Stewart's Melville College
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| Stewart's Melville College |
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| Motto | Numquam non paratus (Never Unprepared) |
| Established | 1972 |
| Type | Independent school |
| Principal | Mr. David Gray |
| Students | 700 (approx.) |
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Colours | red, black |
| Website | www.esms.edin.sch.uk |
Contents |
[edit] General
With the exception of the sixth form (which is co-educational) Stewart's Melville College ('Stew Mel' or 'SMC') is an all-boys private school with a roll of over 700 pupils. While some pupils board, the vast majority of pupils live in the surrounding area and are day pupils. Fees in (2006) are around £7700 (GBP) a year and around £14000 for boarding.
The school is twinned with the Mary Erskine School ('MES') (an all-girls) private school which is located approximately one mile (2 km) from Stewart's Melville College. Together SMC and MES have a co-educational Junior School which caters for pupils from 3 to 11 years old. The Junior School is located mainly on the SMC Campus. Both SMC and MES are managed by the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, which is also responsible for the co-educational George Watson's College.
SMC offers pupils the ability to sit SQA exams, including Standard Grade, Intermediate 2, Higher Grade and Advanced Higher Grade levels. As is the case with many independent schools SMC has examination results well above the national average. The majority of pupils go on to higher education. [1]
[edit] Sport
Stewart's Melville College is involved in a wide variety of sports, most of which are coached by mixture of staff from general departments as well as the PE department staff. Sports include Rugby Union, football, field hockey, athletics, swimming, cricket, squash, fencing, sailing, curling, badminton and volleyball.
A respectable number of pupils are selected to represent district or national teams. Stewart's Melville College are the current national rugby champions at under-18 level. The Former Pupils Rugby club also play in Division 1 of the Scottish National Premier League.
There is also a school rugby club available to pupils and non-pupils of Stewart's Melville, named the Stew Mel Lions. The team is mostly made of pupils. This club is for pupils keen on rugby and is held at the school's sports ground at Inverleith.
Sports, for pupils, are sectioned into winter sports and summer sports. Some of the winter sports include: Rugby Union, field hockey, cross-country, swimming, squash, curling and badminton. Some of the summer sports include: athletics, tennis, golf, sailing, fencing, cricket and volleyball.
Currently the development rugby squad consisting of mainly 5th Year (16 year old) students are embarking on a tour of South Africa in the summer months.
There is a large on-site sports centre, named "Ravelston Sports Club" (which opened in 2000), and extensive rugby, cricket and athletics grounds are located in Inverleith. The sports centre is mainly used by pupils, but is also open to members of the public with a membership.
[edit] Extracurricular
There are many activities available for pupils outwith the classroom. The school has a large CCF, of around 120 pupils. This consists of a larger Army section (Royal Regiment of Soctland) and a smaller RAF section. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is also in operation.
A popular debating society also exists, under the stewardship of the pupil president and the Coach, which often competes in national events.
The school's choirs and orchestras are also popular and have had many performances in the Usher hall and Festival Theatre as well as numerous school hosted events and an annual christmas concert in St. Mary's Cathedral. Some pupils are also involved in putting on productions of plays, most recently The Crucible was performed in the Mary Erskine School's Marr Hall, drawing an estimated crowd of 300 by its final night. In the past works such as Macbeth and Journey's End have been performed. Every year there is a "Senior School Musical" which takes boys and girls from Third year upwards who work together with a Director, Musical Director, and Choreogapher (Jane Duffy!). The most recent musical was Sweet Charity, past works include Into the Woods and Kiss Me Kate. The school is set to perform West Side Story come June of 2007 and "The compleat Works of William Shakespeare" in March 2007.
Students have taken part in many recent professional performances in Edinburgh including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Whistle Down the Wind and Swan Lake.
The Stewart's Meville College Pipe Band, or ESM (Erskine Stewart's Melville) Pipe Band is currently one of the best school pipe bands in Scotland, with the Juvenile Band consistently scoring highly in national competitions. The drum corps has a reputation for one of the best Drum Fanfares in Scotland - with stick juggling aplenty.[citation needed]
The school circulates an annual bulletin, The Collegian, to current and former pupils and staff. The Collegian contains a synopsis of school activities, both academic and extracurricular, throughout the year. Each year and house is represented, and all the major teams, clubs and societies. There is also a section devoted to former pupils.
