Talk:Fettes College

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I was at school in Edinburgh where there are about two handful of schools for boys and girls, commonly and generally referred to as public schools. I'd have said that the fact that there is an act of Parliament which covers England and not Scotland is neither here nor there ( and, being a Scot, I'd not take much notice of that in Scotland). Unfortunately for some, this handful can be divided again as some schools follow the English boarding system which is that pupils remain in one house ALL their time in the school. The Scottish system has pupils moving through a school in age groups. Which is better? The parents decide. I think it is pretty boorish to keep on stuffing in the definition of a public school into the thinggee about Fettes, as that subject is covered in another place, sort of adequately. ( noremacnomis)

I put this link in. It seems it was deleted almost at once. Why?

Barbara Shack.

I believe that this was because it consisted solely of an external link. Wikipedia articles do not need to be long but they should have some original text of their own describing the subject. Articles which consist of links and nothing else are generally deleted pretty quickly. -- Derek Ross

Barbara - I suspect someone mistook it for a joke article (we've had a plague of joke scottish articles added today, stuff about haggises tumbling down mountainsides and stuff). I do think there should be a Fettes article, but it does need to have a bit more substance than a simple link. If you've not been too discouraged, can I suggest the following:

• that you create an account (signed-in users generally get a bit more credance than anons) - see Wikipedia:Why create an account?. Once you've done that, drop me a line at my "talk" page at: User talk:Finlay McWalter
• write a small (we call 'em "Stub") article (say two paragraphs - where and what is Fettes, links to some famous old boys (e.g. Tony Blair), and the external link you had earlier
• append the following: {{stub}} - this alerts other wikipedians that you're aware the article is just a beginning, and invites them to help fix it up

Thanks -- Finlay McWalter 18:06, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Is it a private school, or a public school? john k 04:57, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Fettes is what we call in the UK, a "public" school. That means it is a private fee-paying school, not one in the state-sector which are usually referred to as state schools to make the distinction. --Samjappy 18:10, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"Public school" is not used in proper Scottish usage for private schools. That's south of the Border. --MacRusgail 20:47, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

25 April - Post by Cuthbert: I call it a "Public school" as do many of my peer group at Fettes. At Fettes the sense of Englishness can be felt quite strongly especially in a "public school" sort of way, however we do have very strong ties with our Scottishness as well even if we aren't even from Britain. |Cuthbert

I changed the wording of the public school reference. The term, 'Public school,' is common usage for a private, often exclusive, fee-paying school in Britain. It is improper usage in Scotland, but despite having lived some of my life in that country, i have never been contradicted. we can safely call it common usage. Lots of Love, Sennett

Sorry, will you look at the 1868 act please! Fettes is not a "public school" in the Scottish sense (which is the same as the American), and south of the Border, the phrase is used for a handful of private schools. But what do you expect from a school which boycotts its country's education system (Standard Grades, and Highers) and supposedly sings England's national anthem, Jerusalem in chapel? --MacRusgail 17:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Contents 1 Vandalism 2 an archaic tradition? 3 obit? 4 Sean Connery 5 Alumni 6 Culture and Atmosphere 7 Eton of the North 8 Comical editing patterns

[edit] Vandalism

Is the stuff in the 'Culture and Atmosphere' section vandalism? ZephyrAnycon 21:14, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

To be honest I doubt it is. I go to a private school as well and there is often articles in the press about friction between us and local state school. The press seem to love scandels from 'posh' schools. Whether or not it is included in the article is debatable. --coolmark18 20:23, 10 April 2006 (GMT)

As a pupil at Fettes I think I can confirm the previous point of view. There is very little tension whatsoever: there have been a few minor incidents over the past five years I've been in attendance, but no more than a dozen and none at all serious. Furthermore, I would say the tension exists only within "select" groups at each school. On the whole, relations are very good and, if not close, peaceable. - Scuddworthy 15:24, 17 April 2006 (GMT)

I'm a former fettes pupil (left 1998) and I have still have siblings there. I also disagree with the comments about drug and alchohol use. Obviously all teenagers misbehave, but from speaking to friends who attended other schools, I think it's simply not true that Fettes has a problem on this front. [unsigned]

The article is currently one-sided. For example, the comments about the use of "public school" in Scotland have been removed, and it has been turned into a glowing advert for the place. A number of incidents have got in the press and the teacher hoax (I don't know if she claimed leukaemia, but it was certainly some terminal illness) certainly did.

I am told by people who used to go to Broughton High School that some of them would be chased or attacked while taking a short cut across Fettes' grounds. It obviously upset the school, since they've put up razor wire at the Ferry Road end. Obviously they don't like Piltonites!

