Merchiston Castle School

Young Men of Integrity

So many of those who have been part of the Merchiston community will often comment that it is a school with something very special to it that is incredibly hard to articulate. This intangible ‘something’ gives a school its identity – far beyond bricks, mortar, and open space – is the most precious asset it has; but how to authentically express it has, for many years, been an unresolved challenge.

It is with enormous excitement, therefore, that the school is introducing a new ‘statement of self’ – ‘Young Men of Integrity’ – both to its own community and the world beyond its walls. In these four words the school has honed in on what truly distinguishes Merchiston. It is not its results, as enviable as they may be; nor is it its setting, as stirring and unforgettable as that may remain. It is the young men it is so proud to call its own. In those ‘boys’ – those young men of integrity – are imbued all the qualities that make a parent proud of their son. Honesty, empathy, determination, commitment, and manners that some might dismiss as ‘old fashioned’, yet to Merchiston mean so much. As part of its new brand ‘narrative’ extolls: ‘To hold that door an extra beat, To get to your feet,

When the moment calls.

To shake a hand like you mean it, To take your leave or say your bit. Means something in these walls.’ Through this new expression of self, Merchiston Castle School is now able to confidently return to a single idea that will underpin everything it does as a community. Its mission is as simple as it is profound; to develop young men of integrity. If it can cement that integrity in each and every young man in its care, it has achieved its most fundamental of goals. Examination grades and achievements of all kinds will provide opportunities, but young men of integrity will walk out of its doors and through those that will matter most in the future of the world.