Wider Achievement Ceremony was another
great success with record number of pupils being recognised for their sporting achievements. A big thank you to our
special guest Don Cowie who gave an inspirational speech to pupils as well as presenting some of the awards. This
year will see the Royal High School applying for the Gold School Sport Award from Sportscotland. The awards are to
be announced at the start of September and it would be great recognition for all the sporting achievement over the
last few years.
This year we were delighted to welcome Miss Murphy as a permanent appointment to the Health Food Technology
Department. Mr Leckie was also appointed on a fulltime basis as Head of Rugby and we are thrilled that he has joined
the team. We have had a number of student teachers with us over the course of the year and have enjoyed supporting
them on their pathway to becoming teachers. We say farewell to Mr Gordon who has been an exceptional
probationary teacher in the PE department and wish him well as he moves onto Glasgow Academy. We also wish Ms
MacMillan well next year as she embarks on a career break from the PE department where she will be missed.
Congratulations go out to Mrs Clark who is currently on maternity leave with her newborn girl. We will welcome her
temporary replacement in August.
It has been an exceptionally exciting, busy and progressive year where we have enjoyed seeing the students in the
Health and Wellbeing faculty flourish. Please follow us @rhs_hwb for all the latest success stories and achievements
within Health & Well-Being and please continue to let us know of your achievements.
Rugby Academy
This has been a very exciting year for the rugby programme both on and off the field. The RHS competed in the in the
Grandis conference fielding five teams each Saturday and completing all matches. The success in the conference was
mainly due to the fact that for the first time the RHS ran a rugby academy programme for S1 and S2 pupils which
focussed on skill development, self-evaluation, strength, conditioning and nutrition. This led to a real increase in
numbers especially in the S2 group where we went from six up to twenty-six players most of whom had never played
rugby before.
The U16 team reached the final of the Brewin Dolphin shield and also had four players represent Edinburgh U16. Three
of the four boys went on to national level and represented Scotland reds. We have also enjoyed seeing the success of
our formal pupil’s representing at national level.
The U18's competed well both in the league and the cup eventually going out to a very strong Glasgow High Kelvinside
team. The RHS also won the Edinburgh schools 7's series.
Overall, the Royal High Rugby teams have had a great season and were led well by school captain Tom Campbell. We
look forward to the season ahead which will see the rugby academy grow with the introduction of a new rugby course
on the curriculum as well as the development of girl’s rugby.
Football Academy:
S1 Review – The u13 team have had a magnificent season winning the Edinburgh A league for the first time since
1988. We have had over 26 boys play for the team on a Saturday morning and the parental support and involvement
has been a massive success. They have also reached the final of the Lothian Cup and lost out to Craigmount in a penalty
shoot-out.
S2 Review – The u14 team have represented the school with honesty and commitment all season leading them to
secure the Lothian Cup. They have suffered a few close defeats in the league, during which they were winning at some
stage of the match leading to a mid-table finish in the A league.
S3 Review – The u15 team have had a tough season in the A league. The team managed to end the season on a high
with a 5-0 win in the local derby against Craigmount. They managed to get through 2 rounds of the Scottish Cup before
being eliminated on penalties by Deans CHS.
GIRLS Review – The girls have begun training on a Thursday lunchtime with an external volunteer and numbers have
been on the rise. The girls have entered the Edinburgh Schools 7s league with some strong performances. Our latest
event saw 18 girls represent RHS with one team winning their respective group.
Senior Review – The 1st XI have had a great season which unfortunately didn’t provide the silverware that it deserved.
The team won 14 of their 17 games this season, finishing 2nd/20 in the Lothian Senior League and reaching the semi-
finals of the Lothian Cup. The team was eliminated in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup by Craigmount H.S. This has been
a very rewarding time season from the viewpoint of Mr Raeburn and Mr Gair, seeing a much more professional set-
up in place, which filtered down throughout the other squads.
History & Modern Studies
History
The History department has had a very busy year. Mrs MacDermot and Mrs Gallagher both went off on maternity
leave this year and were replaced by Miss Johnstone and Mr Murray. Miss Johnstone was appointed to a permanent
post at Holyrood RC High School and Ms Hohs joined the History department in August. Mrs Hughes also took up her
post as Curriculum Leader of Social Subjects in August. Mr Murray was then appointed to a permanent post at
Trinity Academy which he took up in early November. Mrs MacDermot returned from maternity leave in January and
Mrs Gallagher returned from maternity leave in April. The pupils have been delighted to have both Mrs MacDermot
and Mrs Gallagher return in the run up to the final exams. Nevertheless, they were very ably taught and prepared by
both Mr Murray and Ms Hohs during their time at RHS. We congratulate Ms Hohs who will take up a permanent
teacher’s position at James Gillespie’s in August.
