Lanark Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Lanark Grammar School is a secondary school in Lanark
, Scotland
. It was founded in 1183, and celebrated its octocentenary in 1983, including a visit by The Princess Anne
. Notable former pupils include rally driver Colin McRae
and General William Roy
, a contributor to the Ordnance Survey
project. The school
draws its pupils from the town of Lanark
and many villages in the local area, including Douglas
, Carstairs, Forth and Glespin.
The school has 5 houses: Lockhart, Jerviswood, Wallace, Hyndford and Braxfield and pupils are sorted into these by tutor group upon the first day of term. There are around 100 teachers (FTE
) and around 1200 students. Lanark Grammar School has, very recently, become the largest presenting centre in Scotland for Classics (Latin, Classical Studies and Classical Greek).
have already been rebuilt as part of this program. Prior to the project, many school buildings were becoming unsafe and others had been built when class sizes were much larger. Once complete, all schools in the area will have a similar design and will have facilities of the same standard.
The Lanark Grammar Project was completed between August and December 2009, however pupils and staff moved to the new building in January 2010 in order to minimise disruption as resources could be moved and unpacked during the holiday period. Staff returned to the building on Tuesday 5 January 2010. Pupils returned as follows:
Lanark Grammar now also contains an ASN wing in which pupils who have special teaching requirements can be educated. This has allowed for the integration of Lanark Grammar School with the pupils and staff of Craighead and Victoria Park, two special needs secondary schools.
The school now has several other new facilities.
Every year, the majority of S1 pupils do a sponsored climb up Tinto
, raising money for St Andrews Hospice. Senior students in S5/6 take part in a sponsored run around Strathclyde Park (approx. 10k) for the same cause.
Lanark
Lanark is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade"....
, 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...
. It was founded in 1183, and celebrated its octocentenary in 1983, including a visit by The Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
. Notable former pupils include rally driver Colin McRae
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
and General William Roy
William Roy
Major-General William Roy FRS was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of Great Britain....
, a contributor to the Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
project. The school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
draws its pupils from the town of Lanark
Lanark
Lanark is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade"....
and many villages in the local area, including Douglas
Douglas, South Lanarkshire
Douglas is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the south bank of the Douglas Water and on the A70 road that links Ayr, on the West coast of Scotland, to Edinburgh on the East, around 12 miles south west of Lanark. The placename is of Gaelic origin, derived from the Old Gaelic...
, Carstairs, Forth and Glespin.
The school has 5 houses: Lockhart, Jerviswood, Wallace, Hyndford and Braxfield and pupils are sorted into these by tutor group upon the first day of term. There are around 100 teachers (FTE
FTE
-Government and Organisations:*Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, a government body which manages Florida's Turnpike*Comandante Armando Tola International Airport in El Calafate, Argentina...
) and around 1200 students. Lanark Grammar School has, very recently, become the largest presenting centre in Scotland for Classics (Latin, Classical Studies and Classical Greek).
History
Lanark Grammar School has a long history, being over 800 years old. Over the years, it has been housed in many buildings.Parish Church (1183 - 1400s)
The town's Parish Church was used as the first school house. Until 1893, Lanark Grammar was a fee-paying school and until 1884 it was for boys only. From its beginnings in the Parish Church, the school would usually have only two teachers at a time until 1884. The only recorded exception to this was in the 1770s when Robert Thomson is reported to have a second assistant.Bloomgate Building (1400s - 1650)
The Bloomgate building was the first building specifically erected for use as Lanark Grammar School. It was built in the 15th century and stood on the site of what is now the Clydesdale Hotel. The exact year in which the school was built is currently unknown.Lanark Horsemarket (1841 - 1884)
For a short spell in the 19th century, the Lanark Horsemarket was the home of Lanark Grammar. There are few records available related to this site.Hyndford Road Building (August 1884 - December 2003)
The Hyndford Road building was opened in August 1884. This building was large enough to accommodate both girls and boys, and Lanark Grammar School became a co-educational facility. On Friday, 18 February 1888, the school "went up in flames" and was therefore closed. Students were displaced to temporary accommodation while the school was rebuilt. Work was complete by the end of the summer holidays in the same year. During reconstruction, the school was expanded with room for ninety pupils of primary school age. The building was in use up until December 2003.Albany Drive Building (September 1914 - December 2009)
The Albany Drive building was opened on Wednesday 16 September 1914. It was in use for just over 95 years when it was closed on Tuesday 22 December 2009. There was a fire in the building on the morning of 31 January 2007, in the boys' toilets. The building was evacuated and periods 3 and 4 were cancelled. The toilets were destroyed and had to be refurbished (which meant the only boys' toilets on site were out of use for several months - pupils were sent to the facilities in the extension building. Unlike the fire on the Hyndford Road campus, however, there was no serious damage to the building and students returned to their classes period 5 on the same day.Modular Village (August 2007 - December 2009)
During the above period a modular village structure was constructed using portacabins around the recently condemned extension building that was deemed unsafe after it was discovered that it contained a large amount of asbestos. This structure (the Braxfeild campus) often suffered problems with heating and electricity generator failures, often resulting in all the pupils having to return home.Kirklands Road Building (January 2010 - Present)
This school was built by South Lanarkshire Council under their School Modernisation initiative. The School Modernisation programme was started with the intention of modernising teaching facilities in the county. Many schools, including Robert Owen Memorial Primary School and Carluke High SchoolCarluke High School
Carluke High School is a secondary school in Carluke, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. its head teacher was James Yuille. As of 2007 it had some 1,226 students. The school was rebuilt on the same site, beginning in 2005...
