Lathallan School

Since 2009, Richard Toley BA MPhil PGCE. He joined Lathallan in 2006 as director of co-curriculum from nearby High School of Dundee. Degree from St David’s Lampeter, MPhil from St Andrews and PGCE from Strathclyde. He and his wife live on site, wi

Lathallan nursery: from six weeks, 80 tinies registered but no more than 49 at any one time. Entrance to junior school seamless from nursery – test-ette for problems and ‘nearly all go’ (95 per cent). Juniors are checked ‘carefully’ and if problem

Tiny trickle leave for trad independents age 13, occasional departure age 8, otherwise the odd relocation. Some 75 per cent of leavers from the tiny sixth form to university, mostly Scottish, especially Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt, Strathclyd

‘We do not publish our exam results externally,’ says school. The last results we have are for 2021: 92 per cent A-C at National 5; 88 per cent A-B at Higher; 92 per cent A-B at Advanced Higher.

Scottish curriculum: 17+ subject options at all levels. Non-selective and for some a C or a D may be a real achievement. Variety pack of languages on offer – Mandarin (number of native speakers in school) plus French (from P1) and Spanish (S1) (na

All assessed for dyslexia et al on arrival. Two dedicated learning support staff, one-to-one, clusters, or co-teaching, throughout school. Costs the same as a piano lesson. Back-up for the bored and the brightest.

Music everywhere – bagpipe boxes all over the porch and hall, both girls and boys in pipe bands much in demand for charities and have entertained Princess Anne of late, played in the Angus show, the Glamis gathering, the Scottish Parliament etc. P

Mr Toley has introduced a formal school-wide traditional PE programme, which ‘through age-appropriate indoor exercises aims to improve co-ordination and mental agility both in and outside the academic classroom’. ‘We realise the importance of exe

Boarders housed in separate wings of the castle (previously staff quarters), co-ed boarding tidily arranged. International boarders mainly from Thailand, China, Spain, Nigeria, Russia. Scottish Guardian Overseas Association oversees them (and indi

Founded in the imposing Victorian Brotherton Castle (1867) in the early 1930s. Originally trad boys’ boarding prep school, set in 62 acres of woodland, which catered for ‘the folk over the hill’; now a thriving nursery (handful of real babes being

School small enough for every child to be known (cherished is a word that comes to mind if it didn’t sound so soppy), strong anti-bullying policy. Occasional gatings for wickedness, no child yet asked to leave. School is ‘bespoke, focused’.

A clear mobile phone policy is a really important part of modern schooling. This school has provided us with their policy.

Increasing number of first-time buyers. FPs supportive, strong parental input, parents will drive many miles out of their way to drop off their tinies in the nursery. Return buses for older children from Stonehaven, Edzell and Aberdeen with coache

Money matters ‘under control’, up to 100 per cent bursaries (and extra help if necessary); huge raft: academic, sports, rugby 7s, netball, music and pipes and drums. Sibling discount. Secondhand clothes shop. Will keep child if parents fall on har

We have visited Lathallan over the years and met no fewer than six heads. Two (or was it three?) heads ago, the brave decision was made to expand, on a year-by-year basis, to become a fully fledged school, with Highers and Advanced Highers and all