Impact Statement

a) Place2Be Mentorship Programme
Organisation: Place2Be (a charity which offers support and mentoring to school children)
Aim: To promote positive mental health in schools
Frequency: Weekly from early October to late March (20 weeks), on an annual basis
What we do: Merchiston Castle School pays Place2Be to train all the pupils in the Lower Sixth Form as mentors. The pupils learn what is involved in supporting young, vulnerable people, as well as important life skills such as being a good listener, being non-judgmental and putting yourself second to someone else – skills which are also entirely transferable and are important for developing citizenship. 79 pupils undertook this training programme in 2017/18 at a cost of £5,000. Every year, some pupils decide to volunteer as mentors in local state maintained primary schools that take part in the Place2Be programme. In 2017/18, 16 pupils in the Lower Sixth Form went on to volunteer as mentors on a weekly basis at Balgreen and Longstone Primary Schools. This twenty-week programme starts in early October and runs until late March. The School also raises money for Place2Be throughout the year through various fundraising projects. We have raised over £10,000 for Place2Be over the last seven years. In 2016 we received the following commendation from the President of Place2Be, Benita Refson OBE:
“We are so grateful for your continued belief in and support of our work. Since 2010 you have raised a staggering £10,000 for Place2Be – the equivalent of 1,428 Place2Talk sessions for children who so desperately need a safe space to address their worries and anxieties. Thank you for helping us make a profound difference to vulnerable children. We are so grateful for your continued support.”

The Catering Department at Merchiston contributed to a Christmas party for the Balgreen and Longstone pupils at Merchiston. There was Christmas cup cake decorating followed by party games in the Old library and dancing in the Old Library. A special thanks again to chef Simon who made over 40 cup cakes and for the catering team for making this a truly magical event. The tables were decorated and there were a whole host of treats on offer.

b) Pupils volunteer as rugby coaches at Longstone Primary School
Organisation: Longstone Primary School
Aim: To promote the “sport for all” ethos
Frequency: Weekly from early October to late March (20 weeks)
What we do: As part of Merchiston’s Koinonia (Teamwork with the Community) programme, pupils in the Lower Sixth Form coached rugby to pupils at Longstone Primary School. In 2017/18, 11 pupils attended the school on a Wednesday afternoon to offer core fitness training and an introduction to basic rugby skills to 60 Longstone pupils. This initiative runs alongside the traditional one-to-one support our Lower Sixth offers under the organisational umbrella of Place2Be. Feedback from Headteacher of Longstone Primary School in April 2018:
“I cannot thank you enough for all that you, the boys and staff have done through your rugby coaching and mentoring. Again this year, the rugby has been a huge success and the highlight of the week for many of our children. I must also tell you how much the children have enjoyed the buddying and I was speaking with one of our P6 boys this week who is really sad that it has come to end as he has enjoyed it so much.”

c) Pupils volunteer as Classroom Assistants at Braidburn School
Organisation: Braidburn School – a state maintained school for children with additional support needs
Aim: To promote positive mental health in schools; to develop social skills
Frequency: Weekly from early October to late March (20 weeks), on an annual basis
What we do: Four Lower Sixth Form pupils attended Braidburn School on a weekly basis to volunteer as Classroom Assistants, helping the children with additional support needs, and acting as positive mentors. The Acting Depute Headteacher gave this feedback on the mentors in 2017:
“We will thoroughly miss the boys and all the help they have given. They are a complete asset to your school and have shown such amazing skills in communication. I honestly can’t speak highly enough of each of them.”

d) Sounds Like Friday
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council Youth Music Initiative
Aim: To create access to high quality music making opportunities for young people, offer young people the chance to achieve their potential in or through music making, and support the development of the youth music sector for the benefit of young people.
Frequency: Weekly during term time, on an annual basis
What we do: We provide free-of-charge piping and drumming lessons to pupils in local primary schools on a weekly basis (we call this initiative Sounds Like Friday). In 2017/18, 36 pupils from Bonaly, Craigroyston, South Morningside, Buckstone, Oxgangs, St Peter's and Pentland Primaries attended. 24 pupils attended piping lessons and 12 attended drumming lessons. Merchiston provides the services of our piping and drumming instructors, and in 2017/18 the scheme cost the School £8,950. In May 2018, The Sounds Like Friday Development Band joined our own Pipe Band in our annual Summer Pipe Band Concert.

