As Scotland’s oldest girls’ school, St Margaret’s has a long history of preparing girls for a wide range of university courses. Just this summer, a commemorative board which celebrates earlier graduates of the school has been moved into a more prominent position in the school hall, for everyone to see!
We are, of course, delighted to celebrate another excellent set of examination results with this year’s graduating class. Whilst their SQA Advanced Higher results are only part of the story of this wonderful group of students, the whole school community is so proud that they are now taking up their places at impressive institutions on a diverse range of courses. Annually we have seen an extremely high number of our sixth year students achieving their first-choice university destination and this year is no exception.
From artificial intelligence to drama, medicine to fine art, the interests of our leavers are wide-ranging and it has been our privilege to work with such an enthusiastic and ambitious group of learners who have also contributed so much to the school community. They have been inspirational leaders in all areas and they have worked thoughtfully with staff to develop a number of aspects of the school’s provision. From reorganising the school library to leading culture week they have truly been partners in the evolving story of our school. Supporting our pupils to develop leadership skills and to use their voice to make a difference both within school and in the wider world is exceptionally important to us at St Margaret’s and our sixth year leavers leave the school richer for their presence and are ready to make a positive contribution to the world beyond Albyn Place.
In a girls’ school there are simply no gender stereotypes around subject choice and it is interesting to note that in line with previous years’ trends 44% of this year’s sixth year leavers are going on to study STEM subjects, in which women are typically under-represented. Individuals are well known very quickly at St Margaret’s and leaving us this year with stellar results and a place on the course of her choice is Helen who joined the school more recently in sixth year.
Helen is delighted to be taking up a place to read Physics at Edinburgh University and reflected on the impact her sixth year at St Margaret’s has had on her:
“I think definitely a change in confidence, especially in class I speak up a lot more. I feel the classes are quite small here but that’s really nice because it gives you an opportunity to be yourself and come out of your shell a little bit because everyone is very friendly and nobody cares when you get an answer wrong. Everyone’s really supporting each other in class. It’s a little bit competitive in a supportive way which is really nice. I think it’s a good environment for growing people’s confidence.”