Holyrood Secondary School

Holyrood Secondary School is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south-side of Glasgow, Scotland. It is 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 teacherMrs S Watson
Religious headMonsignor Paul Murray
Staff150
GenderCo-educational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment2,170
LanguageEnglish
Hours in school day6hrs 5mins/ 6hrs 55mins
Colour(s)Blue, White and Grey
Websitehttp://www.holyrood-sec.glasgow.sch.uk

Holyrood RC Secondary school is the biggest secondary school in Scotland with over 2,000 pupils and 150 teaching staff. Holyrood was officially opened in 1936 and has had refurbishment which includes the Holyrood Sports Centre, which was opened in late 2000 and is used by the pupils during school and the community in the evenings and at weekends.

In 2019 Holyrood RC Secondary School was ranked the 82nd best performing school in Scotland by The Scottish Government: 43 percent 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 Stricly Come Dancing. The school was featured in an episode of Strictly, as him 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 global pandemic. The SQA for the first time in 130 years cancelled all exams.

Facilities

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.[1]

Over the years, the school has had renovation and additional blocks purposely built, this is known as the "new block" and "I.T. Wing". The new block also features new classrooms for English, Religious education and Social Subjects. The school features over 20 purpose built I.T. Rooms and also hosts three drama studios, complete with sound and lighting effects. In addition, several wood work and metal workshops are situated as well as modern laboratories for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Nearly all classrooms within the school are fully equipped with state of the art 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, 3 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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

A team of 36 young people has now been chosen for 2013 after a successful 5 years of the project and will continue the work in Malawi, led by previous head teacher, Thomas McDonald.[6] The school has so far raised in excess of £200,000 for Malawi.[7]

Admissions

The school has a pupil roll of approximately 2,000 pupils and 150 teachers making it one of the largest state comprehensive schools in Europe.[8]

Notable former pupils

Arts & media

Business & finance

Politics

Sports

Chaplaincy

The school chaplain is Monsignor Paul Murray of St. Helen's.

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Glasgow City Council Sports centres". Glasgow Life. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  3. "JD Performance Schools: Holyrood Secondary - Glasgow". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. "Tony Begley Resigns from Current Position". TES. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  5. "Holyrood Malawi Partnership". Holyrood Secondary. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  6. "Malawi Partnership". Holyrood Secondary. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  7. "TES: This is where my heart lies". TES. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  8. "Holyrood Secondary School Website: Homepage". Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  9. Andrew Johnson (31 December 2008). "Frankie Boyle: Fierce, fearless... and (expletive deleted) funny". The Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  10. "bnet". Findarticles.com. 25 August 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  11. "Famous ex-pupils pass on wisdom". Evening Times. 26 March 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  12. "obituary HeraldScotland". Heraldscotland.com. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  13. . 25 August 2014 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192889/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1. Retrieved 25 August 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. "musictory.com". musictory.com. 23 July 1973. 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. "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.
  17. "In a class of its own". Heraldscotland.com. 28 May 1994. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  18. "discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  19. Evening Times – Google News Archive Search
  20. 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.
  21. "www.hm_treasury-gov.uk". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  22. An organisation that promotes Scottish Universities
  23. http://www.patmcfadden.com/about-me
  24. "www.celticfc.net". www.celticfc.net. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
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