Berwickshire High School
Encyclopedia
Berwickshire High School is a six year comprehensive school located west of the town of Duns
, Scotland
.
However by the 1950s the school had become very overcrowded so plans were immediately made to create a new school. The new school, opened in 1958, was shown to be a modern establishment suited for the needs of its now hundreds of students.
The school has a large catchment area stretching all over Berwickshire including Duns
, Greenlaw
, Chirnside
, Coldstream
, Foulden
, Paxton
, Eccles, Leitholm and Swinton
.
The school motto is from the famous poem Ulysses, "To Strive, To Seek, To Find and not to yield" basically meaning to make the most of your life.
. The three original houses were Scott, Home and Douglas and in 2008 the fourth house, Clark, was created (named after famous racing driver Jim Clark
). Each has its own color, Head of House (Staff), House Captains and Vice Captains (derived from pupils in S5/S6) and House Representatives. Each earn points throughout the year in which the winner will receive the Interhouse Trophy.
which were all built at the same time under a Public Private Partnership with the Scottish Borders Council.
Professor Duncan Graham - Nano-biologist
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
History
It was first opened in 1896, by Walter John Mabbott, who was the first Rector of the school. It started out with accommodation for 80 pupils in which extensions were built on to accommodate the rise in pupil numbers.However by the 1950s the school had become very overcrowded so plans were immediately made to create a new school. The new school, opened in 1958, was shown to be a modern establishment suited for the needs of its now hundreds of students.
The school has a large catchment area stretching all over Berwickshire including Duns
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
, Greenlaw
Greenlaw
Greenlaw is a small town situated in the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills on Blackadder Water at the junction of the A697 and the A6105 in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Greenlaw was first made the county town of Berwickshire in 1596, and was the first town to take on this role since the...
, Chirnside
Chirnside
Chirnside is a hillside village in Berwickshire in Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed and east of Duns.-Notables:David Hume, the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, lived in Ninewells House, just south of the village...
, Coldstream
Coldstream
Coldstream is a small town in the Borders district of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Tweed in Berwickshire, while Northumberland in England lies to the south bank, with Cornhill-on-Tweed the nearest village...
, Foulden
Foulden
Several settlements share the name Foulden:*Foulden, Norfolk, England*Foulden, Scottish Borders, Scotland*Foulden, Queensland, Australia...
, Paxton
Paxton
-United Kingdom:* Great Paxton, England* Little Paxton, England* Paxton, Scottish Borders, UK* Paxton House, Berwickshire, Scotland* Paxton's Tower, near the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire, Wales-United States:* Paxton, California...
, Eccles, Leitholm and Swinton
Swinton, Scottish Borders
Swinton is a small village in the Scottish Borders. It is in the former county of Berwickshire, around south-east of Duns, and north-west of the Anglo-Scottish border.-History:...
.
The school motto is from the famous poem Ulysses, "To Strive, To Seek, To Find and not to yield" basically meaning to make the most of your life.
House system
The school has four 'houses' into which the students are split. This is not only a way to organise classes but is also intended to encourage a rivalry, being the basis of inter-house competitive events such as hockey, rugby, athletics, quizzes and many more activities. The houses are named after notable people from BerwickshireBerwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
. The three original houses were Scott, Home and Douglas and in 2008 the fourth house, Clark, was created (named after famous racing driver Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
). Each has its own color, Head of House (Staff), House Captains and Vice Captains (derived from pupils in S5/S6) and House Representatives. Each earn points throughout the year in which the winner will receive the Interhouse Trophy.
School newspaper
The Berwickshire High School Observer (BHS Observer) is the official school newspaper. The newspaper was started as the BHS Babble and it evolved into the BHS Observer in 2007.Change of buildings
The new high school was officially opened in February 2009. Work started in October 2006 on the new school which is located opposite the old building. It was built due to the old school becoming no longer able to capacitate the pupils due to its age and size. The design was similar to Eyemouth High School and Earlston High SchoolEarlston High School
Earlston High School is a Scottish secondary school situated in Earlston, Scottish Borders. It serves Earlston, as well as the surrounding area...
which were all built at the same time under a Public Private Partnership with the Scottish Borders Council.
Notable former pupils
- Daniel Blades, Lord BladesDaniel Blades, Lord BladesDaniel Patterson Blades was a Scottish judge.The son of Rev. Charles Blades, Minister of Allanton, and Sarah Pow of Armadale, he was educated at Berwickshire High School and at Edinburgh University....
, Senator of the College of Justice - Harald Leslie, Lord BirsayHarald Leslie, Lord BirsayHarald Leslie, Lord Birsay KT, CBE, Harald Leslie, Lord Birsay KT, CBE, Harald Leslie, Lord Birsay KT, CBE, (MBE (mil.), TD, QC, DL (8 May 1905 - 27 November 1982) was a Scottish lawyer and judge, and Chairman of the Scottish Land Court.-Early life:...
, judge - Ronald Mackay, Lord EassieRonald Mackay, Lord EassieRonald David Mackay, Lord Eassie is a Scottish lawyer and judge of the country's Supreme Courts, sitting in the Inner House of the Court of Session.-Education:...
, judge
Professor Duncan Graham - Nano-biologist