Community and Partnerships

Through our ‘Engage’ approach we seek to do just that - to engage - with the world beyond the school, to connect and enhance understanding with people, places, ideas and issues locally and globally. 

In these times of immense global complexity, we believe that it is not enough to be inter-connected by forces of globalisation; we need to connect personally, to be curious about different lived experiences and ways of knowing, to listen, learn and act in solidarity with others for positive change.

Our Engage approach is about doing just this. With our community and education partners, we strive to co-create mutually beneficial partnerships that are based on a desire to listen to and learn from one another and to generate opportunities for positive change at all levels. See Our Partnerships for more information on some of these partnerships.

This approach also brings our school values - Aim High; Join In; Respect All; Be Kind -  to life. They become about who we are as well as what we stand for.

What does this look like for pupils?

We see engaging with people and places beyond our school as a central part of the pupil journey through Watson’s. 

These opportunities are often embedded within the curriculum, enhancing pupils’ understanding through bringing topics and subject areas to life through connecting with others. There are so many examples of this, from our P7 pupils who as part of their Peace & Conflict topic visit the Poppy Scotland factory and speak with veterans about their experiences, to our Advanced Higher Modern Studies pupils who link with visiting Danish peers to compare criminal justice systems.

There are also opportunities to engage through the many extra-curricular, or as we call them ‘enrichment’, opportunities for pupils to be part of and often lead, focusing on things that they are interested in or passionate about and building their sense of agency. This might include clubs such as the Junior School’s and the Senior School’s Equalities Collective and Eco Group. 

Other enrichment activities giving pupils these opportunities and insights are also scaffolded throughout the pupil journey, from pre-school pupils’ weekly visits to a local care home to cultural and language exchanges with young people in Australia, Canada, Taiwan and Spain, and involvement in local programmes to build connection with pupils attending local state schools. Overseas trips add to this rich tapestry of experiential learning, giving pupils the chance to learn from others and think critically about their own assumptions and place in the world. The outcomes of these experiences, such as pupils’ involvement in the Watson’s Malawi Partnership and the Roots Futures programme, are powerful for pupils.

Many Senior School pupils also volunteer in a huge range of organisations, from care homes to local sport clubs. We call this ‘pupil social action’ but this is not just about pupils bringing benefit to the community, much as our young people have many skills and attributes to offer. When pupils learn experientially they are gaining insights into the world around them, learning from the knowledge of others and developing their skills and awareness. In this way, a sense of pupil agency can build based on a sense of ‘standing in solidarity with’ rather than ‘bringing benefit to’. 

Broadly speaking, the journey through Watson’s is designed to develop pupils’ skills, understanding and knowledge, attitudes and values - things they need to grow to be creative, flexible and proactive global citizens.
 

We are part of mutually beneficial community and global partnerships that are based on a desire to listen to and learn from one another and to generate opportunities for positive change at all levels. 

These school, community and global partnerships are underpinned by these principles:

• Shared Objectives
  Our projects are generated from a shared analysis of the challenges that need to be addressed, or opportunities to pursue, and agreed objectives that are shared by all partners: schools, other third-sector partners, and funders.
• Co-Design
  Projects are co-created with our partners to ensure that they can meet the needs and expectations of everyone.
• Mutual Respect and Benefit
  Not all partners may be in a position to contribute equally to the success of a project but everyone involved deserves equal recognition for the part they play and we acknowledge that everyone benefits in different ways.

School Partnerships

Our partnership with GWC over the last 6 years has been so reciprocally beneficial for both schools. We continually add more multi-faceted areas to our joint working with the aim of benefiting the learners across both communities…
The opportunities are vast and continue to expand. Norma Prentice, Headteacher Castlebrae Community Campus

Locally, we are privileged to work with a number of City of Edinburgh Council schools and find that the benefits are multifaceted. On an individual level, pupils are encouraged to engage with their peers in other schools and staff have opportunities to share ideas and practice. This collaboration also benefits on a societal level: creating connection, breaking down barriers between education sectors and releasing new potential in Scottish education.

