Private school hires specialist firm in search for new head teacher
They have hired a specialist firm to identify candidates, with applications due in by May 15.
The school has been opened since 1870 and was named after its founder, Sir William Fettes. It was originally an all-boys school before becoming co-ed in 1983.
It currently has 720 students and 300 staff and is the only school in Scotland to offer the option of A-Levels or International Baccalaureate in the Sixth Form.
It will increase its offering next year with a pre-prep to offer spaces to children from the age of five, with it currently having spaces starting from the age of seven.
The Rt Hon Lady Morag Wise, Chair of the Governors, said: 'Helen has selflessly devoted herself to Fettes for over 30 years – 19 in a senior leadership role and latterly seven as Head.
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'She has made a significant contribution to the success of this place and her vision for Fettes has steered a path that ensures our students leave Fettes knowing themselves, looking out for others and ready to make a positive mark on their rapidly changing world.
'We are now beginning the work of securing a new Head in partnership with Perrett Laver to ensure we have someone worthy of leading this great school. The Governing Body is seeking a visionary educationalist who will bring energy and experience to the role of Head from September 2026. This is a rare and career-defining opportunity for an outstanding leader.'
Helen Harrison said: 'This place; the students and our staff mean the world to me, and it will always be the honour of my life to have led Fettes College and this community. I am immensely proud of our achievements, of seeing my vision for Fettes come to life, ground-breaking facilities under construction; and most importantly our students fulfilling their potential.
'However, by Founder's Day next year it will be the right time to pass on this privilege to the next Head. Until that time it is business as usual and I will continue to give this job my absolute all.'
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Scotsman
25-04-2025
- Scotsman
Edinburgh's Fettes College begins search for new headteacher
Watch more of our videos on and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now A recruitment process has begun for a new headteacher at Fettes College in Edinburgh, with Helen Harrison announcing her retirement from the role next year. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The school has commissioned a specialist firm, Perrett Laver, to help identify candidates, with applications due by May 15. Helen Harrison has been Head of Fettes College since June 2019. The departing headteacher said: 'This place; the students and our staff mean the world to me, and it will always be the honour of my life to have led Fettes College and this community. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I am immensely proud of our achievements, of seeing my vision for Fettes come to life, ground-breaking facilities under construction; and most importantly our students fulfilling their potential. 'However, by Founder's Day next year it will be the right time to pass on this privilege to the next head. Until that time it is business as usual and I will continue to give this job my absolute all.' Named after its founder, Sir William Fettes, the school opened in 1870 and has around 720 students with over 300 staff. It is the only school in Scotland to offer the option of A-Levels or International Baccalaureate in the Sixth Form and a top ten IB School in the UK. Outgoing Fettes College headteacher Helen Harrison. | Big Partnership Click here to sign up 👇 Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Rt Hon Lady Morag Wise, chair of the Governors, said: 'Helen has selflessly devoted herself to Fettes for over 30 years – 19 in a senior leadership role and latterly seven as headteacher. 'She has made a significant contribution to the success of this place and her vision for Fettes has steered a path that ensures our students leave Fettes knowing themselves, looking out for others and ready to make a positive mark on their rapidly changing world. 'We are now beginning the work of securing a new headteacher in partnership with Perrett Laver to ensure we have someone worthy of leading this great school. 'The Governing Body is seeking a visionary educationalist who will bring energy and experience to the role of head from September 2026. This is a rare and career-defining opportunity for an outstanding leader.' Although it currently serves young people aged 7 – 18, from next academic year Fettes will also open a Pre-Prep school and offer places to children from the age of five.
