St Margaret’s junior school is part of our wider school community and as such has excellent links with both the nursery school and the senior school. Many of our 1 Junior girls have been pupils in our nursery and so are very familiar with the school. This makes for a smooth transition from one stage of the school to another. All of our new junior pupils are invited to spend time with us during the summer term. Our junior pupils are welcomed at an induction afternoon in June, and in August they quickly settle into the St Margaret’s family where older girls are often on hand to help them. Friendships are quickly established and it is not long before everyone knows everyone else.

Learn more about A typical day in the Junior School.

The junior school places great emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, developing team-working skills and making use of the safe, enclosed outdoor space available within our school grounds. In line with Curriculum for Excellence we ensure our girls gain both knowledge and understanding of their learning, with a number of specialist teachers to deliver music, drama, PE, French, and art and design. We are fortunate that older girls receive lessons from senior school colleagues and so are very familiar with a number of senior school teachers even before they enter senior school. This also helps ensure a smooth transition into I Senior. Education is more than the learning in the classrooms, and we have a wide range of extra-curricular clubs on offer to the girls, they enjoy a wide range of day trips within Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and further afield – all linked to their curricular learning. These have included train trips, museum and theatre trips, visits to castles and stately homes and trips to the beach and woods.

We consider the education of our girls to be a three-way process with girls, teachers and parents all playing a part in it. Girls are routinely encouraged to evaluate their learning and, as well as issuing reports, we welcome parents into school for parents’ evenings, information evenings, and other events designed to explain in more depth the teaching approach we use for various aspects of the curriculum.

In St Margaret’s junior school, we aim through our curricular and extracurricular activities to develop all aspects of our girls’ personalities and ensure that when they leave us for the senior school, they are hardworking, kind, caring, confident individuals who are aware of their strengths and talents and also have a good understanding of the world around them. This will stand them in good stead as they embrace the opportunities which St Margaret’s senior school has to offer.