Notre Dame High School, Glasgow

55.878°N 4.299°W / 55.878; -4.299

Notre Dame High School
Address
160 Observatory Rd,

Glasgow[1]

Scotland
Information
TypeLocal state school (local catchment area)
MottoAh Qu'il Est Bon Le Bon Dieu
(Oh how good is the good God)
Established1897 (1897)
FounderMary Lescher
Head teacherRosemary Martin[1]
Teaching staff65 FTE
Enrolment717
CampusObservatory Road
HousesNamur, St Julie, Joseph, Marian
Colour(s)Brown, Blue, Gold    
NicknameND, NDHS
WebsiteOfficial website

Notre Dame School

Notre Dame High School is a local, catchment based state funded secondary school for girls, located on Observatory Road in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1897 as a fee paying school for girls. Notre Dame High was the last remaining single sex council school in Scotland until November 2019.

History

In 1894 Archbishop Eyre of Glasgow invited Mary Lescher and the Sisters of Notre Dame to come from the Mother House in Liverpool to establish a community in Glasgow.[2] The Notre Dame Training College was opened in 1893 at Dowanhill and began teaching in January 1895. In 1897 Notre Dame School was opened as a private secondary and Montessori school,[2] with a roll of 24 pupils, instructed by two teachers. By 1912, the number of pupils had risen to 193. Overcrowding led to proposals for a new building. This was designed by Thomas Cordiner in 1939, but due to the outbreak of war, construction was delayed, and the building opened in 1953. In 1987, the school was protected as a category A listed building.[3] At the same time as proposals to close the school were defeated.[4] The former high school building and adjoining primary school building and church were damaged in a fire on 12 June 2010.[5]

A stained glass window dedicated to the school's founder, Mary Lescher, was sold and is on permanent display in the National Museum of Ireland.[6]

The single-sex entry criteria has been a controversial issue. Local parents campaigned for the school to become co-educational in the 1990s[7] but the bid failed at Council committee level.[8]

In 2016, a new campaign group of local school parents (NDH4ALL) was established to ask Glasgow City Council to reconsider the single sex entry criteria and allow access to both girls and boys in the local catchment area.

A public consultation on Notre Dame High's entry criteria was launched in March 2019 and ran for a period of 10 weeks.[9] The consultation received a high level of publicity and engagement, with almost 5000 responses counted. Glasgow City Council also conducted three high profile public meetings during the consultation period. The meetings saw attendance in the hundreds with many pupils speaking of their experiences.

Consultation results were released in August 2019[10] revealing that, of the three options proposed, co-education received the highest number of responses (45.7%).

In November 2019 a consultation response report was published by Glasgow City Council Education Services in conjunction with Education Scotland. The report recommended that Notre Dame High become co-educational.[11] A final vote on the recommendation by the Glasgow City Council City Administration Committee took place on 28 November 2019, with the committee unanimously voting to make the school co-educational.[12]

The Head Teacher is Mrs Rosemary Martin who succeeded Philomena McFadden in 2014.

Alumnae

See also

References
  1. "Notre Dame High School". glasgow.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  2. Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004), "Mary Adela Lescher", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48666, retrieved 16 June 2023
  3. Historic Environment Scotland. "160 Observatory Road, Notre Dame High School (Category A Listed Building) (LB32571)". Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  4. History of Notre Dame School
  5. BBC News - Fire Damages Former Notre Dame School
  6. "PAST TREASURES". www.snduk.org. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  7. "Herald Scotland - Discrimination is encouraged". 12 June 2002. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  8. "Labour group throws out executive's co-education proposal Notre Dame school to stay girls-only". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  9. "Calls to open last single-sex high school in Scotland to boys as well as girls". The National. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  10. "Early results from Notre Dame consultation hailed by both sides". Evening Times. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  11. "Renowned Glasgow all girls high school set to be opened to boys". Evening Times. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  12. McIvor, Jamie (28 November 2019). "Boys to be admitted to last all-girl state school". BBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  13. Marcella Evaristi - The Glasgow Story
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