The Herald Scotland
25-04-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Private school hires specialist firm in search for new head teacher
They have hired a specialist firm to identify candidates, with applications due in by May 15. The school has been opened since 1870 and was named after its founder, Sir William Fettes. It was originally an all-boys school before becoming co-ed in 1983. It currently has 720 students and 300 staff and is the only school in Scotland to offer the option of A-Levels or International Baccalaureate in the Sixth Form. It will increase its offering next year with a pre-prep to offer spaces to children from the age of five, with it currently having spaces starting from the age of seven. The Rt Hon Lady Morag Wise, Chair of the Governors, said: 'Helen has selflessly devoted herself to Fettes for over 30 years – 19 in a senior leadership role and latterly seven as Head. Read More Hundreds of University of Dundee staff back strike action over threat to jobs 'She has made a significant contribution to the success of this place and her vision for Fettes has steered a path that ensures our students leave Fettes knowing themselves, looking out for others and ready to make a positive mark on their rapidly changing world. 'We are now beginning the work of securing a new Head in partnership with Perrett Laver to ensure we have someone worthy of leading this great school. The Governing Body is seeking a visionary educationalist who will bring energy and experience to the role of Head from September 2026. This is a rare and career-defining opportunity for an outstanding leader.' Helen Harrison said: 'This place; the students and our staff mean the world to me, and it will always be the honour of my life to have led Fettes College and this community. I am immensely proud of our achievements, of seeing my vision for Fettes come to life, ground-breaking facilities under construction; and most importantly our students fulfilling their potential. 'However, by Founder's Day next year it will be the right time to pass on this privilege to the next Head. Until that time it is business as usual and I will continue to give this job my absolute all.'
The Independent
10-02-2025
- The Independent
Archive project aims to protect the legacy of Afghanistan's female artists
A student at a Scottish university is leading a project to ensure work produced by Afghanistan's female artists can continue to be shared with the world amid efforts from the country's rulers to suppress them. Mahtab Karami, who attends the University of Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, is creating a digital archive of artwork created by women over the last 20 years so it can always be viewed no matter what happens to the physical pieces. Artistic expression by female artists has been severely restricted by the Taliban since it regained control of the country in 2021. Many drawings, paintings and other artworks have reportedly been destroyed or removed from public display as a result. To ensure pieces produced by women can continue to be viewed by people all over the world, Ms Karami has started to collate photographs and documentation of more than 150 artworks. Many of them (Afghan women) want to show the world that they exist and have something to say. This project gives their work an opportunity to be seen and to endure Mahtab Karami, student It is part of a wider research project she is conducting to establish comparisons between the work of Afghan artists and female counterparts in other Middle Eastern states. 'This is a very contemporary issue,' said Ms Karami. 'Art can be used as a form of resistance and female artists are still trying to find ways to navigate their careers given the restrictions they face. 'In other countries in the Middle East there are established ways of doing this, but this is less clearly defined in current day Afghanistan.' Following the removal of the Taliban by coalition forces in 2001, nearly two decades of reform had allowed female artists to develop their careers and display work publicly in much of the country. But the withdrawal of coalition forces in 2021 and the subsequent return to power by the Taliban have seen these reforms rapidly eroded. Education for girls has also been curtailed, with Unesco reporting 1.4 million girls have been deliberately deprived of schooling in the past three years. 'Female artists were flourishing before the Taliban,' said Ms Kamani. 'However, women living in rural areas would still have faced issues if they had wanted to show off their art, even before the return of the Taliban, and it is important to acknowledge that. 'But now women and girls are banned from attending schools. The Taliban do not care about providing a pathway for them to grow as artists. Because they are restricted from having a normal life, they cannot begin to think about creating artwork.' Ms Kamani's research, which is being supported with funding from the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, will also compare the work of Afghanistan's female artists with those from Iran, Iraq and Egypt. She will use her connections in the art world to interview some of the artists and bring together photographs and other information to comprehensively detail each piece featured in her archive, as well as canvass online networks for previously created records. The archive will also incorporate present day work produced by Afghan artists living in exile. The ultimate aim of the project is to establish both the similarities and differences in themes and style between the artists of each nation. Ms Kamani hopes to catalogue around 500 pieces of art in total, providing a permanent record of the work of artists who face significant hurdles in showcasing their talent. Her research will be conducted under the supervision of Duncan of Jordanstone's Dr Helen Gorrill, a leading figure in the role of gender in contemporary art. Ms Kamani said: 'I understand how women in Afghanistan may feel – frightened and scared – but many will also want to use art as a form of resistance to express themselves. 'Many of them want to show the world that they exist and have something to say. This project gives their work an opportunity to be seen and to endure. 'Interviewing the artists will allow people to learn more about their situation and what they face in Afghanistan. 'It is vital that these people and their paintings do not disappear from the history of art.'
