Hazlehead Academy

Hazlehead Academy, formerly known as Central School then Aberdeen Academy, is a comprehensive secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It has five main feeder primary schools, Airyhall Primary School, Fernielea Primary School, Hazlehead Primary School, Kingsford Primary School and Countesswells Primary School - in addition to this, pupils who have been part of a Gaelic unit at Aberdeen's Gilcomstoun Primary School can transfer to Hazlehead, which offers Gaelic as part of the curriculum.

Hazlehead Academy
The back of Hazlehead Academy
Address
Groats Road

Hazlehead, Aberdeen
,
AB15 8BE

Scotland
Information
TypeSecondary school
Established1970
Local authorityAberdeen City Council
Head teacherJim Purdie [1]
Staff80
GenderCo-educational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment~1,100
HousesBruce, Craigievar, Dunecht, Greyfriars, Marischal
Colour(s)Bottle green and navy blue   
School yearsS1-S6
WebsiteHazlehead Academy

History

Hazlehead Academy is a six-year comprehensive school on the western edges of Aberdeen, adjacent to Hazlehead Park. It has a history stretching back for over 100 years. In 1901, Aberdeen School Board built Central School on the corner of Schoolhill and Belmont Street, on a site now occupied by a shopping centre named The Academy. In 1954, the school was renamed Aberdeen Academy. When the school closed, the pupils were moved to the new Hazlehead Academy.[2]

Hazlehead Academy was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 October 1970. Plans were laid towards the end of the 1950s. The education committee at the time had under consideration the reorganisation of the existing Secondary provision of 3 Senior Secondary schools and a number of Junior Secondary schools into 10 co-educational comprehensives. Hazlehead Academy would become one of these senior secondaries and then a comprehensive school.

Following the move to the new site in Groat's Road, the new buildings were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 October 1970. The current head teacher is Jim Purdie who took up post in August 2016. The school roll is around 800 pupils.

In 2012, the school was selected as the Aberdeen base for the Scottish Football Association's Performance Schools, a system devised to support the development of the best young talented footballers across the country (there are seven such schools across Scotland). As of 2018, the dedicated coach for the young players at Hazlehead is Stuart Glennie.[3]

Houses

In recent years there were five houses; Bruce (Blue), Craigievar (Green), Dunecht (Yellow), Greyfriars (White) and Marischal (Red). In 2010, Bruce house was dissolved with pupils being split among the remaining four houses but was reinstated in 2020.

Notable former pupils

References
  1. "Alphabetical list of Aberdeen City Schools". Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  2. "The Silver City Vault::Central School (Aberdeen Academy)". The Silver City Vault. Aberdeen Central Library. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  3. "JD Performance Schools: Hazlehead Academy - Aberdeen". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. McArthur, Euan (2 January 2012). "Dundee United starlet Stuart Armstrong: I want last laugh on school pal Fraser Fyvie". Daily Record. Glasgow. Retrieved 28 June 2017.

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