Senior Deputy Head (Learning and Teaching)

The ESMS Junior School is a large, independent, co-educational, non-denominational day school of approximately 1250 children aged 3-12, who become members of either The Mary Erskine School or Stewart's Melville College when they finish Primary 7.  It is situated in central Edinburgh. Admission is through assessment.

The Junior School has excellent facilities of its own as well as sharing those of the two senior schools.  The ethos of the school is that each child’s individuality is nurtured within a structured and disciplined framework.  We firmly believe that happy children will achieve more academically and in extra-curricular activities.  The atmosphere is therefore a caring one with great emphasis on encouraging children to take part in the many opportunities open to them.  Children are encouraged to take responsibility whilst being challenged both academically and in general as young people.  They learn to make choices and develop confidence in a supportive and positive environment in which our nine values, common across all three schools, are central to everything we do.

Specialist teaching is available in Music, Drama, Dance, PE, Games, French, Art and ICT.

A wrap-around care service is also provided before and after school.

The Nursery and Primary 1-3 classrooms in the Junior School are situated within the grounds of The Mary Erskine School and Primary 4-7 children are based within the grounds of Stewart’s Melville College.

ESMS offers excellent facilities, such as a state-of-the-art performing arts centre, large swimming pool, tennis courts, rugby and hockey pitches and floodlit astroturf pitches.

Headteacher

Mike Kane

Principal

Mr Anthony Simpson

Values and vision

The ESMS Junior School has nine core values that are recognised by all members of the school community: kindness, respect, commitment, enthusiasm, responsibility, grace, appreciation, confidence and integrity.

We do not follow the Curriculum for Excellence.  We believe that what we offer reflects the values which are an essential element within the CfE but we also believe in the importance of a structured and more formal approach to the development of our children’s skills and confidence in all curricular areas, in particular Language and Mathematics.  Regular and relevant assessments are integral to our approach, as is our commitment to ensuring that children and their parents are kept informed of their progress.