Loretto is turning heads

Loretto is turning heads
Only the country’s finest independent schools make it into the Tatler’s Schools Guide.
Here’s what Tatler’s School Guide had to say about resurgent Loretto School in Edinburgh.
Scotland’s oldest boarding school has always struck the right balance between modern and ancient, tech-savvy and traditional. Yes, it has its very own iPhone app, and an award-winning radio station from which pupils broadcast programmes over the campus airwaves, and we spotted a Wii Fit in one of the girls’ boarding houses. But Loretto also turned heads last year by becoming the first independent all-Steinway piano school in Europe, and launched the inaugural James Waterhouse Steinway Piano Competition.
High standards on the sports field too; teams were Scottish lacrosse champions across all age groups last year, and the school’s golf academy attracts talent from all over the world. The new rugby coach is an ex-Scotland international and his cricketing counterpart played for England and Warwickshire.
No surprise that places at this relatively small school are in such high demand – thankfully for parents, it is expanding both day and boarding houses to accommodate extra pupils. Future plans include expanding the sports hall and adding an outward bound centre for adventure activities.
Refreshingly, pupils don’t feel any pressure to follow the herd. When we visited, we asked sixth formers what they were doing next: their answers encompassed everything from studying medicine, to becoming a shipbroker in India, to scuba diving.
Head Peter Hogan’s mission is to ‘maximise the opportunities for every Lorettonian’ – we think he’s doing a great job.