Mrs Hughes has led a very successful Lessons From Auschwitz project in her role as educator for the Holocaust
Education Trust and our two successful participant from RHS were privileged to be asked to open Parliament as part
of the reflections for Holocaust Memorial Day in January, followed by a successful delivery of reflective assemblies
delivered to pupils from S1-S6. Mrs Hughes also led a team of pupils from the Debating Club to a Model United
Nations event which saw our pupils highly commended for their participation and excellent debating skills, with one
award being picked up along the way. An exploration of cultures was continued by the yearly German exchange with
pupils from both schools making long lasting friendships, led by Mrs Fraser and Mrs Mitchell from the languages
department, joined in by Mrs Hughes in their exploration of Celtic life around Edinburgh.
Modern Studies
As always, the 2017/2018 session has been very busy in Modern Studies. In August, the department welcomed Mrs
Hughes as the new permanent head of faculty. The department has also welcomed back Jenny Reynolds from
maternity leave but she was very ably covered for by Annessa Ashkanani who sadly will be leaving us at the end of
term to take up a full time permanent post at St Georges. The department and pupils would like to the opportunity
to thank Miss Ashkannani for all of her hard work and going the extra mile for the pupils in her classes.
This year has as always been a very busy year for the Modern Studies department. The department has continued its
tradition of getting outside speakers as Miss Ashkanani arranged the local MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton to speak to all of
the National 5 Modern Studies pupils. This was very well attended with many of the pupils asking very detailed
questions, which in many ways made the assembly hall feel like FMQS!
The department has been able to offer a number of trips to pupils in
certificate classes. The Advanced Higher pupils went to the
University of Edinburgh Library in order to support the completion
of their fantastic dissertations. The department was also able to take
a mixture of National 5 and Higher pupils down to visit the palace of
Westminster. This trip included a question and answer session with
local MP Christine Jardine as well as a tour and session with
members of the House of Lords. The department was also able to
continue to offer the opportunity to attend the Maths and Social Science event run by the Q-Steps programme at
the University of Edinburgh.
As well as supporting their own curricular area, the Modern Studies staff have
continued to support the wider development of the school. Mr Snedden has
continued to display his superb technical wizardry at a number of school shows
and events this year - most notably at the Summer Show. This is always a
highlight of the summer term and displays the huge technical expertise and
experience Mr Snedden brings to the school. Miss Ashkanani has really hit the
ground running this year taking over the Colour Me Calm club in Mrs Reynolds
absence and starting a bullet journal club which has helped to support
numerous pupils throughout the school. Mr Forbes has continued to help run the very popular and always busy
Royal High School debating society.
Integrated Support Team
Support for Learning Annual Report May 2018
During this session, we welcomed three new Pupil Support Assistants – Miss Shaunie Hamilton, Ms Charis Hogg and
Ms Carol McKenzie. Ms Hogg is leaving at the end of the session to begin a PGDE in Biology at university and Ms
McKenzie is taking up a new post at Gorgie Mills School. We wish them both the best in their new ventures.
Another member of the staff team, Miss Ami Rowley, also moved on - progressing in her desired career path leaving
us to work with young offenders. As a department we have continued to develop our close working relationship with
the Pupil Support Team and have further embedded our position in the school Integrated Support Team meeting the
needs of our most vulnerable and challenging learners.
At the end of last session, we moved our department to be closer to the Pupil Support staff. This has proved to be a
huge success with both the Hub and Den providing pupils with the emotional and learning support they need
throughout the school week. With over 60 pupils accessing these spaces on a weekly basis, they have become vital
resources for our pupils and an integral part of their day.
The department has continued to liaise with the school librarian regarding the S1 Paired Reading Programme. S6
pupils support the S1 pupils who take part forming a hugely positive experience for all pupils involved, building the
confidence of the young learners and enabling the seniors to take a lead role in the learning of others. In addition,
we have offered a range of programmes and courses to support the development of literacy and numeracy across
the entire school curriculum.
During the exam diet, we supported over 150 pupils with assessment arrangements to ensure they had the best
opportunity to achieve their potential.
We have frequently liaised with parents throughout the session and because of this parents feel able to contact the
department freely should the need arise. There have been regular visits to our feeder primary schools to prepare
for the transition from primary to secondary. In doing so we are continuing to strengthen existing links with not only
our feeder schools but also our Partnership Services and External Agencies in order to support pupils with additional
needs. This session we have worked closely with the Additional Support for learning team and have welcomed
visiting teachers for pupils with challenges such as visual impairment, hearing impairment and social and
communication difficulties.
Support for Pupils
This has been a busy year for the Support for Pupils Team. This year over 120 pupils applied to university with the
majority being provided with an offer. Many senior pupils took advantage of courses run by Queen Margaret
University and Edinburgh College while other pupils participated in the JET programme and Career Ready where
they had the opportunity to do work placements and internships. Meanwhile the My World of Work programme
continues to develop with seven of our S5 pupils trained as Ambassadors for the website. They delivered sessions to
our S1 cohort this year and will continue in their roles as they move on to S6. Work experience has grown this year
with about 80 senior pupils taking part in this during the last week of May.
