Impact of partnership work done in 2024 (ISC annual Census 2025)

• 3 state schools involved
• 201-500 state school pupils involved
• 40 staff hours given

Impact Statement

As reported by OSCR, when it tested the School’s charitable status, the School takes its responsibility as a registered charity to provide additional public benefit, above that of providing increased access to the school, very seriously. In line with our objective of providing education, the Edinburgh Academy undertakes a wide range of activities to benefit wider society as is described below:

In the past year, staff at the Edinburgh Academy worked with examination boards north and south of the border, and assistance was provided in respect of marking, setting, and moderation of public examinations.

In addition, two staff sit on education advisory bodies (Biological Society and Royal Meteorological Society), and so contribute to national educational debate and direction. One member of staff is an associate lecturer at the Open University. We also work with neighbouring schools in the maintained sector providing Oxbridge support.

The Edinburgh Academy has also taken a significant part in the provisioning of student teaching places in liaison with the General Teaching Council for Scotland. In the last 8 years 59 such places have been provided with 4 in the year to January 2019. The School also offered taster days for people who asked to observe teaching days in school prior to applying to teacher training college.

The School provides a Youth Sports Development Officer to work in four local schools over 4/5 mornings each week, averaging 19 hours per week of free PE lessons to these local schools. In addition to this a youth sports development programme which is open to the local community as well as pupils of the School is run (term time only) within the School. This equates to 10 classes a week, Monday to Friday and two on the weekend.

The School offers the use of its facilities to a number of organisations free of charge or at substantially reduced rates. These include:

• Various charities including the British Heart Foundation, the TailorEd Foundation and The BrainTumour Charity.
• Scottish Country Dance Club.

The School also subsidises local community group use of our facilities by offering between 35% - 50% discount off the normal rental price to the following organisations:

• Local Residents Tenants’ Association meetings
• Stockbridge Primary School
• Edinburgh Academical Football Club
• Edinburgh Academical Cricket Club
• St. Columba’s Hospice
• British Heart Foundation
• Leith Cubs and Scouts
• Community dance clubs based in Edinburgh

The School takes part in hosting a cross-school lecture on application to Oxbridge, and continues to provide access to Cambridge Admissions Tutors through this to the City of Edinburgh Council schools, as well as offering individual support to their pupils.

The Music Department hosts and trains a community choir with concerts held annually at the School and at the Usher Hall.

The Junior School has offered support to the local community through providing members of staff to officiate at local sports festivals; being part of tidy up in Inverleith Park; providing bike training for members of the local community; planting in Starbank Community Garden; helping with the celebration of the reopening of the Inverleith Park sundial; collecting and gifting books to a school in an area of massed deprivation, singing in charity fundraisers and for local retirement home residents. The school has also participated in the local community market with proceeds of an enterprise project going towards a children’s charity. In total the children and staff of the Senior/Junior School and Nursery raised £43,000 for a number of charities including local charities such as MND Scotland, Our Missing Peace, War Child and Simpson’s Baby Unit.

The Junior School playing fields have been used by the local Cub Scouts with the forest area being used (and a trained member of staff provided free of charge) by an after school club from an area of deprivation with no comparable facility.

The Junior School hosted a transnational Erasmus Project with schools represented from Turkey, Estonia, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. The school also provided a venue free of charge for training of health and educational professionals for an organisation called Relax Kids which promote positive mental health in young people.