MUSIC
Pupils are able to take tuition on any instrument, and those of a certain experience and standard (usually achieved in about a year) join either the Junior Orchestra or Junior Concert Band (see below), which both rehearse on Tuesday afternoons for 50 minutes. In addition, there is a String Orchestra for pupils of all ages; and there are string, woodwind and brass ensembles, which provide the opportunity for playing in smaller groups. Pupils may also enrol for a weekly activity involving the use of electric keyboards; chamber music is also on offer as an activity.
Many pupils sing in the Academy Choir, about 130 strong and drawn from all the year groups in the school. There are sectional rehearsals throughout the week and the choir meets for a full rehearsal during the Monday lunchbreak. The smaller Chamber Choir rehearses four times a week before school.
There are regular opportunities for all these groups to perform. The Choir performs once in the Autumn term, leads the worship at the Carol Service and joins with the Parents' Choir in a major choral work at an outside venue in June. The Chamber Choir and the large instrumental groups also perform twice a year, in November and in May at the Queen's Hall; smaller groups are more usually heard in regular lunchtime concerts, but sometimes appear in the large-scale events as well. The Chamber Choir sings regularly at school services. From time to time there are performances outwith school contexts, including tours by the Chamber Choir, who have visited France and Germany in recent years.
We try to achieve a balance between involving as many pupils as possible in performance, and giving outstanding pupils further opportunities to develop their musicianship.
JUNIOR ORCHESTRA and CONCERT BAND
Rehearsals are structured towards preparing for at least two public performances during the year, namely the Autumn Concert in Stockbridge Parish Church and the Summer Concert in the Queen's Hall. The Orchestra and the Concert Band (for wind players) meet every Tuesday afternoon, 3.40-4.30.
With individuals' standards ranging from grade 1 to grade 5 or 6, music is carefully selected and edited by the conductor, with challenging parts given to the top players and easier ones to the less advanced. Although performances are very much the end product, rehearsals are conducted in such a way as to be pleasant and enjoyable experiences in their own right, and playing through a complete item is generally part of a rehearsal period. Sight reading is an important aspect and during the term several pieces may be played for fun without necessarily playing them in concert performances.
Playing in the Orchestra or Band helps young players with many aspects of their own playing, whilst contributing to a team effort which produces a complete musical experience. They learn the art of self discipline, concentration and commitment, and have a great sense of achievement, and much obvious enjoyment, from many rewarding concert performances.
PIPING and DRUMMING
The boys are taught blowing and fingering technique (chanter), bagpipe scale on the chanter, bagpipe notation, simple grace-notes, movements and embellishments, simple two-part tunes, finger-exercises.
More advanced work concentrates amongst other things on blowing and fingering technique (pipes), solo and ensemble pipe-playing, bagpipe-maintenance, three and four-part tunes.
Drumming
Here the boys learn the rudiments of drumming general introduction, working with drum-pads, ensemble and Pipe Band drumming, drumming notation, working with bass, tenor and snare drums.
LEARNING SUPPORT
Special extra help, for example with Homework, may be negotiated.
SCRIPTURE UNION
Meetings are held during the luch break. Please see JEM.
We are able to offer a choice of media and disciplines which, because of class size and/or timetable limitations, we cannot offer in the curriculum. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the art department provides a choice of three different craft based activities from wheel-thrown pottery, hand-built pottery, batik, silk-screen printing, sculpture, lino printing and many more. There is a relaxed atmosphere in these activities, but nevertheless much is achieved with a great deal of hard work, not to mention fun. The rewards include ceramic bowls, teapots, prints, and textiles to take home, and the growing confidence which these achievements bring. 
An introduction to amateur astronomy using simple practical exercises and videos. When conditions allow, the school‘s telescope can be used to view sunspots, stars and planets.
Scrabble sets are provided; for other games pupils supply their own boards which may be kept in school during the term. Players range from complete beginners to school champions. In the Scrabble Activity there are competitions once a term. 
Chemistry activities are held after school on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. For the junior pupils, activities range from making sherbet or giant exploding soap bubbles to making fizz bomb rockets. Many of the experiments involve groups of boys competing against each other or demonstrating their experiments to the class. The senior pupils have been synthesising indicators, dyes and pharmaceuticals. 
The chess club operates in room 25 during period 9 activities on both Tuesday and Friday. The club is open to all abilities ans age groups, with basic tuition being available for the beginner. A chess ladder is run to provide an element of competition, though the overall atmosphere of the club is informal and relaxed. The club has room for up to 20 members, and places are allocated first come first served. Tuesdays are particularly popular. Overall the club has grown in popularity, with an increasing number deciding that there are worse ways of spending an afternoon than playing chess whilst listening to the gentle strains of Classic FM. Here's our 
Several afternoons per week a computer room is open for pupils to work on activities of their own choice, which could be, for example, writing essays for other subjects using a word processor, drawing using a graphics package, programming in Pascal or Basic, developing keyboarding skills, or familiarization with available software. A teacher of computing is on hand to supervise and help. Merely playing games is not allowed.
