Merchistonian Newsletter
March 2023
EDITION #7
30.03.23
Alumni Research
As we circulate this issue of the Merchistonian Newsletter the School is rather quiet and our Pupils & Staff are enjoying a well-deserved Easter break.
This is a hugely important aspect of our Careers Programme and a terrific way to connect our current cohort to our Alumni, whilst offering them an insight into different industry fields As always, the Lent Term is a short, but and all-important advice on their next busy one and as things start to return steps. to normality, we have had many year groups contacting us with the intention This is a very action-packed issue of of organising Reunions and rekindling the Newsletter with a lot of exciting their Merchistonian connections. news from the Club, overseas At the end of February, we had the representatives, and a little preview pleasure of welcoming back the Class on an upcoming piece of research, in of 2012 to the School and we are which Merchiston will take part. currently working with lead organisers on the 10- and 20-years Reunions for We hope you enjoy it. the Class of 2014 & 2004, coming up next year. Any year groups looking to organise a Reunion should please contact merchistonans@merchiston.co.uk - we can support you with mailshots and year group lists. Thanks to Mrs Coyne’s expert coordination, we are also welcoming an ever-increasing number of Merchistonians to the School, in the context on our Careers Café.
merchistonians@merchiston.co.uk
The International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation (ICHIRF), is hoping to collaborate with Merchiston's Alumni on a project to look at the attitudes and outcomes of previous concussions during school life. This would be in the form of an anonymised, voluntary, online questionnaire (that would only be accessible to volunteers from the Alumni)- details will be circulated via separate mailshot. A similar project has already been completed with a number of major boys’ schools in South Africa and the results have proved to be of significant medical interest. Merchiston was chosen because Scottish schools have traditionally had 2 terms of rugby, as compared to 1 term of rugby in England, and because rugby was a compulsory sport for all pupils in the past. In addition, many families and alumni have a long association with the school, which provides an added generationby-generation stream to the information, making Merchiston an ideal model for this project. The project will be coordinated by Dr Michael Turner at ICHIRF (michael@ichirf.org) and Niki Fallowfield at Merchiston