Royal High School (Edinburgh)
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| Royal High School | |
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| Motto | Musis Respublica Floret (The State Flourishes with the Muses) |
| Established | 1128 |
| Type | State school |
| Religious affiliation | Non-denominational |
| Rector | George M. R. Smuga (on secondment) |
| Founder | Alwin, Abbot of Holyrood |
| Location | East Barnton Avenue Edinburgh EH4 6JP Scotland  |
| LEA | Edinburgh City |
| Staff | 155 (16 Aug. 2007)[1] FTE 81.9 (Sept. 2005)[2] |
| Students | 1162 (2006/07)[3] |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 13 to 18 |
| Houses | Angles Britons Picts Scots |
| School colours | Black and White |
| Publication | Schola Regia |
| Song | Vivas Schola Regia |
| Latin name | Schola Regia Edinensis |
| Nickname | The Tounis Scule, RHS |
| Website | www.royalhigh.edin.sch.uk |
The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh can trace its roots back to 1128, and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It is a co-educational state comprehensive school, administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. It serves about 1200 pupils, largely from the north-west suburbs of the city, in the EH4 postcode: Barnton, Cramond, Davidson's Mains, Blackhall, Cammo, Silverknowes, some areas of Muirhouse and Clermiston. It was last inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectors in April 2007.[4]
The Royal High School's national profile has at times given it a flagship role in public education, piloting such experiments as the introduction of the Certificate of Secondary Education, the provision of setting in English and mathematics, and the curricular integration of European studies and, formerly, the International Baccalaureate.[5] It is also unusual in teaching geology as a subject.
The Latin tradition on which the school was established almost a millennium ago also endures: it is the only state school in Edinburgh to offer classical studies as a course option to those in their third year of secondary study; it is also one of the few in Scotland to provide a classical education.
The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the United States, the English High School founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1821.
The incumbent Rector is George Smuga. He is currently working with the Scottish Government to reform the national curriculum, and in his absence the Senior Depute, Mr David Simpson, is acting Head.[6]
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[edit] History
Historians of the Royal High School attribute its birth to the flowering of the twelfth-century renaissance. Building on a century or more of schooling by the Augustinian Order at Edinburgh Castle, it began as, and in the continuity of its personnel may predate, the seminary of the Abbey of Holyrood, founded for Alwin and the canons by David I in 1128.[7]
The Grammar School of the Church of Edinburgh, as it was known by the rectorship of Adam de Camis in 1378, grew into a church-run burgh institution providing a Latin education for the sons of burgess families, many of whom pursued careers in the Church.[8][9] In 1566, following the Reformation, Mary, Queen of Scots, transferred the High School from the control of the Abbey to the Town Council, and from about 1590 James VI accorded it royal patronage as the Schola Regia Edinensis.[10]
The egalitarian spirit of the classical tradition exerted a profound influence on the school culture and the Scottish Enlightenment.[11] The school remained a boys-only, selective school until 1973, when it began to admit girls and became a co-educational state comprehensive.[12]
Through the centuries, the Royal High School has been located at many sites throughout the city, including the Vennel of the Church of St. Mary in the Fields (c. 1503 - c.1516), Kirk o' Field Wynd (c. 1516-1555), Cardinal Beaton’s House in Blackfriars Wynd (1555-1569), the Collegiate Church of St. Giles or St. Mary in the Fields (1569-1578), Blackfriars Monastery (1578-1777), Infirmary Street (1777-1829), the famous building on Calton Hill (1829-1968), Jock's Lodge – now the Royal High Primary School (1931-1972), and its current site at Barnton, which it moved to in 1968.
 Barnton (1968-present) |
[edit] Performance
In their last report on the Royal High School of April 2007, HM Inspectors found ‘very high levels of attainment at all stages’, ‘motivated pupils who took a pride in their school’, and ‘a very positive school ethos’. Pupils scored highly in national examinations, consistently outperforming those in comparator schools as well as the Edinburgh and national averages.[13]
130 university entrants from the Royal High School or 30.1% went to one of the ‘Sutton 13’ top UK universities in the five years between 2002 and 2006, second among Scottish state schools and colleges.[14] In 2006 the Royal High School’s ranking for Higher grades was joint third in the Edinburgh state school league tables (joint seventeenth nationally in the state school rankings).[15]
[edit] Uniform
The school uniform is black and white, derived from the municipal colours of Edinburgh.[16]
The school retains the traditional school uniform of a blazer and tie, and students continue to take great pride in the uniform. Boys are required to wear a plain white shirt, official tie, black blazer with school badge, black trousers and black leather school shoes. There is the option of a black pullover. Girls must wear a white blouse, official tie, black pullover or cardigan, black blazer with school badge, black skirt or trousers, black tights and black leather school shoes. A black and white striped tie is standard; a plain black tie denotes a 6th-former.
