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Loretto School
Loretto School, founded in 1827, is a private boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18. The campus occupies 85 acres (34 hectares) in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. Langhorne came from Crosby Ravensworth in Westmorland. He named the school for Loretto House, his then home, which was itself named for a medieval chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, which had formerly stood on the site of the school. The school was later taken over by his son, also named Thomas Langhorne. The last link with the Langhorne family was Thomas' son John, who was a master at Loretto from 1890 to 1897, and later headmaster at John Watson's Institution. Loretto was later under the headmastership of Dr. Hely Hutchinson Almond from 1862 to 1903.
In the 1950s the school increased the accommodation in science laboratories, established arts as a part of the curriculum and introduced the chapel service as part of the daily school life.
The school originally accepted only boys, but in 1981 girls joined the sixth form and in 1995 the third form, so making the school fully co-educational by 1997.
In 2001 the film director Don Boyd published an article in The Observer detailing his systematic sexual abuse by a teacher in the school in the 1960s. The revelation led to further allegations about the teacher from other former pupils and subsequent calls for the teacher's prosecution. The teacher, then 79 years old, was charged, but the case was dropped on the grounds of his ill health. The teacher later died. In 2017, it was announced that the school would be investigated as part of Lady Smith's inquiry into child sexual abuse.
In 2021, Boyd told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that the late Guy Ray-Hills, a French teacher at Loretto, raped him in 1958 when Boyd was 10 years old. Loretto School admitted to the Inquiry that pupils had been abused by one of its teachers in the 1950s and 1960s. Angus Bell, a former pupil, gave evidence and later sued the school for £1 million for extensive sexual, emotional and physical abuse suffered in the 1990s mostly at the hands of older pupils under the "fagging" system. David Stock, a teacher, also gave evidence and said he informed the Loretto school authorities of the abuse but was targeted, forced to resign and sign a non-disclosure agreement. The Inquiry, which spanned a period from 1945 to 2021, published its findings in April 2023, upon which Loretto offered an unreserved apology and deep regret for abuse experienced by children under its care, at both the junior and senior schools.
In 2010 the school was sued by an employee for sex discrimination: the employee felt she had been treated unfavourably following the announcement of her pregnancy. Judge Stewart Watt rejected the sexual discrimination claim asserting that 'there appears to have been no ulterior motive to make [the employee] redundant during the review of the department; the only motive was to try to better organise the school', but he stated that the school had breached maternity regulations. The claimant was awarded £8,000 for loss of earnings and emotional stress.
In 2013, Loretto School was informed by the Scottish Charity Regulator that it did not qualify for charitable status for failing to provide sufficient public benefit. Subsequently, the school modified its means-tested bursary provision and has remained a registered charity ever since.
Loretto School
Loretto School, founded in 1827, is a private boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18. The campus occupies 85 acres (34 hectares) in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. Langhorne came from Crosby Ravensworth in Westmorland. He named the school for Loretto House, his then home, which was itself named for a medieval chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, which had formerly stood on the site of the school. The school was later taken over by his son, also named Thomas Langhorne. The last link with the Langhorne family was Thomas' son John, who was a master at Loretto from 1890 to 1897, and later headmaster at John Watson's Institution. Loretto was later under the headmastership of Dr. Hely Hutchinson Almond from 1862 to 1903.
In the 1950s the school increased the accommodation in science laboratories, established arts as a part of the curriculum and introduced the chapel service as part of the daily school life.
The school originally accepted only boys, but in 1981 girls joined the sixth form and in 1995 the third form, so making the school fully co-educational by 1997.
In 2001 the film director Don Boyd published an article in The Observer detailing his systematic sexual abuse by a teacher in the school in the 1960s. The revelation led to further allegations about the teacher from other former pupils and subsequent calls for the teacher's prosecution. The teacher, then 79 years old, was charged, but the case was dropped on the grounds of his ill health. The teacher later died. In 2017, it was announced that the school would be investigated as part of Lady Smith's inquiry into child sexual abuse.
In 2021, Boyd told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that the late Guy Ray-Hills, a French teacher at Loretto, raped him in 1958 when Boyd was 10 years old. Loretto School admitted to the Inquiry that pupils had been abused by one of its teachers in the 1950s and 1960s. Angus Bell, a former pupil, gave evidence and later sued the school for £1 million for extensive sexual, emotional and physical abuse suffered in the 1990s mostly at the hands of older pupils under the "fagging" system. David Stock, a teacher, also gave evidence and said he informed the Loretto school authorities of the abuse but was targeted, forced to resign and sign a non-disclosure agreement. The Inquiry, which spanned a period from 1945 to 2021, published its findings in April 2023, upon which Loretto offered an unreserved apology and deep regret for abuse experienced by children under its care, at both the junior and senior schools.
In 2010 the school was sued by an employee for sex discrimination: the employee felt she had been treated unfavourably following the announcement of her pregnancy. Judge Stewart Watt rejected the sexual discrimination claim asserting that 'there appears to have been no ulterior motive to make [the employee] redundant during the review of the department; the only motive was to try to better organise the school', but he stated that the school had breached maternity regulations. The claimant was awarded £8,000 for loss of earnings and emotional stress.
In 2013, Loretto School was informed by the Scottish Charity Regulator that it did not qualify for charitable status for failing to provide sufficient public benefit. Subsequently, the school modified its means-tested bursary provision and has remained a registered charity ever since.