George Watson's College year in review 2021/22 session

Introduction

Session 2021/22 was the year when George Watson’s College was more or less back to its usual self. Although COVID-19 still had an impact on the community, and disruptions in the Autumn and Spring Terms, lessons took place back in classrooms, the full programme of sporting and cultural events flourished and there was a full diet of examinations in the Summer Term. The school began and ended the year with its largest ever roll, the results achieved by pupils in their exams were some of the best ever.

Sporting Highlights

Returning to pre-pandemic normality, there was an overall sense of joy as sport progressed throughout Session 2021/22. All sports restarted with sailing and curling clubs bolstering an already vast choice of options for pupils. Teams excelled with the 1st XI Boys’ Hockey Team winning the National Cup and the U15 Boys’ Team runners-up; whilst the U16 Boys’ Rugby Team, the 1st XI and U15 Boys’ Cricket Teams and the 1st XI Boys’ Football side all won their respective national schools competitions. Rowers also had a brilliant year with fine performances at the Henley Regatta and British Championships. Individual performers also thrived, in particular a S4 pupil competing in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, finished a fantastic 6th place in the Men’s Para Swimming 100m Backstroke event.

Drama and Music

A tale of two halves with the shift in restrictions; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was directed as a live piece on the main stage, and recorded and streamed to audiences. No mean feat for the young S3 actors who delivered all dialogue mic-free in such a notoriously difficult space for acoustics. The Primary 7 show, Moana, followed the same set up and the annual S2 outdoor performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream went ahead as planned with a small welcomed audience. The S6 summer production of South Pacific was the first full-scale production in two years to take to the stage in front of a live audience and what a performance it was! This session marked the 150th Anniversary of the George Watson’s Ladies’ College. To celebrate, a small group of girls went to George Square and sang the school hymn Ex Corde Caritas. There was further celebration of the Ladies’ College with a virtual concert including performances from Chamber Choir and the Symphony Orchestra. The Spring Concert began memorably with Ex Corde Choir ending with a flash mob involving all members of every choir. In April, the Robin Adair Concert included the A-Level Recitals, multiple group performances and the premiere of Lake Lady, composed by two pupils from S4 and 5.

The Legacy of George Watson

Following on from last session’s community consultation, an Oversight, Advisory and Support Panel was set up consisting of Governors, staff, parents and community experts to help steer our work on George Watson’s legacy. Discussions about a new format which would see a change from Founder’s Day to ‘Foundation Day’ in February 2023 were also being overseen by the Panel and work is progressing well.

Outreach, partnerships and charity links

Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI)

S4 pupils undertook the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) in June of last session. Pupils worked closely with around 30 local organisations to produce presentations about their chosen charity. In the end, the panel of judges decided on the Thistle Foundation to be the recipient of the £3,000 donation.

Connecting Classrooms

A group of S5/S6 pupils completed their Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualification. The group connected virtually with Robert College in Turkey helping to teach English to their pupils, whilst also contributing to their online magazine Going Viral, which was designed to promote global student collaboration. Watson’s Malawi Partnership We continued to build on our strong relationships with schools in Malawi through the Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning initiative, a partnership between the British Council and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Community Sport Hub

Thanks to generous funding (not least from Sporting Start and Watsonian Hockey, Cricket and Football Clubs), new and innovative opportunities were created for people in the local community and across Edinburgh, to work towards a more physically active lifestyle, boosting health and social connections and even a sense of belonging. Building on increasingly strong foundations of community sport, our new beginners running group and cricket, hockey, squash and rugby provision in the Firrhill cluster primary schools were established.

School Partnerships. The Swire Chinese Language Centre has continued to flourish

Several partner schools are now able to employ their own teachers to take the project forward. This enables the programme to grow further and enable more schools to join the partnership. A similar project to support Computing Science teaching has now met its funding target and will be launched for the start of next session.

Social Action

Pupils continued to work closely with charity partners as well as volunteering with many organisations in the local community. Throughout the year, one of the S5/S6 enrichment groups worked bi-weekly with The Green Team. The group helped with various conservation tasks over the session including path clearing, litter picking and removing invasive species. Pupils in S3 took part in an initiative with Merchiston Community Council to clear leaves from paths and roads surrounding the school. Over the course of eight weeks, pupils managed to clear 75 bags of leaves and other rubbish from the streets.

Charity Links

£37,868 was raised for charity partners, which include Sporting Start, Watson’s Malawi Partnership, the Eric Liddell Community, Scottish Love in Action, Disasters Emergency Committee, Feed the Minds, Changing Faces, Open Book, Tiny Changes, WWF, The Green Team and The Welcoming. The school community’s response to ongoing events in Ukraine has been incredibly generous: coming together in a Day of Solidarity with pupils and staff across the school wearing the colours of Ukraine; making and selling keyrings, badges and sunflowers; and hosting a Together for Ukraine Multicultural Event in the Music School. This was a special evening of multicultural music, art, poetry and literature performed/exhibited by pupils from Watson’s and one of the partner schools, Castlebrae Community High School. Through all the actions of the school community, almost £16,000 was donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee to support their Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.