School Structure
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Merchiston Juniors
House: Pringle
Merchiston Juniors comprises five age groups, each of which is the responsibility of the Head of Merchiston Juniors. In J4, J5 and First Form your son will have his lessons in the Pringle Centre, which is a few metres away from Pringle House, the base for all Juniors pupils, whether full boarding, flexi-boarding or day. In Second and Third Forms your son will be taught in the main school buildings a short distance up the drive.
Senior School - Middle Years
House: Chalmers West, Chalmers East and Rogerson
When your son moves on from Merchiston Juniors, he will enter the Fourth Form as a member of Chalmers West House, which, together with the other Middle Years Houses, is located in the heart of the School. There are usually more boarders in the Middle Years than the Juniors, but if your son is a day boy he will be fully integrated into House arrangements.
Senior School – Sixth Form
House: Laidlaw (Boarding) and Evans (Day)
In the Lower and Upper Sixth Forms, your son will be in a separate Sixth Form House, designed to bridge the gap between school and university. If he’s a boarder, he will have a spacious individual study bedroom with en-suite facilities If he’s a day pupil he will have an individual study space providing flexible options for study, prep and occasional sleepovers.
House System
Your son will join a tried and tested House system that allows him to remain with his peer group, as he progresses through the School; day boys are fully integrated into this system.
This means that your son will experience a new Boarding House and Housemaster at the start of each Autumn Term of the Senior year groups.
What are the benefits of this system?
- A single Housemaster oversees academic concerns relating to one complete year group, fulfilling the role of Head of Year.
- Disciplinary structures are fairer and more consistent because the same Housemaster handles them for all boys in a year group.
- We can more easily help new pupils integrate into the year group.
- We can regulate school days better because all boys start and finish prep, games and activities. at the same time; this means the House runs more efficiently.
- Social events are centrally organised to suit a particular age group.
If your son becomes a prefect in the Upper Sixth year, he will be allocated to one of the boarding houses to lead the younger pupils in the School. As well as providing an excellent role model for the younger boys, and valuable support to the Housemaster and Tutors, your son will gain useful leadership skills and experience.
Please note we are currently undertaking a rolling programme of refurbishment of the Houses, commencing with Chalmers West in Autumn 2021. We continue to operate a vertical House system, but there will be minor adjustments to the published allocation of Houses according to year group.
Junior Years
| School Year overview | Fee per term | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J4 - Pringle | ||||
| Primary 4 (Scotland) |
Age 7 + 8 | Year 4 (England) |
£7,220 (Boarding) |
£5,010 |
| J5 - Pringle | ||||
| Primary 5 (Scotland) |
Age 9 | Year 5 (England) | £7,220 (Boarding) |
£5,010 (Day) |
| First Form - Pringle | ||||
| Primary 6 (Scotland) |
Age 10 | Year 6 (England) |
£7,220 (Boarding) |
£5,010 (Day) |
| Second Form - Pringle | ||||
| Primary 7 (Scotland) |
Age 11 | Year 7 (England) | £8,390 (Boarding) |
£5,660 (Day) |
| Third Form - Pringle | ||||
| S1 (Scotland) |
Age 12 | Year 8 (England) | £8,390 (Boarding) |
£5,660 (Day) |
Middle Years
| School Year overview | Fee per term | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth Form - Chalmers West | ||||
| S2 (Scotland) |
Age 13 | Year 9 (England) |
£11,730 (Boarding) |
£8,510 (Day) |
| Shell - Chalmers East | ||||
| S3 (Scotland) |
Age 14 | Year 10 (England) |
£11,730 (Boarding |
£8,510 (Day) |
| Fifth Form - Rogerson | ||||
| S4 (Scotland) |
Age 15 | Year 11 (England) |
£11,730 (Boarding) |
£8,510 (Day) |
Sixth Form
| School Year overview | Fee Per Term | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Sixth Form - Laidlaw (Boarding), Evans (Day) | ||||
| S5 (Scotland) |
Age 16 | Year 12 (England) |
£11,730 (Boarding) |
£8,510 |
| Upper Sixth Form - Laidlaw (Boarding), Evans (Day) | ||||
| S6 (Scotland) |
Age 17 | Year 13 (England) |
£11,730 (Boarding |
£8,510 (Day) |
School News
On the morning of Sunday 15 May, 8 students travelled up to Cluny clays in Fife to shoot a clays match against the Merchistonians. During the afternoon the Merchiston small-bore shooting team welcomed the Merchistonians in the Miller Range to compete in the annual competition.
A massive congratulations to six of our IV Form pupils who have won the East of Scotland Regional Finals of the EDT Bronze Industrial Cadets Challenge!
International company Flagmakers invited students to get involved in their “Design Your Own Flag” competition to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and learn about the rich history behind national flags.
Today we were lucky enough to welcome A.F. Steadman, the author of 'Skandar and the Unicorn Thief', to Merchiston for a magical Monday morning.
Today we held a dedication ceremony to mark the donation of three ornamental cherry trees by the Sakura Cherry Trees Project. We were delighted to welcome Mr Tadashi Fujiwara, Japanese Consul General.
On 28 April all IGCSE Geography pupils visited the Pentland Hills where the source of the Lyne Water is located. This was in order to undertake fieldwork for their coursework which involves measuring many river variables. Shell students Teiyoon K and Adrian W tell us more...