Headlines from the results of a questionnaire given to parents in 2018:

• Sounds Like Friday provides a form of music outreach, giving children the opportunity to learn a musical instrument who have not had this opportunity before. Roughly half of the children had not received musical instrument tuition before (46%, 6 respondents).
• Sounds Like Friday inspires children to pursue an interest in performing music. All the children would like to continue learning a musical instrument once their Sounds Like Friday lessons had finished (100%, 13 respondents).
• Sounds Like Friday at Merchiston promotes an interest in playing traditional Scottish instruments. All the children would like to continue learning the chanter or pipe drums (100%, 13 respondents).
• Cost of lessons is an important factor for the parents when they decide if their child can continue learning a musical instrument after Sounds Like Friday. 67% of parents said that any future musical instrument lessons would need to be free of charge (6 out of 9 respondents). However, the Sounds Like Friday experience at Merchiston was so good that they would have still taken up the opportunity for chanter/pipe drum lessons if they had to pay for it (85%, 11 out of 13 respondents), although they would prefer a subsidised fee.
• The pupils really enjoy their Sounds Like Friday lessons at Merchiston. In response to the question, “What does your child think is the best thing about their chanter/pipe drum lessons?” the parents said the following: “Excellent tuition and encouragement”; “Likes being taught in a small group with other children. Likes the teacher”; “He likes all of it! He enjoys the group lesson”; “Great teacher and learns from peers”.

e) Swimming Lessons for Oxgangs and Colinton Primary Schools
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council – Oxgangs Primary School and Colinton Primary School
Aim: To ensure that every pupil can swim before the end of Primary 7.
Frequency: Once a week during term time (Oxgangs in the Autumn and Lent Term; Colinton in the Summer Term), on an annual basis
What we do: Oxgangs Primary School and Colinton Primary School send their pupils for swimming lessons at Merchiston, withdrawing from the City of Edinburgh Council scheme, thereby freeing up the City of Edinburgh Council to offer additional slots to their schools. Each weekly session consists of 2x 40 minute lessons, with 12/16 pupils in each lesson. To support this mission we commit 2/3 members of staff each week on an ongoing basis. This scheme generated approximately 980 child visits in 2017/18. The cost of transport and of staffing the lessons is estimated at £7,000 per annum.

Feedback from Oxgangs Primary School

P4I class
1. Some pupils have never been in a pool before. Quarter of the class are keen to keep going and wouldn’t otherwise have attended swimming lessons.
2. Some are very able swimmers and already attend private lessons
3. The children love going swimming. Swimming complements our PE provision in school and enables us to deliver 2hrs PE. Swimming provides opportunities to encourage growth mindsets, challenge and developing talents
4. Without this some children would never get to a pool. Now they feel confident and enjoy it they are much more likely to ask a parent to take them swimming.
Quotes:
‘I think the teachers explain it really well’
‘I’d like to keep swimming’ (child had never been in a pool before)
‘They give you lots of feedback to help you get better’ (from a confident swimmer)

P5C
The children really enjoyed swimming and would love to do it again.
Quite a few children in this class (5 out of 27) do not have the opportunity to go swimming out of school – they found it beneficial.
The children have learned a great deal and have become much more confident. One girl has since joined a regular swimming group.

P5H
Majority of the class would not have accessed swimming lessons outwith school time so have benefitted from lessons in Merchiston.
Most pupils feel that their swimming skills have improved.
All pupils enjoyed the lessons, in particular the last one!
A couple of children felt that their confidence as an early swimmer improved ‘I learnt how to breathe under water’

Hope this is helpful to you.
If swimming lessons are stopped at Merchiston for Oxgangs children then we wouldn’t have a swimming provision at all. As you can see from comments above we have quite a number of children who would then never have a swimming experience.


f) Deputy Headteacher of Firrhill High School is a member of our Child Protection and Compliance Committee
Organisation: Firrhill High School
Aim: Sharing of experience and expertise between private and maintained sector
Frequency: Four times a year on an annual basis
What we do: For some time now as the Headmaster of Merchiston I have tried to foster links with Firrhill High School, Edinburgh. I have visited Firrhill High School on numerous occasions. The newly appointed Headmaster of Firrhill High School visited Merchiston in September 2016. These links also led to the Deputy Headteacher of Firrhill High School sitting on our Child Protection and Compliance Committee which met three times a year in the 2017/18 session. She is able to share her experience and expertise with us and in turn we hope she benefits from an insight into Merchiston’s policy and procedures in this area.

g) Maths Fun Day for primary schools
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council, local primary schools
Aim: To promote amongst young children the study of Mathematics as an academic subject.
Frequency: Once a year on an annual basis
What we do: We hold a Maths Fun Day to which Primary 5 pupils are invited for Maths games and puzzles. In 2018, 92 children from 23 different primary schools attended. This was slightly fewer pupils compared to the previous year due to the event being rescheduled because of adverse weather. We also provide lunch and refreshments for the pupils. This event involved 7 members of Merchiston staff, contributing 25 hours, with an estimated cost of £250. We received the following feedback from the Retired Depute Headteacher of Pentland Primary School:
“I am writing to thank you and your colleagues for all your work in organising the Maths Fun Day last week. It was, as always, a really positive experience for the youngsters. Our team members very much enjoyed the tackling the maths problems and liked the different formats. They also appreciated the good humour of the day, as well as the catering (which never fails to impress!).