Drama takes place on Thursdays and Fridays. In the Autumn Term it is mainly geared to rehearsing the Junior Play for performance at the beginning of December, but includes games, improvisation and other skills. Rehearsals are from 3.40 to 4.15/4.20 pm on Thursday and Friday and on some Sundays from 2.30 to 4.30 pm; there are also some early evening rehearsals..jpg)
Basic soldering and testing skills, which are introduced in Electronics lessons, are reinforced here. The pupils are then encouraged to design and build projects of their own choice.
The newly founded Eco School group at Henderson Row
has managed to achieve our main goals for this year, thanks
to many enthusiastic pupils, and teachers. We acquired a
notice board and we conducted an environmental audit of
the school to see what we do well and what still needs
to be done. One great asset is the new Biology Garden
behind the Science Centre. This has been planned to
encourage biodiversity, use solar electricity and recycle by
composting. Progress that we would like to make in the
school is the reduction of energy use, by turning off lights
and computers, and the installation of recycling facilities.
We could all reduce our carbon footprint, and decrease
congestion and pollution in Edinburgh, by walking or using
public transport instead of private cars. We decided to hold
a Green Transport Day in June, when pupils were encouraged
to come to school in an environmentally friendly way.
Before the Green Transport Day we took a survey of how
people travel to and from school. Then on the Day itself
we conducted the same survey, and were very happy to
see that there had been a significant change and that more
people had walked instead of taking the car. 3M and 4T
were awarded the prizes for the winning classes.
Then, just before the end of term, we produced our own
eye catching ‘Turn it off!’ stickers, which have now been
distributed throughout the school and are on every single
light switch, reminding us not to waste energy by using the
lights when the natural sunlight is perfectly fine. We have
made a strong start to our Eco Schools programme and we
hope that it will go from strength to strength next year.
This takes place on Thursday afternoons, from 3.45 to 5.00 for juniors. We have the services of Patsy Nicholls, one of the foremost epée coaches in Scotland, and the school has a lengthy tradition of providing members of Scotland and GB teams. Complete beginners are welcome and all kit is provided. Naturally, we hope that a proportion of those tasting the sport for the first time will persevere and become regular members of the practice. In due course, they will be encouraged to enter the range of competitions that exist. Coaching costs are shared between participants.
The chance to learn Classical Greek is offered to pupils during after-school activity periods. The programme for the year will be tailored, if possible, to suit those who wish to attend. Anyone who is coping with Latin is perfectly capable of learning Greek as well, in spite of the different alphabet (which should only take a couple of hours to master). Learning Greek provides the key to a treasure-house of magnificent literature, and it brings the additional benefits of help with the grammar and vocabulary of English and other languages, and a thorough understanding of the roots of western civilisation.
We meet every Thursday after school to make models, play "Castle Explorer" on the computer, watch videos and generally chat about History. Occasionally trips and visits are organised. In November we went to the Scottish National Gallery for an hour, looking at thepaintings as historical evidence. A series of Mother and Child paintings from 1300-1500 provided ample evidence for the main developments in Renaissance Art, whilst a selection of seventeenth century Dutch paintings gave dozens of insights into every-day life.
This activity is for anyone in Geits to Fifths, and takes place on Fridays. It includes preparing and maintaining pot plants for display, propagating and re-potting, growing plants from seed, and doing some experiments. 
Juggling is open to everyone of all abilities! No previous experience is required: beginners to experts are equally welcome. Learn to juggle with beanbags, balls, rings and c1ubs. Learn to juggle new 3-ball tricks and patterns (half-shower, tennis, chops, shower, windmill, Mills‘ mess, etc). Learn to fountain 4 balls, cascade 5 balls, and more. Learn to ”pass juggle" between two people as they do on the Mound at the Edinburgh Festival. All equipment is provided, although more experienced jugglers tend to buy some of their own.
With its wide range of throwing, groundwork, counter and combination techniques, Judo requires a great deal of mental application. Indeed, it has been described as a physical game of chess, and it is this mental stimulation, together with the controlled channelling of aggression, which helps give Judo its therapeutic effect. As a sport, Judo provides an excellent all-round physical training, developing not only general fitness and stamina, but also suppleness, something so often missing in other disciplines. Added to all this is the wonderful feeling of achievement as you progress up the grades ladder with its different coloured belts. 
The school has a 25-yard small-bore range (under the Dining Hall). 
This activity is open to Geits, Seconds and Thirds during the first two terms. It is not on offer in the Summer Term because the room is used for exams. We have three tables, and can take up to eight boys at a time. In the last session we were fortunate to have a professional coach who has helped many youngsters to compete at international level; however, this coaching does involve paying a fee of £15 an hour, or £1.84 each for a group of eight. But it is not all serious competitive work: the main aim is to let the boys enjoy themselves and learn some basic skills in the process.