About us

St. Johns is situated in the east of Edinburgh in Portobello. The school is a double stream primary with a current roll of just over 400 pupils. The school was opened on 13th December 1886 and was originally located in Bath Street.

St. John's is proud of its excellent academic record and its inclusive ethos.

It wasn't until 15th December 1926 that the school moved to its present address. The school is built on two floors and the original twelve classrooms were expected to accomodate approximately 600 pupils.

Today in St. John's the infant classes work downstairs. The classrooms are capped at 30 pupils, this allows for teachers and support staff to work with pupils in a comfortable space. The middle and upper stages work upstairs on the top corridor and two P7 classes are accomodated in the mobile classrooms in the playground. The mobile classrooms allow for a maximum of 33 pupils per class.

St. John's also provides nursery education for 3-5 year olds. The nursery runs a morning and afternoon session.

This is a view of the top corridor in our school.

The school playground has two sections, this is our outdoor basketball court. We also have a football pitch for pupils to use and a climbing frame. Originally the boys played in the playground pictured whilst the girls played on the other side of the main building. Today the 'boys' and 'girls' signs still hang above the old school entrances. Nowadays of course, all pupils have access to all parts of the playground.

The school garden is an important feature of the school and allows the children the opportunity to explore and experience nature in a learning environment. St. Johns parents and staff are comitted to providing a stimulating and attractive area for pupils of all ages to interact and learn in.

The garden is now situated in what was the girls playground. During 1940 air raid shelters were erected in the playground for those children who stayed behind in Portobello and they were used on several occassions during air raid alerts.

In the corner of the playground stands the Millennium signpost given to schools to mark the beginning of the year 2000. The signpost is a symbol of the journey St. John's has made as a school community over the last 116 years, it also points forward towards even greater achievements and success in the years that lie ahead.