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Firrhill High School

Coordinates: 55°54′52.51″N 3°14′10.86″W / 55.9145861°N 3.2363500°W / 55.9145861; -3.2363500
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Firrhill high school
Address
Map
9 Oxgangs Road North

Edinburgh

Scotland
Information
Typestate secondary
MottoAir carraig
Established1960
Head teacherGraham Hamilton
Staff121 approx
Enrolment1123 approx[1]
GradesS1 to S6
Websitehttp://firrhillhigh.org/

Firrhill High School is a secondary school located in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The school was established in 1960, being unveiled by the city’s lord provost. The school has around 1123 students with a teaching staff roll of around 121 ref>http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00420794.xlsx</ref> The school serves areas such as: Oxgangs, Colinton Mains, Colinton Village, Bonaly, Fairmilehead, Buckstone, Craiglockhart and Longstone.[2]

In 2001, the school underwent drastic refurbishing work, with several run-down buildings dating from the 1960s being either refurbished or demolished with new buildings being built in their place. This was completed in mid-2005.[3] The school was refurbished by a private finance initiative.

Headteacher and SMT

The current headteacher is Graham Hamilton. Nick McClellan, Julie Statham and Ross Isdale are the deputy head teachers.[4]

Houses

Pupils at the school are separated into four groups, known as "houses". The houses are:

  • Allermuir
  • Braidlaw
  • Caerketton
  • Darroch (2017-)

The Houses are named after three of the Pentland hills, to the south of Edinburgh and in sight of the school. As of 2017 Student ties have changed to remove individual house colours, in place a plain blue tie with logo centered, S6 Pupils have additional gold stripes on ties.

Notable former pupils and teachers

  • Robbie Foy, formerly of Liverpool F.C. and Scunthorpe United FC, is a former pupil of the school. Foy, Sives and Vita represented Scotland Schoolboys in 2000 and 2001[5] respectively whilst at the school[6] and all three played in the Victory Shield.
  • The Scottish actress and comedian Elaine C Smith was a drama teacher at the school in the early 1980s.[7]
  • The pianist and composer Stuart Mitchell who discovered the musical symbols in Rosslyn Chapel and has been celebrated in the Classic FM Hall of Fame for 15 years was a former pupil at Firrhill High School.[8]
  • Margot Wells the elite athletics coach, and wife to 100m Gold-medallist Allan Wells, taught Physical Education at Firrhill in the late 1970s

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education

On 13 June 2006, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education reported on the school.[9] The inspectors identified as key strengths "The coherent and progressive programme of enterprise activities from S1-S6" and "The high standards of attainment at S5/S6". The report also commended the strong direction given by the Head Teacher Karen Prophet.

The Report also commended the condition of the school saying that the school was well-designed and had good specialist teaching areas and had good social areas for pupils.

HM Inspectorate of Education issued a follow-up report on 22 April 2008.[10] The report identified "good" or "very good" progress regarding all the items identified for action in the 2006 inspection report, and found no need to conduct further follow-up inspections.

References

  1. ^ http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00420794.xlsx
  2. ^ Catchment Area Map
  3. ^ Written Answer, Scottish Parliament
  4. ^ "Firrhill High School SMT". Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Capital starlets to take off on a trip of a lifetime". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 9 February 2002.
  7. ^ "Elaine C Smith Comedy Instead Of Teaching". Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Composer cracks Rosslyn's musical code".
  9. ^ Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report on Firrhill High School, 13 June 2006 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report on Firrhill High School, 22 April 2008 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine

55°54′52.51″N 3°14′10.86″W / 55.9145861°N 3.2363500°W / 55.9145861; -3.2363500