Mr Watson very ably acted up in the S1 Guidance role covering for Ms Casey and Ms Saddler who returned from
their secondment this month.
We are very sorry to say goodbye to Mrs White at the end of this term who retires from the school. Mrs White
started in 1974 and has provided an outstanding service to generations of our students. Her passion and enthusiasm
for getting it right for every child along with her determination to get every young person the right job post school
has led to our consistently outstanding Positive Destination figures. Mrs White will be very much missed in the
school and we wish her all the best for her retirement.
Mathematics Department
2017-18 has been another very busy year for the maths department, starting with another set of very positive exam
results across the range of SQA courses from National 3 through to Advanced Higher Mechanics and Statistics. The
year has also seen a number of changes in staff with Mrs Crow becoming a permanent member of staff and three
new teachers joining the department Mrs Harpur, Mr Laidlaw and Mr MacColl.
Numeracy across the Curriculum continues to be a big priority within the school and this
development has been actively led by Mr Serhani. We have been looking at different levels of
numeracy and how, and when, the various skills are taught within subjects. To back this
development up a numeracy booklet has been circulated among staff, parents and pupils. Ninja
maths also continues to be popular with pupils and has been extended to include second and
third year classes. Diagnostic testing confirms that all initiatives are leading to increasing levels
of numeracy amongst our pupils.
The staff have been working hard to produce a new broad banded S1 BGE course focusing on promoting cooperative
learning through investigations and problem solving techniques. We have also been creating resources for delivery
through iPads in particular on iTunes U and One Note.
The department ran a very successful maths camp in March 2018 at Fordell Firs Outdoor Centre for
S4 National 5 level pupils. During the weekend pupils worked hard to prepare for their maths
exam, and participated in outdoor activities for some rest and relaxation.
In May we invited our cluster Primary 6 classes to visit and enjoy maths activities on the AstroTurf in
a bid to show the pupils that maths is fun and to start preparing them for secondary school -
fortunately we even had beautiful sunshine!
Over the year we have supported three student maths teachers through successful placements, and have hosted a
number of university students in a bid to encourage some to become maths teachers.
Other successes within the department include one pupil achieving 100% in the SQA Higher Maths exam and the
awarding of gold and silver medals to a number of our senior and junior pupils by the Scottish Mathematical Council
in a nationwide maths challenge.
Many of our teachers lead activities about the school including, Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce run by Mr
Curry, basketball run by Mr Docherty, Ms Dupraz supporting our English as a second language pupils, the football
league organised by Mr Millington and the jazz band ably assisted by Mr Laidlaw. Mr Serhani is also leading a group
of S6 volunteers on the Habitat for Humanity project to Romania in June.
From August, Mrs Crow will be taking a career break to work as a volunteer in South Africa teaching maths to
orphaned and vulnerable children and assisting in running the village community. We wish her all our best.
All-in-all a very exciting year with plans well under-way to move the learning and teaching forward for the maths
department, together with the wider school community as a whole.
Modern Languages
The Modern Languages Department has seen a number of changes this session. Miss Macrae joined the department
in August 2017. Mrs Graham joined the department in November to cover Miss Mariani’s maternity leave. Finally,
Mrs Landsburgh returned in May and Miss Mariani in June from their
respective maternity leave. This year senior students were supported
by the Foreign Language assistants, Tiphaine Maeseele and Luisa
Fernekeß. Svenja Lehnert also joined the department for a 3-month
placement.
The Primary 7 Languages Immersion Day took place in September,
organised by Mrs Cullen and Mrs Figueira and supported by senior
students. In October there was an S3-6 Spanish trip to the Filmhouse to
see ‘RARA’ and in November S4-6 French pupils went to see ‘Un Sac de
Billes’ at the Filmhouse.
In December, the S3 German Exchange trip to Mannheim took place, run jointly with the History Department. 13
Royal High pupils visited the partner school in Germany. This year the theme of the exchange is the Celts in both
countries and there have been visits to museums and historic sites.
In January, Mrs Figueira and Mrs McKinlay organised a trip to Vienna for the Higher German class. The aim of the
trip was to immerse the pupils in the Austrian culture and give them
the opportunity to practise their German in real life situations. The
programme was varied and included a sightseeing tour by bus, a visit
to Schönbrunn Palace, a theatre performance and a boat trip on the
Danube. Pupils particularly enjoyed sampling the Austrian delicacies!
The trip was a big success and pupils were a credit to themselves and
the school.
There were a number of French and German breakfasts during the
year for pupils studying the topic of food, drink and shopping. Pupils
were given the opportunity to sample continental specialties and ask
for food in the target language.
