LORETTONIAN sisters and daughters of Old Lorettonians will become
things of the past after one of Britain's most distinguished independent
schools confirmed yesterday that it is to go fully co-educational.
Until now, girls have been able to gain entry only to the sixth form,
for 16 to 18-year-olds, at Loretto School in Musselburgh, Midlothian.
From September next year, however, they will be able to attend the
Nippers junior school for boys aged eight to 13, and compete for places
in the upper school at 13, an entry age which has been the preserve of
boys.
Boarding fees for the upper school are #10,575 a year and #8175 for
the Nippers. Day fees are respectively #7050 and #5451 a year. There are
310 upper school pupils and 75 nippers.
The Loretto headmaster, the Rev. Norman Drummond, said yesterday that
the school was answering a demand from parents to educate their
daughters as well as their sons.
Boarding schools throughout Britain have suffered because of the
impact of the recession on parental incomes but Mr Drummond said the
decision had not been taken for economic reasons.
In a letter to parents and former pupils, he explains: ''Since the sad
closure last summer of Oxenfoord Castle School, where so many
Lorettonian sisters and daughters of Old Lorettonians were educated over
the years, we have come under increasing pressure to consider making
Loretto fully co-educational from the Nippers onwards.''
Present and future Loretto parents would, says Mr Drummond, like their
daughters to benefit as much as their sons from an all-round education
at the school.
The school's governors had concluded that ''this is now the best and
most natural way forward in preparing our young Lorettonians for an
increasingly co-educational world beyond school.''
Mr Drummond says the school has been ''very fortunate'' in sustaining
record boarding numbers while not becoming too large. However, to meet
the co-educational challenge, the school would be enlarged to provide
accommodation for girl boarders aged 13 and over, while the two Nipper
boarding houses would be refurbished to house boys and girls separately.
''Those of us who know Loretto and have its best interests at heart
will recognise that we have been mightily blessed over the years. We now
move with confidence into a new and challenging phase of the school's
development and look forward to that constant and continuing level of
support from Loretto Families and Old Lorettonians which has so
characterised our history,'' concludes Mr Drummond.
The school is described in the Equitable Schools Book guide to
independent secondaries as one of the most distinguished in Britain.
Among its former pupils are former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman
Lamont, Tory MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, the Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser
of Carmyllie, United Biscuits chairman Lord Laing, and former world
motor racing champion Jim Clark.
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