Boclair Academy
Encyclopedia
Boclair Academy is a co-educational
comprehensive
secondary school
located in the Greater Glasgow
suburb of Bearsden
, East Dunbartonshire
, Scotland
. The school serves pupils aged 11 – 18 from Southern Bearsden and Torrance
. Boclair Academy is affiliated with four local primary schools within its catchment area
, Westerton Primary School, Killermont Primary School, Colquhoun Park Primary School and Torrance Primary School Schools. The schools' exam achievement has improved greatly in recent years, in 2009 27% of S5 gain at least 5 higher passes (A-C), which places it 16th in Scotland for a state school.
and Bearsden Academy
however later the school has an increased number of placing requests from outside East Dunbartonshire
. In 1998, because the school was over capacity, a temporary annex was erected for the Maths department but it has yet to be replaced with a permanent building.
In 2001 the school celebrated its 25th anniversary by commissioning a large mosaic
from local artist Alan Potter, it can be seen on the outside of the school when entering.
In 2004 the school changed its uniform from black jumpers to white shirt and school tie. Also this year the roll was decreased from 210 to 180 because of the large proportion of placing requests.
In 2007 Boclair was one of a handful schools to adopt a system of sitting Maths and English standard grades in S3, which increases the available time studying these respective highers. From the 2007 and 2008 exam results it seems that sitting the standard grades in 3rd year has no effect on the pass rate. The first students to sit their Highers under the new system received their results in May 2009 and were seen as some of the best results in over a decade as Boclair as a school had relatively poor performance compared to its neighbours and the council average. The school achieved 11 pupils with 5 A's in 2009(32 were achieved in the whole of Glasgow city council) and most impressively the number of boys gaining an A or a B in Higher English shot up from 28% to 53% (this was attributed to the new system adopted by the school).
Over the past few years Boclair has been gradually upgraded with new large common rooms in 2007 and double glazing in 2008. Furthermore there has been a slow move within the school of having interactive whiteboards in class to aid learning and also the whole of the science department was finally refurbished in August 2009.
In sports there is a gymnastics team as well as rugby, football, tennis and basketball teams. Boclair Academy's music department runs a variety musical groups including junior and gospel choirs ,run by the music Pt Jennifer Proctor, and also there is an orchestra, samba band, swing band (run by brass tutor and RSNO trumpeter Kevin Price) and a ceilidh style group called the "Celtic Rock group".
There are other groups within the school including a school magazine, which won several awards in the Scottish school magazine awards 2008, a chess club and a debating society which has produced finalists in the Junior English Speaking Union debating competition - two fourth year pupils.
The maths department runs football and code cracking clubs and is also known for one of their students Daniel Ramsay(S6) who broke the U.K. schools Pi memorising record by remembering 701 digits.
The English department in Boclair runs its own student help website called www.informenglish.co.uk which is used along with class learning to aid students of all ages outside school time with essays and other tasks.
. Pupils are presented for Standard Grade Mathematics and English at the end of S3. Pupils will sit a further 6 Standard Grades in S4. Music, media studies, and physics follow the intermediate 1 & 2 curriculum in S3/4. In S5/6 have the choice pupils sit up to 5 highers in various subjects and then up to 3 Advanced highers in S6 in only Mathematics, English, the Sciences, Languages, Social Subjects, Art and Music. As of November 2010, Drama class will become a necessary subject as part of the curriculum. The school has raised over £1800 to employ a local professional actor. Neil Shaw (headmaster) cut the ribbon together on October 16, allowing entrance to the newly built drama room.
at one point taught English as a supply during the 1990s and Scottish musician Tommy Reilly
(the winner of Orange unsigned act 2008) was a pupil at the school until 2007. The school building has been used for several sketches in the second series of Burnistoun
.
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
comprehensive
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
secondary school
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
located in the Greater Glasgow
Greater Glasgow
Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area...
suburb of Bearsden
Bearsden
Bearsden ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the City Centre, and is effectively a suburb, with housing development coinciding with the introduction of a railway line in 1863, and from where the town gets its name...
, East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire
This article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of...
, 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...
. The school serves pupils aged 11 – 18 from Southern Bearsden and Torrance
Torrance, East Dunbartonshire
Torrance is a village in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, located 8 miles north of the Glasgow city centre, the name of which comes from the Gaelic An Toran which means 'under the hills'. Torrance used to mainly consist of farmland, but in 2001 had a population of 2,480 and this is expected to have...
. Boclair Academy is affiliated with four local primary schools within its catchment area
Catchment area (human geography)
In human geography, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school...
, Westerton Primary School, Killermont Primary School, Colquhoun Park Primary School and Torrance Primary School Schools. The schools' exam achievement has improved greatly in recent years, in 2009 27% of S5 gain at least 5 higher passes (A-C), which places it 16th in Scotland for a state school.