The school badge features the school motto, Musis Respublica Floret (The State Flourishes with the Muses), and the embattled triple-towered castle from the shield of the city arms. The design is adapted from a carved stone originally set above the principal entrance to the school at Blackfriars in 1578.[17] Prefects are presented with a silver badge (gold for school captain) to pin on their blazer. A select few 5th-formers are also awarded this badge.
[edit] Nations
The Royal High School's Annual Games date from the early 1860s.[18] The Nations system was introduced by the Rector, Dr. William J. Watson, in 1912. Pupils are divided into four school houses, known as Nations, named after the gentes or primordial peoples from the infancy of the Scottish state: Angles, Britons, Picts and Scots. Siblings are usually members of the same Nation. Pupils originally competed in rugby union and cricket, the winning Nation being awarded the school shield for the annual session. Conceived as a character-building exercise, the arrangement was intended to foster a team spirit and encourage greater participation in physical activities. The competitive scheme proved popular with pupils and teachers and has since expanded to encompass a wide variety of games, sports, and other extracurricular activities held throughout the year. Nation badges were introduced in 1928, and the Nations now compete for the Crichton Cup.[19]
[edit] School song
The Royal High School song is Vivas Schola Regia (1895).
[edit] Publications
The official school magazine is Schola Regia. This is a vox discipuli that enables pupils to air their views and showcase their literary and artistic talents. It features news and creative input from all sections of the school community, including regular club reports and interviews with famous former pupils. The journal is produced by an editorial committee of student volunteers, usually with the assistance of a teacher from the English department. It is partly financed by commercial advertising and is published in the autumn. The Malcolm Knox Prize is awarded annually for the best contribution.
The maiden issue of Schola Regia appeared in 1895 and the present series began in 1904. The magazine’s archive is both a repository of irreverent anecdotes about school life and a valuable source for history in a larger sense. The wartime volumes contain many letters from former pupils serving at the front.[20]
The Royal High School also publishes an Annual Report at the end of the school session in July. As the school’s main publication of record, it contains future session dates, a staff list, the Rector’s report, a programme for the Commemoration Day Ceremony, a list of awards, and a roll of pupils.
[edit] European partnerships
Since the United Kingdom's accession to the European Union, the Royal High School's historic association with the City of Edinburgh has led it to cultivate international relationships through regular musical exchanges with sister cities on the Continent such as Florence (from 1975) and Munich (from 1979), and with other schools such as the Theodolinden-Gymnasium, Munich (from 1979), the Lycée Antoine-de-Saint Exupéry, Lyon (from 1991), and the Scuola di Musica ‘Giuseppe Verdi’, Prato (from 1993). In 1992 the school was awarded a European Curriculum Award by the British Government in recognition of its contribution to the development of European awareness in education.[21]
[edit] Clubs
The Royal High School boasts many venerable sporting clubs. The RHS Cricket Club was formed in 1861.[22] The RHS Rugby Football Club was formed in 1868.[23] The RHS Golf Club was formed in 1876.[24] The RHS Athletic Club was formed in 1920.[25]
The Royal High School also has three flourishing former pupils clubs in the United Kingdom: the Royal High School Club (RHSC) in Edinburgh, founded in 1849 under the presidency of the Earl of Camperdown (1785-1859), the Royal High School Club in London (RHSCL) founded in 1889, and the Royal High School Achievers Society (RHSAS).
The Royal High School (Canada) Club (RHSCC) was formed in Winnipeg in 1914, and after lapsing into inactivity it was revived in British Columbia in 1939.[26] The Royal High School (India) Club (RHSIC) was formed in 1925 to help former pupils in the east; it disbanded in 1959.[27] The Royal High School (Malaya) Club (RHSMC) flourished between the two world wars and was revived in the 1950s.[28]
[edit] Rectors
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[edit] Calton Hill building
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- Main article: New Parliament House, Edinburgh
The A-listed Old Royal High School building was erected between 1826 and 1829 on the south face of Calton Hill as part of Edinburgh's Acropolis, at a cost to the Town Council of £34,000.[29] Of this £500 was given by HM The King 'as a token of royal favour towards a School, which, as a royal foundation, had conferred for ages incalculable benefits on the community'.[30] It was designed in a neo-classical Greek Doric style by Thomas Hamilton, who modelled the portico and Great Hall on the Hephaisteion of Athens.[31] Paired with St. George's Hall, Liverpool, as one of the ‘two finest buildings in the kingdom’ by Alexander Thomson in 1866, it has been praised as 'the architect's supreme masterpiece and the finest monument of the Greek revival in Scotland'.[32][33]
After the school relocated to larger modern premises at Barnton in 1968, the vacated building was considered by the Scottish Office as a home for the Scottish Assembly and renamed New Parliament House.
