About our Lower School

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 enable us to pay extra attention to this vital transition point for the girls, ensuring a smooth, happy and confident start to secondary education.

New Family Support

“The support my daughter received when she joined St George’s was outstanding. From day one, she had one-on-one meetings to make sure she settled in and her shadow buddy made those first few weeks so much easier. I also appreciated the regular check-ins with us as parents—it really showed the school’s commitment to ensuring that every student feels happy and comfortable."

Parent

New Family Support

Parent

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 the heart of our campus, 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…

Why I Like Lower School

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Meet Mel Aitken, Head of Lower School

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. Lower School students 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.

Girls test tube science class experiment

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.

Leadership Through Enrichment

We encourage leadership skills by giving students ownership over their participation.

Student-Led Events: Activities like the Cultural Awareness Fair, Food Committees, and Student Councils allow students to take initiative and showcase their leadership.“Organising events has taught me so much about teamwork and communication. It’s been an amazing experience.” –Student Deputy Head of School

Big Sister Club: A student-led mentoring initiative where older pupils guide and support younger peers.“Helping younger students has been such a rewarding experience. I feel like I’m making a difference in their school lives.” – Upper School Student Mentor

Leadership Through Enrichment

We encourage leadership skills by giving students ownership over their participation.

Role Model-Led Events

“It’s vital for young girls to meet and learn from leading figures in technology. Events like our Women in Computing event—featuring women leaders from Amazon, Canva and ex Microsoft —provide an interactive platform where students get hands-on experience with coding and tech challenges. Engaging directly with these role models is not only inspiring but helps demystify careers in computing and motivates our girls to pursue their own paths in tech."

Jack Walker

Computing Science Teacher

Role Model-Led Events

Jack Walker

Computing Science Teacher

Unique Edinburgh School Campus

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

From August 2025 Lower School will relocate to the main Ravelston campus. Find out more about the plans for the building on the Ravelston campus including the timescales, the sale of the Lansdowne campus and the exciting opportunities this project will bring to our pupils. Move to Ravelston campus and plans for the new build.