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WHEN Queen
Victoria School was founded by public subscription by the people of Scotland, the War Office, now Ministry of Defence, entered
into agreement with the then Secretary of State that it should be maintained in perpetuity- Reassuring words
for any school!
Yet no institution
deserves perpetuity without purpose. Others have written of the original objectives of QVS's foundation and of the needs it has served and
continues to serve. Nevertheless, it is
the future development of the school and the role it will play in Scotland - for its
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pupils, for Scottish Service families and as part of Scotland's national life as a living national memorial - that will matter most in the years to come.
In 1986 Her Majesty's Commissioners, the
School's governing body, sought the advice of HM Inspectorate on the
future development
of the School. Their
Report was to the point: whatever the School's past and current academic successes and achievements, the size of the School Roll - 250 from the beginning, 270 maximum now - it was too small to provide, in the long term, a sufficient breadth of subjects,
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courses, staffing and facilities, to meet the curriculum development and course options that are to be available to all secondary pupils in Scottish education as it continues to evolve through the '90s and into the 21st Century.
Their recommendations have been accepted by the School's governing body: that the School roll should be increased to about 370, that the boarding facilities should be further modernised and extended, and in so doing not only would the teaching facilities be increased but the
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By Julian D.
Hankinson,
Headmaster
criteria for pupil entry should be re-examined.
The MoD now has
before it a feasibility study on
how best the estate
of "campus" might
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be utilised to build new Boarding Houses and additional teaching areas. Possibly with the opening of the Dunblane By-Pass in late 1990, there will be some opportunity for additional ground to meet future demands for pitches - additional to the new Sports Hall
currently sought. Expansions on these lines will allow the School to approach its Centenary in 2008 with a confidence that it will offer education, boarding and extra- curricular opportunities (the Hidden Curriculum), all of a high standard.
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In achieving an expanded pupil roll of 370, the Commissioners also
concluded that part of that increase should probably include girls. This was not entirely out of respect for some form of equal opportunity, but rather a serious recognition of the need to introduce co-education - something the School's founding Committee could not have countenanced.
Yet, co-education is the norm, and Queen Victoria School, Dunblane, always believing itself to be unique and special, should not be so unique in the 21 st Century as perhaps to be the only boy’s
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boarding school. Equally, staff recognise the intrinsic benefits of co-education - and the boys surely would welcome it. The School's Future, however, should not be only of the new. Just as it remains Scotland's memorial to Queen Victoria, so will it continue to preserve the best of its past traditions and ceremonial. We will cherish and maintain our pride in the Sovereign's Colour, our special
Ceremonial Parades, the Pipes and Drums, and Highland Dancing. Queen Victoria School has had a proud past and will
look forward to a fine future.
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