History
Boclair Academy was built in 1976 to deal with increased demand in the area, initially the school dealt with overflow with Douglas AcademyDouglas Academy
Douglas Academy is a secondary school in Milngavie in the outskirts of Glasgow. In 2001, Douglas Academy was Scotland's top performing state school with 31% of students gaining five or more highers....
and Bearsden Academy
Bearsden Academy
Bearsden Academy is a non-denominational, state secondary school in Bearsden, a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland.-History:The school was founded in 1911, sharing a building at Bearsden Cross with Bearsden Primary School. This building is still in use as the current Bearsden Primary site. In 1958, the...
however later the school has an increased number of placing requests from outside East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire
This article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of...
. In 1998, because the school was over capacity, a temporary annex was erected for the Maths department but it has yet to be replaced with a permanent building.
In 2001 the school celebrated its 25th anniversary by commissioning a large mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
from local artist Alan Potter, it can be seen on the outside of the school when entering.
In 2004 the school changed its uniform from black jumpers to white shirt and school tie. Also this year the roll was decreased from 210 to 180 because of the large proportion of placing requests.
In 2007 Boclair was one of a handful schools to adopt a system of sitting Maths and English standard grades in S3, which increases the available time studying these respective highers. From the 2007 and 2008 exam results it seems that sitting the standard grades in 3rd year has no effect on the pass rate. The first students to sit their Highers under the new system received their results in May 2009 and were seen as some of the best results in over a decade as Boclair as a school had relatively poor performance compared to its neighbours and the council average. The school achieved 11 pupils with 5 A's in 2009(32 were achieved in the whole of Glasgow city council) and most impressively the number of boys gaining an A or a B in Higher English shot up from 28% to 53% (this was attributed to the new system adopted by the school).
Over the past few years Boclair has been gradually upgraded with new large common rooms in 2007 and double glazing in 2008. Furthermore there has been a slow move within the school of having interactive whiteboards in class to aid learning and also the whole of the science department was finally refurbished in August 2009.
Campus
The school is spread over four buildings within its 16 acres (64,749.8 m²) site. The main building contains an assembly hall, dining area, staff room, pupil social areas, green house and classrooms over five floors for Art,English, Home Economics, Business & IM, Modern Languages, Social Subjects and Science. There are separate buildings for Technical, Physical Education (which has its own swimming pool) and mathematics which is housed in a temporary annex. On the 27th of July 2011 Neil Shaw revealed that he has planned to build a home on top of Boclair Academy by 2013. Neil Shaw confirmed that he is so devoted to his job he plans to raise his family 300ft in the air above the playground. The Penthouse suite will be accessible from the 4th floor science rooms.Extra curricular activities
In Boclair Academy there are currently a variety of extra curricular activities.In sports there is a gymnastics team as well as rugby, football, tennis and basketball teams. Boclair Academy's music department runs a variety musical groups including junior and gospel choirs ,run by the music Pt Jennifer Proctor, and also there is an orchestra, samba band, swing band (run by brass tutor and RSNO trumpeter Kevin Price) and a ceilidh style group called the "Celtic Rock group".
There are other groups within the school including a school magazine, which won several awards in the Scottish school magazine awards 2008, a chess club and a debating society which has produced finalists in the Junior English Speaking Union debating competition - two fourth year pupils.
The maths department runs football and code cracking clubs and is also known for one of their students Daniel Ramsay(S6) who broke the U.K. schools Pi memorising record by remembering 701 digits.
The English department in Boclair runs its own student help website called www.informenglish.co.uk which is used along with class learning to aid students of all ages outside school time with essays and other tasks.
Curriculum
Boclair Academy follows Standard Grade and National Qualifications provided by the SQASQA
SQA may refer to:* Scottish Qualifications Authority* Software Quality Assurance or Software Quality Assurance Group* SQA Services, Inc....
. Pupils are presented for Standard Grade Mathematics and English at the end of S3. Pupils will sit a further 6 Standard Grades in S4. Music, media studies, and physics follow the intermediate 1 & 2 curriculum in S3/4. In S5/6 have the choice pupils sit up to 5 highers in various subjects and then up to 3 Advanced highers in S6 in only Mathematics, English, the Sciences, Languages, Social Subjects, Art and Music. As of November 2010, Drama class will become a necessary subject as part of the curriculum. The school has raised over £1800 to employ a local professional actor. Neil Shaw (headmaster) cut the ribbon together on October 16, allowing entrance to the newly built drama room.
Popular culture
The well-known Scottish comedian Frankie BoyleFrankie Boyle
Francis Martin Patrick "Frankie" Boyle is a British comedian and writer, well known for his pessimistic, often controversial sense of humour...
at one point taught English as a supply during the 1990s and Scottish musician Tommy Reilly
Tommy Reilly
Thomas Rundle Reilly MBE was a Canadian classical harmonica player. He began studying violin at eight and began playing harmonica at aged eleven as a member of his father's band...
(the winner of Orange unsigned act 2008) was a pupil at the school until 2007. The school building has been used for several sketches in the second series of Burnistoun
Burnistoun
Burnistoun is a sketch show for BBC Scotland by the Scottish comedians Iain Connell and Robert Florence. The show is produced by The Comedy Unit....
.