In February, senior pupils attended the Languages Talk Conference at Moray House in preparation for the final
speaking exam. Finally, June saw the return leg of the Mannheim German exchange, with 15 pupils visiting the Royal
High School for an action-packed week, including a very successful family ceilidh.
Science
It is at these times of reflection, while trying to represent the sum total of our work this year in a few hundred
words, that we can justifiably feel that it has been a busy year.
We have made an especially concerted effort to attract to our structured and targeted study support classes those
pupils who we feel might benefit from them. Individual letters to parents were sent in September - an earlier start
than usual to try to get support in place before the formal assessment period. We have found in previous years that
if the support is not in place beforehand, the formal assessment can reinforce negative expectations of being able to
attain, so we felt an early start was important. It is frustrating to wait so long to see if the efforts of committed staff
have borne fruit, but the wait is nearly over, as it is for all our exam candidates. We also presented to parents of
senior pupils the extent of the support for pupils’ learning that is available through the various apps on iPads. The
message went out loud and clear that there is always something pupils can be doing to further their chances of
success, and teaching staff continue to support this by extending the use of iPads in novel ways.
In another technological advance, Messrs Wootton and Rutter have started a YouTube channel so pupils who can’t
make it in to school for whatever reason can still have some experience of common experiments demonstrated to
them.
Each teacher has also tried to help extend pupils’ accomplishments by the use of their room space. Some tried word
walls, others exemplified the scientific method, how to correctly represent data in graphs, how to write a scientific
report, etc. We have looked at what we think works best and are standardising these across the Faculty.
In one of the biggest initiatives we have undertaken this year, we have widened the view of our work beyond the
school to the cluster of feeder Primary Schools. We have put together packs of work to provide to our colleagues in
local primaries to support their work. We have also purchased the equipment to facilitate experiments in primaries
and will arrange to rotate this around the local schools so the burden of equipment costs is shared. We have visited
some of the schools to introduce ourselves and explore these resources. We will look to deepen and extend this
relationship as more primaries come on board. This is something of a commitment on our behalf, but the potential
benefits are in the consistency of provision of primary Science education in the cluster and the generation of work
that tells us something about the abilities of pupils when they arrive in S1. It is also a part of the mechanism by
which we pursue a strategic vision for the whole cluster.
We have a very active STEM co-ordinator in Mr Wootton. He will make his own contribution to the annual report,
but we also have a weekly S1 Science Club. Dr Scott and Miss Docherty have organised several Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths-type activities for the enthusiastic participants, and took them to the Camera Obscura for a
very enjoyable visit.
Some of our Chemistry students took part in a project run by the University of the West of Scotland to collect,
isolate and identify microplastic waste from Cramond Beach.
Professor David Patterson of St Andrews University did his annual talk to our Biologists and brought some of his
students to talk to pupils about the transition to University and their personal career pathways though Biology. The
Higher Biologists visited the Scottish Rural College (SRUC) where they carried out an investigation using the
polymerase chain reaction. As part of this day there was also a visit to the Scottish Microelectronics Centre at Kings
Buildings. We had a couple of students attending the Royal Zoological Society's week-long summer investigation
course as well.
As always, we wish the best of luck and send our good wishes to those waiting for exam results and those who leave
us to go out into the world.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths)
Similar to previous years, the focus was to ensure that STEM activities and projects were available for students of all
years across the school.
S1 Student
All S1 students took part in the Shell Bright Idea Challenge 2018 while working on a topical subject within the
Science school timetable.
What will cities look like in 2050? “How will the cities be powered to be vibrant, healthy and clean places to live?”
That’s the question put to students aged 11-14 by The Bright Ideas Challenge, Shell’s cross-curricular schools’
competition. Now in its third year, it invites young people to use their creativity, problem solving, and teamwork and
STEM skills to devise innovative solutions that could power cities of the future. With over £45,000 worth of cash
prizes up for grabs, there is every reason to think big. Royal High school have submitted an entry from one of the
first year classes and is awaiting the result of the competition.
S1 / S2 Students
In September 2017, the BAE Systems, RAF and Royal Navy Education Roadshow entertained all S1 and S2 students.
This year’s show was in three parts. Part 1 explored the world of drones, the technology behind them, the
multifarious uses that they are currently put to, and their possible uses for the future. Part 2 focused on computing
and control systems that all modern technology is built around. Fun creative demonstrations helped demystify the
subject for students. The final part of the show featured a very special robot.
S2 Students
A group of six S2 Students represented Royal High School in this year’s G04SET competition. Congratulations to
Lewis Murray, Joshua Templeton, Aditya Kumar, Kelly Grant, Eloise Lawrence and Ryan Hughes who all worked very
well as a team and performed well at the final presentations in March.
As part of the competition, the students also attended AEGON Offices where they meet with senior management
and asked questions about careers in the finance world.