[edit] Alumni and Alumnae
Many Royal High Scholars have upheld the school's ancient motto by making notable contributions to national life.
Engineering and Design
History and Archaeology
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Medicine (continued)
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Although the Royal High School long enjoyed a near monopoly on boys’ education among the Edinburgh burgesses and county gentry, attendance by the mathematician John Napier (1550-1617) and the philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) is unconfirmed and may be legend.
On occasion the school has also provided a literally royal education. In 1859 HRH The Prince of Wales received lessons in Roman history from the Rector, Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, and presented the Carson medal at the prize-giving. The following year, 1860, HRH Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans, duc d'Alençon (1844-1910), HRH Louis d'Orléans, prince de Condé (1845-1866), and HRH Prince Pierre d'Orléans, duc de Penthièvre (1845-1919), attended classes and were awarded prizes.
[edit] Military and civil honours
Former pupils have received many awards for wartime service, among them:
- Two VC
The recipients were Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Eric Bent, VC DSO, and Captain Harcus Strachan, VC MC.[35]
- One VC
- One GC
- One CIE
- One CBE
- Four DSO
- Five OBE
- Twelve MBE
- One DSC
- Ten MC
- 14 DFC
- One AFC
- Two DCM
- One CGM
- Three GM
- Two MM
- Three DFM
- One BEM
- 27 mentions in dispatches
[edit] RHS in popular culture
Of the Royal High School's innumerable appearances in literature, the most celebrated is the ‘Green-Breeks’ episode in Walter Scott’s novel, Waverley (1814), Appendix III. The author, a pupil from 1779 to 1783, reminisces wistfully about the bicker, or traditional mass brawl, humorously likened to a Homeric battle, fought in the streets of Edinburgh between pupils from different social classes.[37]
The school's turbulent history of class conflict continues to inspire new work. Gentlemen’s Bairns is a play by C. S. Lincoln which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2005. It dramatises the fatal shooting of a town official, Bailie Macmoran, by an upper-class pupil during a school siege in 1595.[38]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Royal High School Prospectus: Complete Staff List. Retrieved on 4 September 2007.
- ^ Scottish Schools Online: The Royal High School. Retrieved on 4 September 2007.
- ^ The Royal High School Prospectus. Retrieved on 2 September 2007.
- ^ The Royal High School Edinburgh Inspection 04/09/2007, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
- ^ John Murray, A History of the Royal High School. Edinburgh, Royal High School, 1997, pp. 117-119.
- ^ Information Zone Index & Latest News
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 1-2.
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 3, 142.
- ^ Elizabeth Ewan, Town Life in Fourteenth-Century Scotland. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1990, pp. 12, 131. ISBN 0-7486-0151-1.
- ^ Murray, History, p. 142.
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 39-40.
- ^ Murray, History, p. 146.
- ^ The Royal High School Edinburgh Inspection 04/09/2007, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, pp. 1, 17-18. Retrieved on 3 November 2007.
- ^ University admissions by individual schools September 2007, Sutton Trust, p. 39, 40.
- ^ Eke-Out Reach Newsletter (May 2007) Issue 22, Local News, p. 11. Retrieved on 3 November 2007.
- ^ The Royal High School: School History. Retrieved on 2 September 2007.
- ^ William Steven, The History of the High School of Edinburgh. Edinburgh, Maclachlan and Stewart, 1849, p. 6.
- ^ J. B. Barclay, The Tounis Scule: The Royal High School of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Royal High School Club, 1974, p. 61.
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 68-9, 145.
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 66, 71, 144.
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 123-124, 132.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, pp. 58-9.
- ^ Robert Ironside and Alexander M.C. Thorburn, Royal High School Rugby Football Club: Centenary 1868-1968. Edinburgh, Royal High School, 1968, p. 8.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, p. 140.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, p. 141.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, p. 77.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, pp. 77-8.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, p. 78.
- ^ Murray, History, p. 45.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, p. 60.
- ^ Murray, History, p. 46.
- ^ David Watkin, ‘Elmes, Harvey Lonsdale (1814–1847)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved on 5 September 2007.
- ^ Gavin Stamp, ‘Hamilton, Thomas (1784–1858)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved on 2 November 2007.
- ^ Stockton & Tees-side Herald (18 August 1928), pg. 5, col. d.
- ^ Murray, History, pp. 70-1.
- ^ Barclay, Tounis Scule, pp. 76-7.
- ^ Murray, History, p. 38.
- ^ Philip Fisher, Review: Close Encounters, ‘Fringe 2005 Reviews’ (43), British Theatre Guide. Retrieved on 27 October 2007.
