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Edinburgh Academy

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The Edinburgh Academy
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The Edinburgh Academy

The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school. This means it is self-governed and financed, though it remains subject to inspection by HMI and was last inspected in 2006.

It was opened in 1824. The orginal building, in Henderson Row on the northern fringe of the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located in Arboretum Road to the north of the city's famous Botanical Gardens.

The Edinburgh Academy is principally a day school, though it has a small international boarding community housed in purpose built accommodation adjacent to the playing fields. The co-educational nursery caters for children from 2 to 5. The boys-only Junior School admits boys from age 6 to 11 whilst the Senior School takes boys from age 11 to 18. Girls are admitted to the final two years of the Senior School, that is from the age of 16 plus.

Contents

Foundation

In 1822, the school's founders, Henry Cockburn and Leonard Horner agreed that Edinburgh required a new school to promote classical learning. Edinburgh's Royal High School provided a classical education, but the founders felt that greater provision was needed for the teaching of Greek, to compete with some of England's public schools. Cockburn and Horner recruited John Russell as a co-founder and the three of them, together with other interested parties, put a proposal to the City Council for the building of a new school. The City Fathers gave their approval in 1823 and fifteen Directors were elected, comprising the three founders and twelve other luminaries, including Sir Walter Scott, Sir John Hay and Robert Dundas.

The Buildings

The main building of the Senior School, with its Greek Doric frontage, was designed by architect William Burn. The stone used was principally from the nearby Craigleith Quarry. The Foundation Stone was laid in June 1823 and the school opened for the first session in October 1824. In 1892, new classrooms were built along the western wall of the site, and in 1900, the School Library was opened, followed by the new Science Block in 1909, both along the eastern wall. At the back of the school the Dining Hall, and the Rifle Range beneath it, was opened in 1912 and after the Great War, the Gymnasium was built. This was dedicated as a War Memorial to Edinburgh Academicals (former pupils) who had fallen during the hostilities of 1914 to 1918. A later plaque commemorates ex-pupils who fell in the Second World War.

In 1945, a new building, Denham Green House, was acquired in the Trinity area of Edinburgh. This was used for the junior department of the Preparatory School (now the Junior School) and in 1960, a new building for the upper three years of the Preparatory School was opened in Inverleith. These two departments were joined on the Inverleith campus (Arboretum) in 1987. In 1992, the Rector's residence, Academy House and in 1997, a new Games Hall were constructed on the same site.

At Henderson Row, the property next to the school, No 32, was acquired in 1972 and in 1977, the Academy acquired the junior school of Donaldson's College, to the west. This allowed departments to expand and a Music School was built here. A new science block, the James Clerk Maxwell Centre is due to open in October 2006.

Traditions

This marble bust of Homer is in the Louvre.
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This marble bust of Homer is in the Louvre.

In keeping with the classical traditions of the school, the school crest has always featured the head of Homer, though at the start of the twenty-first century, this was removed from the official logo. From the foundation of the school, the headmaster has been known as the Rector, a term common to several other Scottish secondary schools. The boys in the youngest year of the Senior School are referred to as Geits, from the Old Scots word for a child, while at the upper end of the school, the prefects are known as Ephors, after the officials of ancient Sparta.

In 1905, the school was divided into four houses or Divisions, Cockburn, named after the founder Henry Cockburn, Carmichael, named after a former teacher, James Carmichael, Kinross, named after a former pupil John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross, and Houses, representing the boys who lived in the boarding houses.

At one time, schoolboys used to play Hailes, a similar game to shinty, also believed to have been played in the Royal High School. Today the tradition is represented only by an annual match at the end of the school session, when the Ephors play against the other leavers from the seventh year, a match usually played in fancy dress. Pupils also play a particular variety of hand-ball called Alcove, similar to Fives, against the front of the school. Alumni of the Edinburgh Academy are known as Academicals, or Accies, a name shared with the Rugby team.

Notable Academicals

Rectors of the Edinburgh Academy

Sources

External links

 

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