Holyrood Secondary School

Holyrood Secondary School is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south-side of Glasgow, Scotland. It is notable for its comparatively large secondary school enrollment, having had over 2,000 pupils and 150 teaching staff. Holyrood is located near Crosshill railway station, Hampden Park, A728 and the new M74 motorway.

Holyrood Secondary School
Picture of Badge
Address
100 Dixon Road

Glasgow
,
Greater Glasgow
,
G42 8AU

Scotland
Coordinates55.8325°N 4.25194°W / 55.8325; -4.25194
Information
TypeComprehensive
MottoLatin: Hoc vince
("By this conquer!")
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1936
Head teacherSharon Watson[1]
Staff200
GenderCo-educational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment2,170
LanguageEnglish
Hours in school day6 h 5 min / 6 h 55 min
Colour(s)    Blue, grey and white
Websitehttp://www.holyrood-sec.glasgow.sch.uk

Officially opened in 1936, the school's enrolment rapidly expanded amid the closure of several surrounding secondary schools in the city's south-side. To combat the surge in pupils attending Holyrood, the school underwent several refurbishments, most recently in the early 2000s which included the Holyrood Sports Centre. The school can accommodate more than 420 new 1st Year starts, the biggest intake of any secondary school in Scotland.[2]

In 2019, Holyrood RC Secondary School was ranked the 82nd best performing school in Scotland by the Scottish Government: 43 per cent of pupils attained five or more awards at SCQF Level 6, the equivalent of Highers.

History

The school was founded in 1936 and originally functioned as a senior secondary with entry dependent on a high mark in the "qualifying examination". In 1971 the exam was abolished and all Scottish state schools became equal in terms of status, curriculum offered and examinations taken.

In 2012, the school was the subject of a BBC television documentary series titled High School.

In 2017, former pupil Joe McFadden visited Holyrood during his appearance on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. The school was featured in an episode, as McFadden and his dance partner Katya Jones showcased a dance in front of the pupils.

In 2020 Holyrood, along with all other Scottish schools, closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SQA for the first time in 130 years cancelled all exams.

Facilities
Rear entrance of the school, on Albert Road

The original school building, designed by the firm of John Burnet, Son & Dick, was built in 1936, and is now protected as a category B listed building.[3]

Over the years, the school has had renovation and additional blocks purposely built, known as the "new block" and "I.T. Wing". The new block also features new classrooms for English, religious education and modern languages. The school features over 20 purpose built I.T. rooms and also hosts three drama studios, complete with sound and lighting effects. It has several wood work and metal workshops as well as modern laboratories for physics, chemistry and biology. Nearly all classrooms within the school are fully equipped with smart boards and projectors.

In 2001, Glasgow city council commissioned a modern sports centre to be built directly next to Holyrood, known as Holyrood Sports Centre. The school has exclusive access during the day to all the facilities, with the centre being open at night to the public. The sports centre features a full size synthetic floodlit pitch, three seven-a-side pitches, changing rooms, inside gym hall and shower accommodation. In addition, an open plan gym which can be split into two separate halls, a dance studio and a modern extensive fitness suite. These facilities are used by all pupils for physical education and are an addition to the swimming pool and gymnastics hall.[4]

In 2012, the school was selected as the Glasgow 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 Holyrood is Joe McBride.[5]

Year groups

Year groups

Year Deputy Head Pastoral care team Capacity (estimated)[6]
First Year (S1) Vacant[7] Miss Cook 381
Miss Gray
Second Year (S2) Ms Dastey[7] Mrs Darroch 377
Miss Campbell
Third Year (S3) Mr Quinn[7] Mr McIlkenny 357
Mrs McMahon
Miss Wilson
Fourth Year (S4) Mr Roy[7] Mrs Boyle 379
Ms Madden
Fifth Year (S5) Ms Gardner[7] Mrs Darroch 290
Mrs Quinn
Sixth Year (S6) Mr Docherty[7] Miss Campbell 241

Malawi partnership

The school has established a close partnership with Mary's Meals, which saw former deputy head, Tony Begley, resign from his position to take up a new role as the education co-ordinator of this non-profitable charity.[8] The school has also been at the forefront of fundraising for Malawi as well as Mary's Meals which involves under 30 pupils travelling to areas close to Blantyre, Malawi to reconstruct, renovate and build schools.[9]

A team of 36 young people was chosen for 2013 after a successful five years of the project and planned to continue the work in Malawi, led by previous head teacher, Thomas McDonald.[10] The school has so far raised in excess of £200,000 for Malawi.[11]

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Malawi, and subsequently 2021 Malawi projects had to be cancelled.

Admissions

The school has a roll of approximately 2,000 pupils and 150 teachers, making it one of the largest state comprehensive schools in Europe.[12]

Notable former pupils

Arts & media

Business & finance

Politics

Sports

Chaplaincy

The school chaplain is John Carroll.[28]

References
  1. "Welcome".
  2. "A quarter of secondary schools in Glasgow are over capacity". glasgowworld.com. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. Historic Environment Scotland. "Albert Road, 60 Dixon Road, Holyrood RC School including Janitor's Lodge and Playground Walls (Category B Listed Building) (LB32415)". Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. "Glasgow City Council Sports centres". Glasgow Life. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  5. "JD Performance Schools: Holyrood Secondary - Glasgow". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  6. Glasgow City Council. "Holyrood RC Secondary Handbook" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Staff List 2020". Holyrood Secondary School. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  8. "Tony Begley Resigns from Current Position". TES. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  9. "Holyrood Malawi Partnership". Holyrood Secondary. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  10. "Malawi Partnership". Holyrood Secondary. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  11. "TES: This is where my heart lies". TES. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  12. "Holyrood Secondary School Website: Homepage". Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  13. Andrew Johnson (31 December 2008). "Frankie Boyle: Fierce, fearless... and (expletive deleted) funny". The Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  14. "bnet". Findarticles.com. 25 August 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  15. First year school photos of Kerr and Burchill can be found here "simpleminds.org". simpleminds.org. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  16. "Famous ex-pupils pass on wisdom". Evening Times. 26 March 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  17. "obituary HeraldScotland". Heraldscotland.com. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  18. "Tony Curran". IMDb. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  19. "musictory.com". musictory.com. 23 July 1973. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  20. "JOHNNY GUITAR; EXCLUSIVE CHART-TOPPING SONGWRITER IS HONOURED WITH NUMBER ONE AWARD Texas star's 25 years of hits. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  21. Evening Times – Google News Archive Search
  22. Dickie, Douglas (15 June 2015). "Margaret Ferrier opens up to the Reformer on politics, independence and Westminster". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  23. "www.hm_treasury-gov.uk". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  24. An organisation that promotes Scottish Universities
  25. "ABOUT ME - Pat McFadden MP". Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  26. "www.celticfc.net". www.celticfc.net. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  27. Malky Mackay on why 'four stone wet through and five feet high' Rangers kid was always destined to be a star, Stephen Halliday, The Scotsman, 28 May 2021
  28. Staff list 2020/21
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