S3 Students
In February, Katie Will arranged for a group of 20 S3 Students to attend Career’s Hive. Careers Hive is a free
immersive careers education event designed by the Edinburgh International Science Festival to give students in S1-
S3 a new way to think about their futures. It highlights the opportunities available to those who study STEM subjects
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), as well as the cross-disciplinary skills and subjects that can support
and enhance STEM careers. All the students who attended found the event very informative and enjoyable.
Four S3 Students, Douglas McCartney, Eilidh Rowena Newlands, Nivashini Vijayakumar and Panav Sharma, have all
submitted entries to the Scottish Engineering Leaders Awards 2018. As part of this competition the students spent a
lunch with Konstantinos Pierros, a leading engineer with Enercon Konstantinos reviewed the student’s project
entries and offered advice /possible amendments before final submissions.
S4 Students
As early as August 2017, all S4 Chemistry Students attended a lecture at Edinburgh Napier University titled
“Fantastic Plastics”. As well as being informed of the transformation of people’s lifes through the invention of plastic
it also allowed students to experience learning on a university campus. It help show students the difference
between lessons in a classroom and lectures in a lecture theatre.
S5 / S6 Students
Our S5/S6 Students, for the second year, received the opportunity to work for an afternoon with JACOBS – one of
the top civil engineering companies within Edinburgh.
This was an excellent opportunity for students to gain engineering experience. This year was particularly successful,
as three of the eight students who attended the event have now arranged for a full week experience opportunity
with the company during the summer holidays.
Jacobs have also been in school to discuss permanent contract technician roles with the company.
S5/S6 Students
At the start of the year, Royal High school was lucky enough to have Pfizer representatives assist within the Higher
Chemistry course. Jolene Lornie and Dawne Stewart conducted lessons over a full week on the pharmaceutical
industry and the lessons incorporated video links with Don Clark, CSI Manager (Chemistry and Spectroscopy
Investigations) in Sandwich, England. Don walked the students through the process of building a suitable molecule
structure to address various issues in the human body.
The hope is that we will now continue this established link with Pfizer and they will be part of the Higher Chemistry
course for the foreseen future.
S6 Girl Students
In October 2017, a number of S6 Students attended the MONSTER Conference for Girls on STEM and Engineering.
MONSTER in partnership with STEMette promote this event yearly across Britain and the occasion was designed to
promote and inspire young girls to consider a career in STEM subjects.
The full day consists of career workshops, interview practice and inspirational talks. It also provided the opportunity
for the students to network with industry. It was a very successful day for Serena Ozkan as she won a trip to London
to gain work experience with Veolia. Veolia are the UK Leaders in environmental solutions and they welcomed
Serena to their offices in London for the day.
Additional Supportive STEM Ambassadors – Katie Will and Gillian Murphy
At the start of the year, a request for other teachers to assist in STEM activities allowed Royal High School to
complete even more STEM activities than previous years. My sincere thanks to Katie Will (Chemistry) and Gillian
Murray (Computing) who have managed to provide additional help to promote STEM at Royal High School.
Gillian represented Royal High School by attending the STEM Manifesto Launch at Edinburgh College in October
2017 and attended the Holyrood Scotland STEM 2018 event at the Sheraton Hotel later that month. She has
successful started at Coding Club in the school every Tuesday for S1 students and coordinated the P7 STEM
experience day for our four feeder Primary Schools. This involved liaising with the Primary schools and Edinburgh
College to make sure the event ran smoothly.
Katie, as well as arranging the trip to the Career Hives for the S3 students and supporting supervision of the S4
students during the plastics trip, has worked with two S6 Students in starting up the weekly STEMette Club. This is a
club for S1 to S6 Girls to work on various STEM projects through the year and promote STEM to girls in the school.
Having established a number of new members Kate intends to continue the club in the new term and we fully expect
this club to grow as the year’s progress. Finally, Kate took four Royal High Students – Harrier Sweatman (S4), Grace
Reid (S2), Finlay Paterson (S3) and Duncan Biggar (S3) – to compete on the “Top of the Bench” Competition at Heriot
Watt University. All four students performed very well and represented the school with pride.
Many thanks again to Kate and Gillian for their contributions and help this year.
In summary, this has been a very successful year for Royal High School STEM activity and I hope that the various
events have helped serve to promote science within the school.
Active Schools
Welcome to the Active Schools and Royal High School Health and Well Being Sports Report for the 2017/2018
session. This year saw, once again, a number of incredible achievements from the pupils of the Royal High School. In
addition to a variety of successes, the number of pupils participating in the sporting opportunities offered at The
Royal High School has increased for another year running. This is a testament to the enthusiasm of the pupils, staff,
parents and club coaches volunteering and participating to make the Royal High School programme one of the best
on offer in the city.