[edit] Carbisdale
Since the early 1960s, the school has organised an outdoor education programme for the boys of SMC and the girls from MES in the third year. It is located in the north of Scotland at Carbisdale Castle, a historic castle which has been converted into a Youth Hostel. The trip consists of a number of outdoor activities that vary from year to year including hillwalking, orienteering, golf, kayaking, team-building activities, visits to nearby historic sites and environmental studies of the surrounding woodland. Carbisdale Castle has a plaque of the Stewart's Melville College badge in its foyer above the main door.
[edit] Pastoral
In the first year pupils have a form tutor who is responsible for their wellbeing. Each form tutor will have approximately 20 students: these students will be in the same Form Class. There is an Assistant Head Teacher who has overall responsibility for the first year.
Between Second Year and Fifth Year boys are split into house groups. There are six different houses (named for areas of Scotland):
Each house has a Head of House who is in charge of the welfare of all boys within his/her house. There is also an Assistant Head of House who has specific responsibility for those pupils in the house who are also in second year. There are a number of interhouse competitions throughout the year which are twinned with the corresponding housegroup from MES. There is an Assistant Head Teacher who has overall responsibility for all pupils in Second to Fifth Year.
There is a house competition, the ESM Challenge, competed by both the boys of Stewart's Melville and the girls of Mary Erskine between the six houses. It is a series of events done throughout the school year. The house competition comes to a climax on Sports Day with a 4x100m relay between each house. At the end of the year, the points won after each event are added up and one of the houses is the winner.
In Sixth Form students are largely independent. Students have a tutor with whom they register in the morning, and who also helps them with UCAS applications. There is an Assistant Head Teacher responsible for the Sixth Form.
[edit] Sixth Form
The Sixth form at Stewart's Melville College consists of approximately 200 male and female students. Classes take place at both the Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville College sites, with buses operating regularly to transfer students between the two sites.
Every member of the sixth form is a prefect and is expected to help out around the school. The maintenance of the prefect body is the responsibility of a Head Boy, a Head Girl along with five deputy head boys and five deputy head girls, who all have the honour of wearing red blazers.
A Colours system exists to highlight the achievement of those pupils in the sixth form who are outstanding in a particular extracurricular field, such as debating, rugby or music. If a sixth form pupil obtains a 'full colours' award, then they may also wear a red blazer.
[edit] Music
The school recently converted the Principal's former residence into an extension of the music school. The new premises are very well equipped, and are more spacious with many more teaching rooms. Private music tuition is offered to pupils and takes place during the school day. These lessons allow pupils to work towards an Associated Board exam or Trinity Rock School qualification. The school is proud of its musical heritage and supports any pupil who wishes to join the numerous orchestras and groups.
The school has recently committed a large sum of money towards converting the assembly hall into a Performing Arts centre, which may be completed by April 2007.
[edit] History
Stewart's Melville College originated when two schools — Daniel Stewart's College and Melville College — merged in 1972 to become "Daniel Stewart's Melville College".
Melville College was created in 1832 by Rev Robert Cunningham. The school was originally named "The Edinburgh Institution for Languages and Mathematics" but its name changed when the school moved to Edinburgh's Melville Street.
Daniel Stewart's College was opened in 1855 by the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, to whom Daniel Stewart, upon his death in 1814, left a sum of money and instructions that it should be used to create a hospital for needy children within the city. The hospital was located on the current Queensferry Road campus (designed by David Rhind). The hospital transformed into "Daniel Stewart's College" in 1870.
At its inception, Stewart's Melville had eight houses, named after the eight great rivers (firths) of Scotland:
The Mary Erskine School had 4 houses, named after important founders of the school: Erskine, Hopetoun, Marischal (pronounced "marshall"), and Marr. The houses were changed to their current arrangement around the year 2000.
The motto of Stewarts' Melville is "Numquam non paratus": "Never unprepared". That of the Mary Erskine School is "Mitis et fortis": "Gentle and strong".
[edit] Former pupils
The school maintains good relations with former pupils via its Former Pupils ("FP") Club, which organises social events throughout the year.
Notable former pupils include:
- Finlay Calder, international rugby player and British and Irish Lions captain.
- Graeme Dyce, tennis player.
- Sir Tom Farmer, entrepreneur and founder of Kwik Fit.
- Dario Franchitti, professional racing-car driver.
- Kheredine Idessane, sports broadcaster.
- Finlay Mickel, Olympic skier.
- Doddie Weir, international rugby player.
- David Wilkie, Olympic swimming gold medallist.
