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Fettes College is an Independent boarding and Day School in Edinburgh , Scotland . It is sometimes referred to as a Public School in common with the traditional independent schools in England and Wales , although in Scotland, as in most of the English-speaking World , "public school" usually refers to a State School . '' Oxford English Dictionary '', 2nd Ed., 1989, s.v. "Public school", available here . OVERVIEW There are 600 pupils at Fettes; these consist of 460 boarders and 140 day pupils. Fees per term are £7,442 for boarders and £5,280 for day pupils, with three terms a year.See http://www.fettes.com/information/fees.htm . Discounts are available if multiple children from the same family attend the school, as well as for children of members of the armed forces. Scholarship s are also available which pay up to a third of a pupils fees, with bursaries available for scholarship holders which can provide additional assistance, up to the full value of the fees.See http://www.fettes.com/information/scholarships.htm . Fettes was an all-boys school until 1970 when female pupils were first admitted, for the final year; and since 1983 the school has been co-educational. The current Headmaster, appointed in 1998, is Michael Spens, previously Head at Caldicott School . HISTORY To perpetuate the memory of his only son William, who had predeceased him in 1815, Sir William Fettes (1750-1836), a former Lord Provost Of Edinburgh and wealthy city merchant, Bequeathed the then very large sum of £166,000 to be set aside for the education of poor children and orphans. After his death the bequest was effected and invested and the accumulated sum was then used to acquire the land, to build the main building and found the school in 1870. Fettes College thus opened with 53 pupils (40 were Foundation Scholars with 11 others boarding & 2 day pupils). Over the last decade Fettes candidates have regularly achieved very high academic standards at A Level and GCSE as evidenced by:
The Headmaster who provoked most controversy was Anthony Chenevix-Trench (1971-79), formerly of Eton . The investigative journalist Paul Foot wrote an expose in Private Eye detailing his excessive use of Corporal Punishment while he was a Housemaster at Shrewsbury School. Tim Card, a former Vice-provost of Eton College, said Chenevix-Trench's resignation from that school was caused by his heavy drinking and his overuse of the cane. Chenevix-Trench did reveal, at the 1974 Commemoration Dinner, that he had been glad to have left Eton as its form of administration was not something he lived with happily. See http://www.archivist.f2s.com/cpa/pubschools/press2.htm In 2002, a couple of incidents involving drugs occurred at the school. Three sixth-form boys were excluded from the school over drugs: two were caught with Cannabis at a school event, while the other failed a drugs test while on a school trip. A female sixth-former was expelled for revealing details of these exclusions to the media. Writing a letter to parents the Head described her actions as "despicable", "reprehensible" and "well beyond the pale".See http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=233&id=188012002 . A physics teacher, who claimed to have suffered from - the incident was not reported to the police but was instead dealt with by school authorities. See http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=233&id=468292002 . In early 2007, videos made at the school- which were apparently based on the television programme Jackass - were posted to the video-sharing website YouTube . These videos featured stunts such as pupils smashing branches over their heads and walking on banisters, as well as nudity and the consumption of alcohol. The videos also included a pupil having his head Flushed Down The Toilet , a form of ritual Hazing . A local newspaper reported that Fettes pupils were being investigated by school authorities over the incident.See http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=347332007 . CURRICULUM Fettes College has always followed the English , rather than the Scottish Education System . Pupils take GCSE s rather than Scottish Standard Grade s and, due to the recent removal of the Scottish Higher s examination, students now have the choice between the A Level exam system or the new International Baccalaureate Diploma , but cannot take Scottish exams. Fettes is an IB World School , one of only three schools in Scotland to have attained this status.See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4799959.stm . SCHOOL CULTURE Some major events in the life of the school include:
THE BOARDING HOUSES There are currently seven House s; four for boys and three for girls. The male houses are large period buildings which stretch from East Fettes Avenue to Carrington Road; two of the female houses are in the upper floors of the main College Building and the third is in a modern building in the eastern part of the grounds. An innovation, reflecting the changes in responsibilities of teenagers in the school and society, is the Upper Sixth Boarding House being built for both boys and girls in their last year at Fettes, and scheduled to open September 2007 . Boys
Girls
Also
ARCHITECTURE The college's main building by David Bryce (built 1863-9) blends the design of a Loire Château with elements of the 19th Century Scottish Baronial . The combination of styles and the site of the building make an Edinburgh landmark. HEADMASTERS
FAMOUS OLD FETTESIANS
Four Old Fettesians have won the Victoria Cross and one the George Cross . Please see the above list of Old Fettesians for details. FETTES AND BOND Whilst expanding on James Bond 's backstory, Ian Fleming wrote in '' You Only Live Twice '' that the spy had attended Fettes College after having been removed from Eton . While Fleming never claimed there was any other source for the name of Bond than James Bond an American Ornithologist , there was a real life James Bond who did attend Fettes. He was a Frogman with the Special Boat Service , much as the fictional character Bond has a naval background. The school actually has his '' Who's Who '' entry copied and framed in one of its main corridors. NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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