Below you will read a number of brief reports on the fantastic range of opportunities available, and accolades
achieved, from those at The Royal High School across the previous session;
Athletics
Continuing to build on Brian Winning’s Legacy, our Royal High Panthers Athletics programme grows year on year
under Head Coach, Keith Ridley. We had new volunteer recruits to support Keith with the sessions, Cameron Thores,
Sally Fair and Eva Tallaron. All three were a great addition to the athletics session. The club not only provides
sessions for our High School pupils but also a development programme from P3 upwards for all pupils attending our
local catchment primaries. Our continued link with Edinburgh Athletics Club has developed and there is now a clear
pathway for athletes to progress in to the club. Royal High Panthers sent a number of pupils to the Scottish Schools
Indoor, Outdoor and Cross Country Championships with all competing well. Congratulations to our all our Athletes,
especially our medallists and Royal High School Traditional Award Winners.
Badminton
This year has seen a vast increase in the number of attendees at the badminton club with having to create a second
session slot due to the demand. Our Under 14 squad has been the highlight of the year after winning the Edinburgh
Schools league as well as the Edinburgh cup. This allowed an entry in to the national knock out, the squad performed
well against tough opposition from around the country. Our school club continues to be one of our most popular
with over 50 pupils attending each week.
Hockey
This year has been a year of development for hockey at The Royal High School. With no lead teacher from PE, Miss
Murray kindly stepped in to help supervise this session with our excellent Pupil Coaches taking the lead on
organising training. There has been a consistent number of pupils turning up each week and getting involved in
hockey which is great to see. The Royal High School will continue this development next year with the addition of
friendlies from other schools.
Netball
This year has seen netball progress even further than previous years. Our S1’s got straight involved and had a huge
squad to choose from for the Scottish Cup games. Luckily, we had a school sport competition as well so all girls had
opportunities to play. The S1’s had a great year and lifted the winners shield in the Silver leg of the Scottish
Knockouts. The S2 team were very unlucky this year and just missed out on a place in the final after being knocked
out in the semi final Bronze cup. The S3’s had an excellent group stage and made it through to the Gold leg and were
eventually knocked out in the 2nd round. Our Open team also had an excellent group stage and managed to get
through to the Gold Leg of the competition. They were knocked out in the quarter finals, but showed great
character throughout this game. Well done to all teams for the year’s effort and we are looking forward to see the
continued progression. Big thank you to the coach Kay Farquhar, who took the lead on all teams. A big thank you for
all the parents getting involved and showing their support this year as well.
Swimming
Swimming at The Royal High continues to thrive with many pupils performing at regional and national level. Many
swimmers being involved with local clubs such as Heart of Midlothian, the school continues to send swimmers to the
Edinburgh and Scottish Schools Individual and Team Championships, which is an excellent achievement,
congratulations to all. A number of individuals have also progressed to the Scottish National Age Group
Championships after taking medals in the Scottish Schools Championships. Well done to all our Royal High
Traditional Swimming Award Winners, we look forward to your continued success next year.
Dance
The Royal High School offers an extensive programme led by Samantha Baigrie, with the support of Mr. Sneddon. It
culminates in two summer nights of fantastic dancing, showcasing the high number of pupils participating, and
coaching, throughout the year. Pupils, starting from Primary 1 in the local cluster primaries, can access a range of
classes and styles in a pathway programme catering for all abilities. The high number of pupils involved means a
programme which stretches into the evenings, further demonstrating the commitment and enthusiasm of those
involved at The Royal High School.
Additional Sporting and Activity Opportunities
In addition to the number of activities and sports in which pupils can compete for The Royal High we also have a
number of additional activities on offer to all pupils. From Water Polo, Skiiing, Basketball, Volleyball, Traithlon
amongst many others. We are also fortunate to enjoy club links with Touch Down UK American Football, #3
Triathlon Club, Royal High Corstorphine Cricket Club, Barnton Park Tennis Club and Murrayfield Table Tennis Club.
The range of opportunities on offer is a testament to all willing to participate and donate their time to coach and
volunteer. Thank you to all involved.
Student Coaches and Brian Winning Award
With so much on offer The Royal High School couldn’t support a programme as extensive without the commitment
of a number of excellent pupils who donate their time outside of their studies to pass on their sporting experiences.
We continue to value each pupil and celebrate each of their achievements at our yearly Wider Achievement
Ceremony. This session we introduced a Legacy Award, the Brian Winning Memorial Award for the Top Student
Coach. This year the accolade went deservedly to Cameron Thores, Sally Fair and Eva Tallaron, congratulations.
