It’s the last week of term, with our professional course students all set to graduate on Saturday.

Guest of honour at the graduation will be Martin Whitfield MP, member of parliament for the East Lothian constituency.

This week has seen our public exhibition and sale of work at Greyfriars Kirk in the heart of old Edinburgh.

It’s a fantastic and atmospheric interior space that is perfect for exhibiting the many wonderful pieces of furniture that our students have made.

It’s also a place of some history, built on the site of a pre-Reformation Franciscan monastery.

That explains its name because the friars wore grey robes.

Mary Queen of Scots granted the site to Edinburgh’s town council as a burial ground.

The graveyard, the burial place of Greyfriars Bobby, the faithful Skye Terrier, is still partially bordered by the Flodden Wall.

Completed in 1560, it was built to protect the city from English invaders.

Inside the church is a reminder of another piece of history.

To the left of the alter flies a Stars and Stripes flag.

The American connection is that the present church was consecrated on Christmas Day 1620.

That’s the same day as the Mayflower, carrying the first settlers, landed in what would become Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The flag was presented to the church in 1970 by the US Consul in Edinburgh, and was previously flown at the White House.

This Friday, 14th June, the school is hosting an Open Evening and sale of work (Myreside Grange, Cockles Brae, Haddington EH41 4JA) from 6pm to 8pm, and an Open Day on Saturday 15th June (10am to 4pm).  Everyone welcome!

Pictured: Two of our American students, Heather Jones and Christian Burt, underneath the flag.