Some examples of our school partnerships are:

Swire Chinese Language Centre Edinburgh (SCLCE)

Funded by the Swire Chinese Language Foundation, the SCLCE is now responsible for a significant proportion of presentations for SQA National 5 examinations in Chinese in Scotland. It has also provided opportunities for pupils from a very wide range of schools to experience success in language learning and get to know Chinese language and culture, often including truly memorable visits to China.

The SCLCE was founded in 2016 by a partnership between Boroughmuir High School, James Gillespie’s High School and Watson’s and has since grown to incorporate 24 schools and pupils of all backgrounds. A number of partner high schools have now recruited their own teachers of Mandarin, ensuring long-term sustainability for the language.

Edinburgh Computing Science and Engineering in Schools (ECSES)

The Edinburgh Computer Science and Engineering in Schools (ECSES) programme works to provide young people with inclusive and inspiring access to computer science and engineering, allowing them progress into digital futures. In doing this, it seeks to tackle the challenges schools in Edinburgh (and elsewhere) face in recruiting and retaining teachers of Computer Science. 

The ECSES partnership includes Broomhouse Primary School, Castleview Primary School, Castlebrae Community Campus and Leith Primary School.

Our aims in this programme are to:

• Give young people access to high quality, sustainable Computer Science and Engineering teaching, with progression pathways, enhanced by industry links, to national qualifications and beyond.

• Support existing teachers to become confident and successful in teaching Computer Science and Engineering.

• Encourage and support potential future teachers of these subjects.

Arkwright Scholarships

The Arkwright Scholarships are a prestigious UK-wide scholarship scheme which provides support for high performing pupils undertaking engineering courses in S5 and S6. We are fortunate that Watson’s pupils are often successful in securing these scholarships, but in addition the School is the largest independent school sponsor of the Arkwright Scheme in the UK. This means that every year a motivated and highly creative team of young engineers comes from state schools across southern Scotland to join their peers in Watson’s in undertaking a variety of real-life engineering challenges at the School.

Roots Futures programme

We were delighted to pilot this programme for the first time this session with Castlebrae Community Campus. The Roots Futures programme is designed to bring together young people and teachers from state and independent schools across class, cultural, racial and religious divides. The Roots values of compassion, curiosity and connections provide a foundation for young people to ‘discover confidence and pride in their own backgrounds, develop respect for peers from backgrounds different to their own, tackle prejudice, build connection and belonging’ (Roots Programme, 2022).

This session, 12 S3 pupils from each school were part of this programme which involved weekly opportunities to engage with their peers, including a day spent in each other’s school. It has been inspiring to see the relationships grow and previous assumptions be questioned by all involved. The programme culminated in a Vision Day where pupils collaboratively created vision statements defining what they hope a future Scotland will look like.

Community and Charity Partnerships

Our partnerships with local organisations and groups help our school to be firmly rooted in our local community. These links - with care homes, charities, churches, and many other organisation - provide many opportunities for our pupils to engage in the world beyond Watson’s. 

Community Sport hub

Charity Partners

Amongst our charitable partnerships are

Our 'two-year' charities are agreed through a process of nomination by our school community - pupils, parents, staff -  followed by selection by pupil panels and our Charities Committee. The next process will begin in January 2026. For any queries on our charity links please contact charity@gwc.org.uk.

Global Partnerships

Whilst much of our partnership work focuses on the community in and around Edinburgh, we have also forged relationships with many institutions around the world. Global schools partnerships help broaden horizons and help our pupils to understand global issues.

Working together in partnership gives our pupils the opportunity to develop the essential skills of a global citizen. This is built upon throughout a pupil’s journey from preschool all the way through the S6 which has been evidenced by our work as a British Council International School. 

We are fortunate to have links with schools in France, Spain, Denmark, Canada, Malawi, Taiwan and Australia amongst others. Many of these partnerships offer exchange opportunities for pupils to experience life with a host family in the Senior School. This could either be to enhance language learning or as part of a cultural exchange in cases where the partner school is in an English-speaking country.

Watson's Malawi Partnership

The Watson’s Malawi Partnership is a registered charity which is run by an independent board comprising parents, staff, pupils and volunteers from the local community. It works alongside the Scotland Malawi Partnership to connect communities in Edinburgh and Malawi in dialogue to enable them to learn more about each other and their aspirations and needs.