Sports Personality of the Year
As a finale to our Sporting Year at The Royal High we invite staff and parents to nominate individuals for our Sports
Personality of the Year. Pupils have the final say through a vote for both a junior and senior winner. All nominated
have achieved a high standard in their chosen sport in addition to displaying role model traits in their participation in
Physical Education. This year saw over 50 pupils nominated across both of Junior and Senior Categories, the results
were as follows;
Junior:
3rd: Rihanna Haggart – Tae Kwon Do
2nd: Calum Smith- Boxing
1st: Mia Croll - Skiing
Senior:
3rd: Emma Kennedy - Dance
2nd: Cameron Wood- Climbing
1st: Rachel Doherty - Dance
Overall winners: Mia Croll
Twitter and Wider Achievement Ceremony
Each year we celebrate all Sporting Success at The Royal High Wider Achievement Ceremony. We thank all involved
for their support of the evening.
We also celebrated success throughout the year on our Royal High School and Active Schools Health and Well Being
Twitter account; @rhs_hwb
S3 Enhancement
The S3 Enhancement Programme was launched at the start of this school year -2017/2018 - and has been very
successful. We had 219 S3 pupils who filled two additional blocks a week of their timetables with a subject of their
choosing.
Initially we pitched the courses to the SQA’s regional Manager to ensure the courses offered were available from the
SQA or other agencies. Therefore; all of the subjects had accreditation, either as SQA National courses, were
accredited by the SQA or had alternative certification; for example the DEC and RHIS courses. Nine additional
subjects have been delivered to pupils across the school that included practical, academic and vocational subjects.
The subjects on offer last year were:
1. N3 Fashion & Textile
2. RHIS (N3) Hospitality and Food safety
3. N3 Music Technology
4. Design, Engineering and Construction
5. Practical Construction Skills
6. Bike Skills
7. N4 Award in Volunteering Skills
8. N4 Personal Development
9. N4 Scottish Studies Award - units
Currently the Royal High School is the only school in the Authority who offer this breadth of Enhancement provision
in S3 and, as we continue into the second year of the initiative, it has grown to include a variety of new subjects and
an additional course on offer. We have also re-named the Enhancement to become ‘Academies’ to reflect the
dynamic ethos of the initiative.
Working with the SQA has been valuable, as through the Regional Manager, other institutions, including the DYW
and Edinburgh College, have become aware of the work we are doing and have expressed interest in making further
links with us. The impact of this has been for pupils to be to start to consider their pathways into the senior phase as
well as allowing them to achieve qualifications and increasing their SCQF points.
Parent Council
It has been another busy and challenging year for the Royal High School Parent Council, working in partnership with
parents, staff, learners and the wider community, in a session which has felt, at times, dominated by ensuring the
voices of parents and carers were heard in a range of consultations on the future of education in Scotland.
In school, we’ve enjoyed working together with Mrs Walker and her leadership team, and have collaborated on a
range of ways to further develop parental engagement at the school. In addition to increased communications via
the school’s e-mail newsletters and social media feeds, our partnership with the school has included parental
representation in the appointments of senior staff, including the school’s new Business Manager.
For a number of years, the top issue raised with the Parent Council has been the safety of young people when
crossing Queensferry Road. Many times, the Parent Council has made a range of suggestions to the City Council as
to how safety might be improved, including alternative crossing points and methods, speed limit adjustments, new
signage and traffic light re-phasing. This remains a top issue for us, and we continue to press all external
stakeholders for progress. I would thank Parent Council member Tony Newell for leading some of our recent work
in this area.
Other “in school” matters this year have included discussions on health and wellbeing for students, including
posture when using iPads, and how to best work with parents on recognising signs of substance abuse or dangers
posed online. We heard concerns from parents about the “broadbanding” of school students for Maths and English
in S1 and S2, as opposed to a previous system of streaming students by ability in these subject areas. While some
parents were very supportive of broadbanding, others remain concerned that for the most able pupils, the pace and
challenge in a broadbanded approach will not be sufficient. We heard helpful detail from Mrs Walker on how the
school is working on the Scotland-wide priority of closing the attainment gap, and as a parent body remain highly
supportive of the school’s interventions to ensure that poverty is not a barrier to full engagement in life at the Royal
High.
Changes to City Council systems led to a number of parents ceasing to receive the always welcome e-mail
communications from the school. We think communicating with parents is vital, and will continue to work with the
school to ensure this is resolved. It is worth stating that this is simply one issue against a background of continuing
IT infrastructure problems the school has faced. With the high number of year groups now being taught via iPads, a
robust IT infrastructure is essential. We have pressed the City Council throughout the year to fix the problems, and
will continue to do so. Further, at City Council level, we met with local authority officials regarding the current
catchment review in West and South West Edinburgh. While we broadly support the notion that the Royal High
School is full and therefore any new building at Cammo will be zoned to an alternative new catchment school, we
remain concerned that because any alternative new school does not currently exist, the Royal High will become the
de facto catchment for any new house-building, despite our capacity issues. We also encouraged parents to engage
with the Council’s consultation on school holidays in Edinburgh. Given the potential impact of any changes in
holiday structure on “exam season”, it is always important that the voices of high school parents and carers are
heard.
