A leading boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 12-18 in Perthshire, Scotland
Glenalmond College's core objective and purpose is the provision of a high quality education, in the widest possible sense, to benefit our pupils and our wider society. The College is committed to widening the access to the education it provides. Applications from all sections of the community are encouraged, and the College offers financial support through its bursary scheme to pupils who, owing to financial constraints, would otherwise be unable to benefit from attendance at the school.
Assistance is available up to 100% to pupils based on financial need and within available funding. An assessment of the financial position of the applicant is undertaken through completion of a means tested form. The form is comprehensive and all income and capital assets are assessed. Given limited resources, a range of factors are considered in deciding on the successful applicants, in addition to financial need. These include academic ability, sibling already at the school as well as other exceptional family circumstances. The cut-off for awards is determined by the point at which budgeted fee assistance funds are exhausted. The level of award is reviewed annually. The funding for means tested fee assistance comes from a wide variety of sources including Educational and Charitable Trusts, Annual Giving, Philanthropic Giving, Fellows, Endowment Trust and Glenalmond College Enterprises Limited. For 2012/13 the total value of means tested support is equivalent to 10% of gross income.
Aligned with Glenalmond's educational activities are such factors as the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture, sport, religion, science, citizenship and community involvement. The College is dedicated to playing a full role in the life of the local community.
This report outlines the range of activities undertaken by the College and its staff to support the local and wider community.
Academic and Educational Activity
As well as providing the highest level of education within the school, Glenalmond staff regularly share their expertise beyond the school. Every year a number of Glenalmond teachers are markers or examiners for SQA, IB, GCSE, A level and Associated Board (music) examinations, and in some cases are scrutineers and senior examiners for exam boards. Our staff adjudicate at music competitions at other schools. We have supplied the only teacher in the examination group for the Diploma for the Royal College of Organists, another member of staff is the Chief Instructor for Army Cadet Force Piping, and another is a Duke of Edinburgh Award Assessor. Each year Glenalmond serves as an examination centre for external candidates taking GCSE or A level exams, and occasionally as an examination centre for external music candidates.
Our staff give lectures, public talks and presentations at conferences in specialist subjects, we have hosted the annual SCIS Classics Conference, and our staff are involved in the training of probationer teachers.
Links with Other Schools
We have strong links with a number of local primary schools, and are pleased to be able to provide specialist help and support for these schools in a number of areas.
Our staff give talks and in-school teaching to various primary schools in Perth & Kinross on history, classics, ancient history, drama, science, technology and engineering, providing specialist input to help primary schools develop projects with the pupils. They have also provided science curriculum guidance and pre-inspection guidance to local primary school staff. In addition, Glenalmond staff provide Oxbridge interview training for pupils at local maintained schools and Queen Victoria School in Dunblane, and for students at Motherwell College, where such a resource does not otherwise exist. We have provided Duke of Edinburgh Award training to Musselburgh Grammar School and have put on camping and outdoor experience sessions for Almondbank and Pitcairngreen playgroups.
We have staged a concert at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, involving musicians from local state and independent schools, and choir training to schools locally and in Edinburgh. We also hold an annual Choral Day for up to 200 pupils from other schools from Perth, Edinburgh and often the North of England.
Glenalmond hosted a Maths in the Pipeline one-day educational event attended by 15 local schools, and a Lab in a Lorry event attended by Kinnoull Primary School. Each year, local primary schools attend special matinee performances of Glenalmond's junior play and musical. We have provided pupils to pipe for local events such as the Pitcairngreen Primary School Jubilee Fun Day, and our pipers put on a demonstration and question-and-answer session for primary school pupils at Pitcairngreen PS for Burns Day.
Our staff drive a Glenalmond vehicle to support Logiealmond Primary School by making off-site trips possible and affordable. Staff also give their time to help upgrade this small local school, for example by constructing play areas.
Educational Support to Non-School Groups
We provide First Aid and Science training to Methven Cubs group, and have taught Scottish Dancing to the same group. We provide both a safe venue and expert staff to individual primary schools for orienteering, and host the annual Perthshire Primary Schools Orienteering championships.
Provision of Facilities
We have an extensive campus at Glenalmond College, with excellent sporting and educational facilities, and we regularly invite external groups to use these facilities.
On Perth and Kinross Open Doors Days we provide guided tours of Glenalmond, with particular reference to the school's architectural heritage.
Sheppard Swim School, a swimming coaching organisation, uses our pool throughout the year, fulfilling a crucial need in the local area. Over 200 community members use our 9-hole golf course for a minimal contribution. For the last two years the following groups have regularly (weekly in and out of season) used our sports pitches and facilities: Luncarty adult and U10 football teams, St Johnstone FC, Perth & Kinross Cub Scouts, Breadalbane Academy, Methven Cubs, Perthshire Rugby Club, Freuchie Cricket Club, Perth Dive Club, Methven AM Football Club and Young Carers. We provide facilities for the Tayside Orienteering Competition and East Lothian Council orienteering.
Chapel
The Glenalmond Chapel is the de facto Episcopal Church for the local area providing a location for public worship during term time and during the vacation (with over 150 worshippers in the Chapel on Christmas Eve, for example). The Chaplain officiates at christenings, weddings and funerals in the Chapel. He is the official Chaplain (unpaid) at two local schools and preaches at other schools as a guest, and had led public worship at ten churches throughout Central Scotland in 2012.
Charitable Fundraising
Our pupils carry out a range of fundraising activities throughout the year, and raise on average around £25,000 each year to support over 20 different local, national and international charities each year. In addition, Glenalmond pupils provide the central performance in an annual Christmas fundraising concert at Fowlis Wester which raises around £2000 each year. Old computer equipment is recycled by passing it on to the Mercy Ships medical charity.
Community Service
The ethos of community service is important to Glenalmond pupils, and around 20 pupils a week undertake placements at local charity organisations including:
Other Public Benefit Activities
In addition to the main areas of charitable and public benefit activity described above, there are numerous other ways in which Glenalmond, and its staff, help the local community. These include:
Still Voices, a singing therapy group for dementia sufferers and their carers, has been founded by members of the Glenalmond staff community and the sessions are hosted at Glenalmond - the venue is provided at no cost. Staff members are charity trustees of the Percy Whitlock and Gerald Finzi trusts, the Memorial Arts Charity and the Soko Fund (a small, Scottish-based charity devoted to securing university education for women in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world), and time off work is permitted for this involvement.
Glenalmond staff are governors, or have positions on the school Board, of Malsis Prep School in Yorkshire, Cargilfield School in Edinburgh, St Mary's prep school in Melrose, and Logiealmond Primary School in Perth & Kinross. Individuals are also board members of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, the Boarding Schools Association, and the Independent Scottish Schools' Bursars' Association.
Ancillary Public Benefit
Glenalmond occupies an important position in the local area, and as well as opening our Chapel doors to local residents, we welcome our neighbours to our firework display in November, with fireworks and barbecue provided free-of-charge. We also provide a drinking water supply to 24 local residents - the water is supplied and treated at no cost to the residents. Glenalmond's ICT staff provide informal (free) ICT support to local residents.
For over 12 years the College has provided its facilities during vacations to charitable organisations on a "cost plus" basis, rather than charging commercial rates. Organisations to have benefited include The Newman Trust (camps for severely disabled children in Scotland), OverTheWall, Scottish Episcopal Youth Camps, British Road Cycling Talent Camp, Rugby Excellence, Tayview Activities, Sheppard Swim School and the Scottish Hockey Development Camp.