Remember folks - this is a two sided article. Not advertising copy. Fettes comes in for a lot of criticism, both in the press, and within Edinburgh. --MacRusgail 19:01, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

OK..but do you have any evidence to support your statement implying drug and alcohol abuse has occured since 2002? The comments above suggest that evidence does not exist. Dormskirk 19 February 2007

I think a mention of the recent Youtube video should also get a mention. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by MacRusgail (talk • contribs) 17:20, 6 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] an archaic tradition?

I take issue with the claim that calling male teachers 'Sir' is archaic or even slightly old fashioned. In most schools in the US, UK and the Commonwealth, as a mark of respect, teachers are addressed as 'Sir, 'Ma'am' in US English or 'Miss' in British English, although this does not imply unmarried status and is used for both spinsters and married women. In any case, the phrase 'Archaic' sounds derogatory and including such reference to a common mark of respect in a paragraph about class snobbery is incorrect, not NPOV and simply unacceptable. I have modified this paragraph. Sennett

[edit] obit?

"The school actually has his Who's Who entry copied and framed in one of its main corridors." where? i've never seen it.

It is not is Who's who entry it is an entry from newspaper as an obituary as seen in the Times or the telegraph. It is next to what was the careers office along the corridor leading to the sports pitches. It is quite high up about six feet off the floor. In eight years there I never took the time to read it but I know where it is

[edit] Sean Connery

Sean Connery, who was the original actor to portray James Bond in the cinema, worked as a milkman's delivery boy in his youth. One of the places on his route is said to have been Fettes College - Definitely needs a citation; the Sean Connery article repeats this 'fact', also uncited. Given that he was from Fountainbridge, it must have been a helluva big milk round. --duncan 19:02, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Given the amount of people in this town who claimed to have had Sean Connery deliver their milk, he must have been the world's most hard-working milkman. Lurker ^oi! 18:52, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Alumni

I've removed most of the names from the article - basically, anyone without a linked article to corroborate their existence or plausibility. It's a bit drastic, but a lot of nonsense was creeping in... and our net of notability is broad enough that if someone was significant enough to be noted as a former pupil, they're probably notable enough for an article. Shimgray | talk | 23:27, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Shimgray, I added a lot of names to the list a few weeks ago. most were taken from the Famous Alumni list on the Fettes website. I dont know what you removed, but if you could cross-reference the old list with the alumni list on the website, and re-add the serious ones, that would be lovely. Psidogretro 18:21, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

___________________WILL_____________________

William Fettes's will - why has this been removed? -it is a current political issue regarding the use of charitable status and also an ongoing legal/ethical point on how terms of wills may be adjusted in view of historical developments since the death of the will writer. As an ex fettesian I can assure you that the associated life style costs in order to socially mix mean that even within the small number of scholarship/bursaries the number of individuals attending who do not come from privileged backgrounds is miniscule. (Emily blair 20:21, 23 January 2007 (UTC)) Emily Blair.

[edit] Culture and Atmosphere

This section doesn't sound very encyclopaedic. I suggest taking some of this information and adding it to the history section, as simple lists of information are not highly regarded on Wikipedia. Lurker ^oi! 18:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eton of the North

The first non-wiki site to come up in google under "Eton of the north" is a school in Lancashire. I grant that people at Fettes seem to use the term ... but perhaps that could go under an Aspiration section; Eton is a world famous private school, whereas few people even in Scotland have heard of Fettes. Usage of this term is obviously very rare, and I've failed to find a non weasel word source which employs the phrase Calgacus (ΚΑΛΓΑΚΟΣ) 19:30, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Disagree. Fettes has become well known since Tony Blair.--MacRusgail 17:38, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Says who? I bet you anything that 95% + of people even in Scotland have never heard of it. And I bet more people have heard of Glasgow High, Jordanhill, Hillhead, just because these places are associated with Rugby grounds. Calgacus (ΚΑΛΓΑΚΟΣ) 17:49, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

I definitely would not put the figure that high. It is extremely well known in Edinburgh, and there are even a few cultural references. Scotland the What refer to it in one of their songs for example. Although to be fair, many people have heard of it for the wrong reasons. Articles talking about Tony Blair and education often mention Fettes for example. --MacRusgail 19:46, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Comical editing patterns

Noremacnomis seems to be reverting/making changes, then making a bunch of minor changes in the hope his major changes don't get noticed. On a scale of one to ten, how thick does he think we are? Come on Noremacnomis, this is a well-known tactic and will not escape notice! Lurker ^oi! 18:41, 15 March 2007 (UTC)