Beyond Edinburgh, the “year of consultations” required considerable Parent Council focus on our response to the
Education Bill consultation. The proposals looked at possible reform to powers of headteachers, the role of local
authorities, the role of parent councils, how student voice is best heard, and the future regulation of the education
workforce. Broadly, the Royal High Parent Council supports reform: we believe that headteachers are best placed
to run their schools and that they should be empowered to do so. We support the removal of local authorities from
the decision-making process over education in schools, and we will seek in the Bill a “right to be consulted” for
parent councils on major school policy decisions. Our full response was circulated to all parents prior to submission
to the Scottish Government, and all feedback was supportive.
We also responded to the Fair Funding government consultation – focussing on future funding for schools. Here, we
argued for school funding to come directly from the Scottish Government, rather than via a local authority filter
where education spend must compete against other local priorities. The Government’s Presumption to Mainstream
consultation also sought responses this year. The Royal High School Parent Council shared parental experiences of
inclusion in education, and this, together with the other two major consultation responses outlined above are all
published and available to all parents and carers. Finally on making views heard, we encouraged parents to engage
with the Safer Streets Bill consultation, which is considering a reduction in speed limits on roads across Scotland.
We have continued to maintain relations with all of our local councillors, our MSPs and MPs, the city’s North West
Locality Group, the cluster Primary Parent Councils, and the media, including giving interviews on the Education Bill.
We also maintain strong links with the RHS FPs, and I thank David Williamson (FP Chair who stood down in the
Spring) for his continuing interest in issues which impact on RHS life. I look forward to working with new Chair Ian
Cowie.
Going into the new session, I would expect the Parent Council to focus on continuing to represent parental views, of
course maintaining our campaigns regarding road safety and responding to the anticipated publication of the
Education Bill following this year’s consultation, and we’ll look to support the school over commemorating the 50th
anniversary of the RHS presence at Barnton. I would encourage all parents and carers to keep in touch with us
throughout the year, and to join us as a parent rep if you can. You can find our details on the school’s website.
In closing, I would thank all our parent, staff and co-opted members this year for their time and commitment to the
Parent Council – every parent and carer on the Parent Council gives their time as a volunteer and it is hugely
appreciated. Thanks to Liz Leslie for her excellent work as Clerk this year. Special thanks to Pauline Lindsay, who has
volunteered her time to the parental groups for many years, including as former primary school Parent Council
Chair; to Stewart Smith, who has been Parent Council treasurer; and to long-serving member Alan Kirkpatrick. I’d
also thank David Simpson for all his positive engagement with parents in his service at the Royal High. All four leave
our school community this summer. I’ll miss their wise counsel and I know they leave with our very good wishes.
Luke McCullough
Chair, The Royal High School Parent Council
Royal High School (RHS) Events and Fundraising Committee
The Royal High School Events and Fundraising Committee is part of the RHS Parent Council and we actively support
parental involvement in raising much needed income for our school.
In the last year we have raised just over £3,000. With a number of events which allow fundraising opportunities still
to run in June we anticipate this figure will be higher by the end of the session. In collaboration with the staff at the RHS
we have been able to respond to their requests for purchasing items which have significantly helped the pupils, staff
and the overall school environment. It has also given us the opportunity to work with pupils and be involved
in events that we may not have had the opportunity to be part off.
Fundraising efforts have resulted in buying much needed equipment for many departments in the school. In total,
£2,354 has been allocated this year. This has included funds to expand the Baking Club and for the library to establish
a Warhammer club, an extracurricular activity which links with Art, CDT, English and Maths. Funds have also been
allocated for extra lenses for the Higher Photography class and additional filmmaking equipment for the production
aspect of National 5 and Higher Media, as well as a portable cube projector to allow instantaneous playback of
performance and skills in PE. Funds were used to purchase Apple TVs in a number of departments. Support for
Learning were allocated funds to develop a nurture class for numeracy support for some of our S1 pupils and literacy
purchased Sporting Stars Graphic Novel biographies. The funds also supported facilitators coming into school to
undertake Geography sessions. Finally, the new Fairtrade group bid for funds to help them start up as a Fairtrade tuck
shop and promote Fairtrade within the school generally.
The committee meet approximately once a term at the RHS in the evening for at the most, two hours. This meeting
is supported by Pauline Walker, Headteacher, who helps by advising us of upcoming events and
coordinating between us and the school, including with staff about the types of resources that would benefit their
departments.
During the last year parents have helped by supporting events at the school by shopping (for water, juice, sweets and
ice-creams!), baking and selling tea and coffee and raffle tickets. We have run book and equipment
exchanges and we held a fundraising raffle for a new iPhone last Christmas which raised £2,213.
You can contact us for further information via the RHS website www.royalhigh.edin.sch.uk (look under the
Information tab for Parents Events and Fundraising Committee) or directly to [email protected] or