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MBE for former pupil, Hilary Alba (née Burt)

We were delighted to learn of the 2026 New Year’s Honour for former pupil Hilary Alba (née Burt) who was deputy head girl in her year, and a leaver in 1989. Hilary, Specialist Midwife in the Blossom Tree, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her exceptional contribution to community midwifery. Hilary works within a team of dedicated, specially trained midwives to support women and families experiencing, or at risk of, vulnerabilities during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Hilary has spent years advocating for some of the most vulnerable women, in a wide range of complex circumstances, including women living in deprivation, teenagers, women with learning disabilities, those living with HIV, survivors of domestic abuse, trafficked women, asylum seekers and more. Hilary has also been involved in influencing policy by taking their needs to the Scottish Government to help shape legislation. Hilary wants people to know that she “doesn’t work alone. Everything achieved has been part of a fantastic team”. Congratulations Hilary! St Margaret’s is thrilled to learn about your work and this recognition for your achievements. We will be looking out for you further in years to come. Very best wishes also as you run in this year’s Edinburgh Marathon, raising funds for AMMA birthing companions.

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Christmas wishes from the St. Margaret’s Singers

The St. Margaret’s Singers were sad not to be able to have a Carol Service for you all this year. With the Reid Memorial Church due to close for worship on Dec. 28, 2025, it was not possible to arrange our usual carol service this year. However, we are pleased to confirm that the choir did get together, informally, with Mr Cranston, on Monday Dec. 15, to sing many of our most favourite carols. All the St. Margaret’s pupils and former staff were firmly in our thoughts and wishes. It was a happy celebration of music and friendship, which for many spans more than 5 decades! It is our firm hope to be able to sing for you all again next year, and we will let you know here, once future plans are confirmed. In the meantime, we wanted to share a few pictures from our December 2025 carol singing rendezvous. With all our very best wishes to you and yours, for Christmas and 2026.

 

A new location for our St. Margaret’s School archives at St. George’s

When school closed in 2010, we were very fortunate to be able to save a number of significant items relative to school history. Initially these were stored in a secure, paid storage facility for a few years, until a very generous gesture was received from St. George’s School, to relocate the St. Margaret’s School archive to a small cupboard location at St. George’s, Garscube Terrace, Edinburgh. A number of former pupils and staff have visited the original archive over past years, and it was delightful to see joy in people’s faces, as they relived happy times, through memories of uniform, photographs, Chronicles/Newsletters, trophies and much more. The archive until recently, looked a bit like this – safe and secure, but not very easy to view/find items:

In 2025, St. George’s extended their own school archive, and as part of this development, a new location for the St. Margaret’s archive has very kindly been created for us, in a side-room. It is early days, and the new space is still being developed, but we wanted to ensure that you are informed of plans and progress. A few fps (Jane Forbes, Jill Bryce, Cecile Redmond) met at St George’s in November 2025 to start the process of developing the new space, with support of St. George’s archivist, Margaret Imlah. The hope is that once completed, the new archive location will enable you, our former pupils and staff, to visit and view the contents, at your leisure. So far, shelving units have been purchased and installed, at a cost of £335 (paid for from remnants of the FP Association funds, which are also used to maintain this website). The archive contents are in the process of being sorted and arranged on the new shelves, so that the contents will become self explanatory for visitors, and items should be much easier to locate in the future. Here are a few photos of the work to date:

We plan to visit again in January 2026 to progress the development work. Once complete, we will update you here, and we will share details of how and when you can visit. Watch this space – more coming soon…… Our sincere thanks go to to St. George’s School for their continued support. 

“Equinox!” A Spring Concert – Friday March 21, 7pm, Rosslyn Chapel

The St. Margaret’s Singers, under the direction of John Cranston, and accompanist Jamie Lang, are absolutely delighted to have been invited to sing in Rosslyn Chapel in their spring concert, “Equinox”, on Friday March, 21st, from 7-8pm. Tickets, priced £15, are available on Eventbrite.  The concert is a musical celebration of the arrival of spring, and will be filled with joy. We hope to see you there!

