Facilities

Having all our facilities within easy walking distance for even our youngest pupils means that everyone gets the full benefit of being at Watson’s from the first day that they join us. A single campus also means that less time is spent moving to participate in sporting activities after lessons have finished, and for many families it makes the journey to and from school much more straightforward.

Facilities in the Senior School

A complete range of facilities for Senior School pupils is provided in and around our impressive main building on Colinton Road. At its opening in 1932 it was dubbed a “Palace of Opportunities” and heralded as one of the most advanced school buildings of its time. It continues to serve its purpose superbly well and alongside light, airy classrooms it provides specialist laboratories for Biology, Chemistry and Physics, a lecture theatre, and libraries and study spaces. At the heart of the main building is the Assembly Hall with its 1,000 seat capacity also provides a venue for large-scale drama and music performances. A recently refurbished Dining Hall provides an attractive venue for school lunches.

The original building is now augmented by a range of more modern facilities, including:

• The Art School - provides a range of well equipped classrooms and studio spaces for S6 pupils, as well as exhibition space and specialist facilities.
• The Drama Centre - consisting of specialist drama studios equipped with professional lighting and sound facilities and an outside performance space augments the facilities in the Senior School Assembly Hall.
• Design, Technology and Engineering Centre - where pupils have access to dedicated spaces and specialist equipment for design and fabrication ranging from 3D printers to a metal forge.
• The Music School - built in the 1960s and extensively upgraded in the last decade provides classrooms, individual tuition rooms, and an impressive 200-seat auditorium used by pupils from across the school.
• The Centre for Sport - incorporates a superb swimming pool, two sports halls, three gym halls, a fitness suite with the latest equipment and a café area.
• Outside sports facilities - include the famous Grandstand Pitch at Myreside, a full scale artificial hockey facility, tennis courts, squash courts, a target shooting rifle range and a boat house on the Union Canal.

All the Senior School buildings are fully enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity in support of our digital learning strategy.

Outside spaces are important to life and learning in the Senior School. We make full use of our extensive campus in providing outdoor learning experiences for our pupils, this includes a number of outdoor classroom spaces around the site which provide sheltered locations for learning to take place as well as an outdoor music venue.