Fettes ‘was like Lord of the Flies’

ONE of Scotland’s most prestigious schools was ‘like Lord of the Flies’, with sixth formers allowed to punish other children, it was claimed.

Teachers at Fettes College in Edinburgh delegated discipline to older children, who considered it ‘fun’, a past pupil said.

He also told the Scottish Child

Abuse Inquiry the school worked on a strict hierarchy and pupils who excelled at sport were treated better than others.

The man, named only as James, 61, who was at the school in the 1970s, said most day-to-day discipline was handed to the sixth formers.

He said they would make pupils stand in a square and hit their heads. When asked by Andrew Brown, QC, how this made him feel, James said: ‘It felt to me that this was how the sixth formers had their fun.’

Referring to the William Golding novel, he added: ‘It was like Lord of the Flies, where boys would be laughing at others being punished, glad it wasn’t them.’

He said pupils who were good at rugby were known as ‘big side’, and were allowed to walk across the Queen’s lawn, which was forbidden to other boys.

James said: ‘Yes, big side meant you were revered and got to wear a long white scarf at school in front of everyone. It came with privilege.’

Mr Brown asked if a housemaster ever stopped any punishment. James said: ‘No, I never saw that.’

The inquiry also heard that pupils considered former headmaster Anthony Chenevix-Trench a ‘creep’.

A man known as Alan, who attended Fettes from 1969 until 1973, said on at least five occasions the headmaster asked him whether he wanted his trousers on or off during a punishment. He said: ‘It was intensely creepy,’ adding: ‘You did not speak out. There was no care.’

The inquiry continues.