St. Margaret’s Chapel Guild – ‘Meet the Margarets’ Edinburgh 900 Service

A service to celebrate St. Margaret was hosted by members of the St. Margaret’s Chapel Guild at the Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8BN, on St. Margaret’s Day, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024 at 11.30am. The Guild look after the fixtures and fittings at the St Margaret’s Chapel at the Castle, and have been placing fresh flowers there every week since 1942. The St. Margaret’s Chapel was commissioned by King David I to commemorate his mother, Queen Margaret (later St. Margaret).

This year marks the 900th anniversary of King David I, granting royal burgh status to the city of Edinburgh, and a series of events and celebrations are planned to mark the occasion. The service after the Guild’s AGM on the morning of Saturday Nov. 16, took at the Canongate Kirk, and the Executive Committee very kindly invited the St Margaret’s Singers to take part in it. A recording is now available for anyone who was unable to be there in person.

More information about the event is available here.

Prestigious Dance School – Ingrid Cochrane

Its wonderful to be able to share good news regarding an FP who was in nursery when the school closed. Ingrid Cochrane, now 17 years old, has been accepted into one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world – the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. Ingrid is very excited as the Joffrey Ballet School is her dream place to train and study. Ingrid is from Dalkeith and wants to make the town proud. You can follow Ingrid’s journey on Instagram.

Your former school is proud too Ingrid, and we wish you every possible best wishes for the future!

1984 leavers – June 15, 2024 reunion!

At the Carol Service in Craigmillar Park Church in December 2023, six of the 1984 leavers met and started to hatch a cunning plan! They realised that in 2024, it was 40 years since they left St. Margaret’s!

(from left: Emma Dunlop, Deirdre Moir, Karen Gillies, Christine Evans, Claire Simpson, Jo Cameron)

The Class of 1984 had an incredible reunion on Saturday June 15, 2024. It was quite a shock to realise it’s been 40 years (even longer for those who left before the end of sixth year) since many of us last saw each other. Name badges with maiden names were a must for some, but honestly, most people hadn’t changed a bit! We even had photos to prove it! A panama hat, beret and tie from those days have stood the test of time, but what truly endured were the friendships and memories. We reminisced about our antics, teachers, and some things that might be best forgotten. We even sang the school song (although it was high for some)! Huge thanks to Rhona (McNicol) and Christine (Evans) for organizing the evening. Let’s make sure we don’t wait so long to do this again!

Class of 1959/1960 reunion

It is always delightful to hear from former pupils of their reunions and life long friendships from school days! Vivienne Dickson (nee Richards) shared the news that on September 1, eight pupils who left school in 1959/60 met for lunch. They have met regularly over the past 40+ years and are very grateful for the strong friendship bonds of their school days. Many of their class have kept in touch and have met regularly for the past 40 years. We look forward to seeing many more of these happy stories! Please continue to share with us 

Edinburgh Castle – flowers in St. Margaret’s Chapel arranged by former pupils

As members of the St Margaret’s Chapel Guild, the St. Margaret’s Singers are  honoured to be invited to visit St Margaret’s Chapel in August each year (the highest point in Edinburgh Castle, and the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh), to create a special flower arrangement, reflecting our former school colours. On August 29th, Class of 1983 friends Jill, Linda, Hilary and Cecile represented school and the choir, and shared the joy and admiration of Linda’s expertise in flower arranging. The weather could not have been better and the views were breath-taking!

Class of 1983 Reunion

What a lovely time was had when the leavers of 1983 gathered at Craigmillar Park on June 3, 2023, in the church hall where they sat their exams all those years ago, to celebrate long friendships and memories of great times at St. Margaret’s School, Newington. Former pupils travelled from as far as USA, London and the Western Isles to be together. And of course, none of it could have happened without the great co-ordination and catering provided via Diane Laing, and special “Fortiter Vivamus” cup cakes, courtesy of Pamela Jefferson (née Miller). Hope you enjoy the photos and the challenge of trying to remember who is who!