We are in the top 10!

In Autumn 2023, we were delighted to discover that St Columba’s School was listed as the 9th best independent school in Scotland (based on SQA results) according to the Sunday Times feature ‘Parent Power’. The same publication showed that our pupils’ National 5 results were the second best in the country.

While league tables provide an easy gauge of a school’s academic prowess, they fail to capture anything but the very primary function of a school. Let us be clear: At St Columba’s we pride ourselves on academic excellence, however, we offer young people so much more to help them start their lives as kind, enquiring, curious and engaging citizens of the world. While it is easy to assert that school rankings are meaningless, we would be writing this article even if the School had not featured so prominently. Please do not take this assertion as flippancy, that we are not interested in the academic success of our pupils, because we are: the primary focus of a school is to educate its pupils. Indeed, a league table shows collective success, but at St Columba’s the individual comes foremost. We often talk about how we know every pupil by name, every child’s strength, and weakness and this is perhaps why a league table is less important than the results of every individual. One pupil’s A is another’s B and yet another’s C. We believe that what truly matters is that every child achieves their full potential.

As we prepare for our annual assessment day in January 2024, our Admissions Registrar is fielding questions about the entrance test. The prevailing enquiry from anxious parents is “can my child prepare?” followed closely by “do you issue past papers?”. Unfortunately, the answer to both is a resounding ‘no’ because we are, in fact, assessing potential, rather than intelligence. We are trying to determine if a St Columba’s education will benefit the young person and if we can help them fulfil their potential.

Where league tables are concerned, ‘potential’ plays a role but this is not the focus of these numbered lists. At St Columba’s, we offer pupils tuition in a wide array of subjects (including four languages; Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Classical Studies, Computing Science, Design and Manufacture, Business Management and many more) with experienced, highly qualified teaching staff - people who have dedicated their lives to learning for learning’s sake and ensuring that their protégés are prepared for a fulfilled life after school. In addition to all of this, St Columba’s offers a rich range of activities and opportunities to develop the mind, body, voice, or manual skills; some allow pupils to make their voices heard. In addition to much more, our pupils can take advantage of the following:

• lots of free clubs and societies run by staff or older pupils;
• a variety of committees and other action groups;
• school-wide projects such as the UN’s Rights Respecting Schools Award;
• music instrumental tuition delivered by a large team of music tutors;
• a world-class piping and drumming programme;
• an award-winning intergenerational scheme; and
• one of the highest participation rates in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the west

Furthermore, as an independent school, we are not entirely beholden to the national curriculum, Curriculum for Excellence. We can adapt lessons and pupil outcomes accordingly. Indeed, “Scotland’s scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2022 report have fallen in each of its three categories: maths, science and reading. This decline echoed a general and unprecedented fall in scores among the 81 countries and economies taking part. In Scotland, scores in maths - the main focus of Pisa this time - fell by 18 points; in reading they fell by 11; and in science, they fell by seven. According to the OECD, 20 points equates to a year of learning.”

Visitors and friends often remark on the quiet confidence, resilience, and determination of St Columba’s pupils. That confidence is the product of opportunity and of being immersed in the company of inspirational peers and staff. The celebration of personal and collective success is also an important contributing factor. Resilience goes hand in hand with determination, both of which are developed through the recognition of failure and then the support and encouragement to try again.

While we are thrilled by our position in the Parent Power rankings, we are a school that strives to deliver unquantifiable results such as producing caring and compassionate individuals, independent thinkers, global citizens, and fulfilled adults.