As an ex-teacher, I’m well aware of all the behind-the-scenes work which is needed to make an event run as smoothly as the Fun Day does. It was particularly good of you to go to the trouble of rescheduling the occasion after the earlier forced cancellation.

Please pass on our thanks to all involved.”

h) Primary Schools’ Science and Technology Day
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council, local primary schools
Aim: To promote amongst young children the study of Science and Technology as academic subjects.
Frequency: Once a year on an annual basis
What we do: We hold a Primary Schools’ Science and Technology Day to which Primary 6 pupils are invited for Science and Technology workshops. In 2017, 222 pupils attended from Bonaly, Cramond, Oxgangs, Pencaitland Primary Schools, and Braidburn School. This event involved 13 members of Merchiston staff, contributing a total of 130 hours. The organisation and preparation took 26 hours of staff time.

i) Science workshop at Pencaitland Primary School
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council, Pencaitland Primary School
Aim: To promote amongst young children the study of Science as an academic subject.
Frequency: Annually
What we do: The Head of Science & Technology and two other members of the Physics department deliver Science workshops at Pencaitland Primary School. In 2018, the organisation and preparation of this workshop took 20 hours of staff time. Feedback from Jessica in P5 (from 2017):
“Thank you for coming to our school. My favourite experiment was making the periscopes; I have been spying on both of my brothers with it. I found it really cool that the thing that made sounds by bumping up and down really fast. I also enjoyed learning that different colours of light don’t make the same colours mixed as paint does.”

j) Prestige Physics Lecture
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council, Braes High School, Lochgelly High School
Aim: To promote the study of Physics in Higher Education
Frequency: Annually
What we do: An academic in the field of Physics is invited to the School to give a lecture to pupils. We invite pupils from local high schools to attend. In 2017, Professor Malte Gather, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews came to speak on the topic of “The Living Laser”. 9 pupils from Braes High School and 4 from Lochgelly High School attended the lecture.

k) Christmas Service at Braidburn School
Organisation: Braidburn School – a state maintained school for children with additional support needs
Aim: Sharing staff expertise
Frequency: Annually at Christmas
What we do: We provide staff expertise to support the Leavers’ Service at Braidburn School. The Head of Science and Technology sets up the PA system and provides audio visual support. The Chaplain does the Leavers’ Address.

l) Bonaly Primary School Sports Day
Organisation: City of Edinburgh Council, Bonaly Primary School
Aim: To promote the ethos of “sport for all”
Frequency: Once a year on an annual basis
What we do: Bonaly Primary School holds its annual Sports Day in the grounds of Merchiston.

m) Schools invited to talks by visiting authors
Organisation: Scottish Book Trust
Aim: To promote reading and creative writing amongst young people
Frequency: Generally once a term, although our offers to attend author visits were not taken up by other schools in the academic year 2017/18.
What we do: We work closely with the Scottish Book Trust to host author events where an author comes to talk to an audience of pupils at the School. The Scottish Book Trust invites other local schools, mostly state maintained, to attend the events. Both secondary and primary schools attend, depending on the age suitability of the book. Visiting high schools have included: Balerno, Tynecastle, Firrhill, St Thomas of Aquinas, St Margaret’s Academy, Holyrood and Wester Hailes Education Centre. Visiting primaries have included: Bonaly, Craiglockhart, Longstone and St Mary’s RC Primary School. We offer our School as venue free-of-charge, and the Scottish Book Trust likes to come here because of the facilities we are able to offer. Being a boys’ school we can also play a role in promoting reading amongst boys: the large number of boys in the audience can create a shift-change in the mindset of the boys visiting from other schools. We have also developed this successful initiative by arranging our own author events through the Edinburgh Bookshop and directly inviting local schools to attend. The Headteacher of Firrhill High School gave us this feedback:
“Thank you for the hospitality offered to Firrhill staff and pupils last Wednesday. They all enjoyed the visit and appreciated the attention to detail that had gone in to planning the event which had been organised in co-operation with the Scottish Book Trust. In particular, our staff appreciated the care and attention given to one of our pupils who had a nose bleed. They also liked the welcome with an offer of tea or coffee, the juice and biscuits provided for pupils and the well-organised way the pupils were invited through a group at a time to meet Joseph and have books signed.”

3.2. Sports fixtures with state maintained secondary schools

Merchiston had sporting fixtures with the following schools in 2017/18:
• Balerno High School
• Biggar High School
• Carrick Academy
• Dumfries Academy
• Dunbar High School
• Earlston High School
• Firrhill High School
• Hawick High School
• Lasswade High School
• Levenmouth Academy
• Peebles High School
• Portobello High School
• Preston Lodge Academy
• Royal High School
• St Augustine’s High School
• St Thomas of Aquinas

As part of these fixtures our visiting teams will always dine with us – promoting a positive inclusive atmosphere and good sportsmanship.