The Edinburgh air is cooling and the leaves are falling from the trees around our magnificent campus; autumn is upon us and with it the start of a new school year.  As I watched the leaves transform from green to orange and brown, I am reminded of the importance of progress.

Much of Fettes has been transformed this summer with the opening of Craigleith, the Upper 6th Form co-educational boarding house, the re-surfacing of the Sutcliffe Astroturf pitch, the upgrading and improvements in College East and College West, and the refurbishments of several labs in the Science Block.

It is very gratifying to be able to report on the completion of these major projects, but this should not suggest that we are now standing still; further developments are in the offing.  As the Craigleith and College based students move into their new and enviably attractive homes, our focus now turns to the plans for the Prep School development.  This new building project will provide our younger students with additional classrooms, an expanded library, an art room and an outdoor play area.  When the extension to the Prep School opens in a year’s time, the College will have a capacity of seven hundred and twenty five students.

Looking further ahead, the Long Term Development Plan, approved by the Governors in 2004, remains the focus for our aspirations.  Those of us involved in the management of the College and the Foundation must now turn our attentions to the most ambitious vision of all – the ‘Teaching Village’.  In recent years, the Art, Music and Drama departments have attracted a most gratifying and steadily growing reputation for the excellent standard of our students’ work.  That success has led to an expansion of all three departments and the new facilities within the ‘Teaching Village’ that are planned for the Creative Arts at Fettes are now urgently needed. 

In order to get the first phase of the £25 million ‘Teaching Village’ project underway, we need to secure lead donors who will provide at least 75% of the estimated £8 million required for the new Art School, which will be the first stage of the project.

These are exciting times at Fettes and there is no doubt that recent innovations and improvements have ensured that the College continues to be at the forefront of independent education in the UK. However, during times of transition, it is also reassuring to remind ourselves that many fundamental principles remain unchanged. Above all we retain an unwavering commitment to deliver a broad education of unrivalled quality within a caring, family-oriented community and to promote excellence and high standards in all areas of school life.

I am profoundly grateful to all of our donors who have succeeded in making 2006/07 the Foundation’s best year, and to thank you most sincerely on behalf of the young men and women, our students, whose lives you are enriching. 

Michael Spens
Headmaster