Parents have said they will help organise prom at Musselburgh Grammar School for S6 students to enjoy a ‘rite of passage’.
12:18, 08 Dec 2025Updated 12:18, 08 Dec 2025
Parents will organise this year’s S6 prom(Image: Getty )
Teachers at a Scots highschool have refused to organise prom after pupils’ boozy antics at the event last year. Students at Musselburgh Grammar School were found to have been drinking alcohol before and during the dance in June.
In a letter sent to parents, head teacher Jodie Hannan said staff had decided they would not organise or supervise the school prom.
She added it was “obvious a number of pupils had consumed alcohol” and by the time of the bash, S6 pupils had officially left school and were no longer under their “jurisdiction”.
Musselburgh Grammar School
The letter read: “I have regrettably decided that this position is no longer tenable and our school staff can no longer take any responsibility for organising or supervising prom.
“You may be aware that the decision was made two years ago to make all East Lothian school proms alcohol-free, ie, ‘dry’. This followed significant concerns raised by teaching staff and other headteachers, and shared by me, about excessive alcohol being consumed at prom, impacting the behaviour and wellbeing of the young people, and consequently placing supervising staff in a very difficult professional position.
“I attended last year’s prom in a supervisory capacity and, despite all reasonable checks being carried out, it was obvious that a number of pupils had consumed alcohol before attending and continued to do so over the course of the evening, with venue staff finding large numbers of both full and discarded bottles.”
As well as informing parents, the announcement was made to the PTA and pupils on the prom committee.
It is understood this year’s S6 prom will still go ahead after unhappy parents branded the event a “rite of passage”. The bash will be organised and supervised by parents, instead of teachers, for the first time in June.
Speaking on behalf of a parents group, Susan Ryan told the East Lothian Courier: “As a parent group, we understand the school’s position but we feel that prom, like the September residential, is an important rite of passage for the S6s.
“Many of them have been looking forward to prom since they moved into the senior phase of school.
“This year’s S6s missed out on primary school leavers activities due to Covid so we didn’t want them to miss out on this opportunity.
“We parents got together to make this happen for our young people. The S6s have already been talking about fundraising and we plan to reach out to local businesses and the community for support to keep the costs as low as possible for families.“