Lower School Education at St George’s School

Our Lower School provision (for 10 – 13 years olds), which is the equivalent of a middle school in other educational settings, is quite unique in Edinburgh. A dedicated pastoral team and campus enable us to pay extra attention to this vital transition point for the girls, ensuring a smooth, happy and confident start to secondary education.

Drumming girl school fun music
Drumming girl school fun music

Transition Process for Lower School

At the end of Primary 5, girls from our Junior School naturally progress to St George’s Lower School, although new students can join at any time. In the Lower School (around 180 girls), girls have longer and fuller school days, allowing for more time to engage in a variety of activities.

Primary 6, Primary 7 (Remove) and Senior 1 (Lower 4) aged pupils are based in our historic Lansdowne building, surrounded by abundant outdoor space for play, quiet spaces for chats with friends or reading and downtime, and teaching spaces dedicated to this pivotal educational stage.

In Primary 6, pupils are still taught within a primary model, alongside all the added opportunities you would expect at St George’s: teaching from subject specialists in Music; Drama, Art; Sports; Languages and Computing; use of all senior facilities; and a vibrant co-curricular and trips programme.

Our pupils then begin their senior education a year earlier than most (during Primary 7) to establish strong foundations in subject skills and knowledge which serve them particularly well as they move to Upper School, two years later, at the end of Senior 1 year.

The unique attention we place on these crucial three years means your daughter receives truly specialised pastoral care, based on our deep knowledge of girls’ needs at this age. The girls have the freedom to enjoy play, being young and discovering all the opportunities that school offers, as well as the chance to use their voice in leadership roles that are unavailable in more traditional school models.

Strong, meaningful links with our Upper School enables the girls to benefit from having fabulous older role models while still looking forward to ‘stepping up’ whenever they’re ready…

An introduction to Lower School

Lower School at St George's for P6, P7 and S1

Play our video

Why Lower School at St George's?

A supportive environment that helps our girls develop at their own pace, especially during this time of physical and emotional changes. The Lansdowne campus is solely for our Lower School students, so they can enjoy a tailored experience that meets their needs.

Throughout your daughter's time with us, she'll experience several gradual and smooth transitions as she progresses through the year groups that are supported by an excellent pastoral staff and curriculum.

In addition to their academic studies, girls engage in a diverse array of co-curricular activities. There is something for everyone amongst our musical groups, stage performances, debates, sports teams and daily activity clubs. Furthermore, girls may also have the exciting prospect of experiencing a night of boarding in Houldsworth.

We introduce subject specialists early at Remove (Primary 7). This means that our girls start their full secondary education and are taught by specialist subject secondary school staff a year earlier than most other Scottish schools.

In the final year of Lower School, our S1 students benefit from the increased responsibilities of leadership roles and from having had two years of secondary teaching rather than one, before moving to the new environment of Upper School.

Here, girls experience more independence managing their own timetable, belongings, lunch hour, and co-curriculum timetable as well as their new environment.

Girls act as role models for pupils in Junior School and get involved in community service and volunteering. They also learn about social responsibility and through outdoor education develop resilience, problem-solving and teamwork skills.

PSE sessions include, for example, Careers and Communication and Leadership with Dragons’ Den-style event for L4 to test decision-making, culminating in collaborative and creative presentations.

Unique Edinburgh School Campus

Based on a single 15-acre parkland campus, St George's comprises two interlinking sites. The Lower School has its own dedicated buildings on Lansdowne campus which is opposite the main campus of the Upper and Junior School buildings.

Key features include modern science laboratories, a multi-purpose school hall, ICT rooms, food technology, music rooms, support for learning room and a well-stocked library.

All the school buildings are fully enabled for wifi connectivity in support of our digital learning strategy.

The Lower School shares design and technology, dining facilities, art studios, the music centre and a large sports hall and sports grounds with the rest of the school.

We provide a menu of hot, healthy, delicious lunches for our pupils to choose from and enjoy in the St George’s Centre.

Outdoor Spaces and Learning

An extensive range of outdoor spaces like the bio-diversity pond outdoor learning area offers exciting and stimulating areas, serving as outdoor classrooms providing valuable outdoor learning experiences. During break time, the girls have attractive grounds and plenty of space to play in and freedom to enjoy being young girls with ample outdoor play equipment, a climbing Trim Trail and multi-use all-weather play areas.

Stgeorge 210
Stgeorge 210

Leadership Opportunities and Student Voice

Student voice and individuality are encouraged throughout the school. In Lower School, we have our own Head Student and Deputy Head Student, student council and student committees. In addition, there are form captains, news reps, charity reps, House captains and Lower 4 Champions roles.

Video Resources

Lower School Tour

Lower School Parent Testimonials

Lower School leaflet

You must enable javascript to view this website