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Learning (Curriculum)

Two boys working in class

We expect our pupils to think and act as confident global citizens as well as ambassadors of their own culture and place of origin.

Much of our education has a distinctly international flavour and draws on best curriculum practice from Scotland and the rest of the world.

As a Rights Respecting School, we value and respect our pupils and enable them to shape their experience in school by expressing their views and developing their own ideas.

The relationships between pupils and between staff and pupils is important to us. We work in partnership with parents and carers in all aspects of pupils’ time at school.

The Senior School Curriculum

Our Curriculum is organised as follows:

Digital Learning

George Watson’s College has one of the most comprehensive and advanced approaches to digital learning in Scotland. This includes a 'bring your own device' policy in the Senior School. We know that our pupils are 'digital natives' for whom learning using the internet and a range of digital tools is second nature. Our teachers work to harness and shape pupils’ use of digital learning to ensure that it is focused, effective and safe, and that pupils are prepared for the approaches that they will meet at university and in the workplace.

Guidance and Support

All pupils are supported through their time in the Senior School by their form teacher and by Heads of Year and Guidance staff who will progress with them through their time in our Senior School. This support is especially important when it comes to making curriculum choices for S3, S5 and S6. 

In S6, pupils choose their own academic tutor from the teaching staff. The remit of the S6 tutor is to help with choices for university (or other destinations) and generally support the pupil as they  prepare for life after school.

We know that not all pupils will find learning easy and many will experience barriers to learning which require specialist support. Although we are a mainstream school, we also have a long heritage of providing support for pupils who find learning difficult and helping them to achieve success within our curriculum.

Exam Results

SQA Pass Rates A-C 2023

National 5: 95.3%, S5/S6 Higher: 93.2%, Advanced Higher: 93.7%

 3,865 

SQA Presentations

 

Average UC  AS Score

 144.81 

Our Values

Our curriculum seeks to underpin our four School Values:

Aim High • Join In

Respect All • Be Kind

Our Values - Respect All, Be Kind, Join In, Aim High, Challenge Yourself, Care for Others - Ex Corde Caritas