have already been rebuilt as part of this program. Prior to the project, many school buildings were becoming unsafe and others had been built when class sizes were much larger. Once complete, all schools in the area will have a similar design and will have facilities of the same standard.
The Lanark Grammar Project was completed between August and December 2009, however pupils and staff moved to the new building in January 2010 in order to minimise disruption as resources could be moved and unpacked during the holiday period. Staff returned to the building on Tuesday 5 January 2010. Pupils returned as follows:
- S5/6: were given a guided tour in the afternoon of Friday 8 January and returned to be educated on Monday 11th
- S3/4: returned on Monday 11th
- S1/2: returned on Tuesday 12th
- S1-4 were given tours on the morning of their return by both staff and upper school students.
Lanark Grammar now also contains an ASN wing in which pupils who have special teaching requirements can be educated. This has allowed for the integration of Lanark Grammar School with the pupils and staff of Craighead and Victoria Park, two special needs secondary schools.
The school now has several other new facilities.
- During lessons, the school goes into lockdown. No-one can access the school from the outside without going through the secure main entrance. If anyone attempts to leave the school during lessons, an alarm sounds in the facilities management office. There is also a network of CCTV cameras which monitors the school at all times.
- A fitness suite, with equipment from the Lanark gym, which was closed after the opening of Lanark's new pool as it includes a gym.
- 600 students can now have lockers, compared to the lockers at the extension where there were enough for only the sixth years.
- An outdoor basketball court.
- A multi-purpose outdoor Astroturf pitch
Notable former pupils
- Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield (18th Century) - a Lord Justice ClerkLord Justice ClerkThe Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session.The holder has the title in both the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary and is in charge of the Second Division of Judges in the Court of Session...
and expert in feudal law. - William SmellieWilliam Smellie (obstetrician)William Smellie was a Scottish obstetrician.He practiced medicine before getting a licence, but enrolled later at the University of Glasgow and received his M.D. degree in 1745. After training in obstetrics in London and Paris, he opened a practice in London and began teaching...
(18th Century) - a famous obstetrician, often referred to as "the father of British midwifery". - General William RoyWilliam RoyMajor-General William Roy FRS was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of Great Britain....
(18th Century) - contributor to the Ordnance SurveyOrdnance SurveyOrdnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
project - John GlaisterJohn GlaisterJohn Glaister , was a Scottish forensic scientist who worked as a general practitioner, police surgeon, and as a lecturer at Glasgow Royal Infirmary Medical School and the University of Glasgow....
(19th Century) - forensic scientist
2004
In 2004 Lanark Grammar School was inspected by HMIe and received mostly positive criticism. Its key strengths included:- Staff were committed to the school and its pupils.
- The relations between teachers and pupils were good.
- There was a wide range of extra-curricular activities.
- Children with special education needs were integrated with the other pupils.
- The quality of support for learning.
- The senior managers, staff and pupils involved in the school's self-evaluation process.
2010/2011 Term
The school is due to be inpected by HMIe during the term which begins August 2010 and ends June 2011.Charitable Projects
The pupils of Lanark Grammar School actively raise money for charity. Most notable is their regular contributions to two orphaned children in Kenya. As well as paying the children's school fees, Lanark Grammar also gives money to the local community which in the past has bought cows, new roofs for run-down houses and water storage tanks. This project is organised through Direct Link.Every year, the majority of S1 pupils do a sponsored climb up Tinto
Tinto
Several places share the name Tinto:*Tinto is the name of a hill, the highest in the Tinto Hills in southern Scotland.*The Tinto River is a river in south-western Andalusia, Spain....
, raising money for St Andrews Hospice. Senior students in S5/6 take part in a sponsored run around Strathclyde Park (approx. 10k) for the same cause.
2007/08 Results
The following is a table showing the achievements of the relevant September S4 role in the 2007/08 session. It shows the percentage of the year group achieving qualifications at the given levels:| S4 | 5+ @ level 3 | 5+ @ level 4 | 5+ @ level 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | 75 | 37 | |
| S5 | 1+ @ level 6 | 3+ @ level 6 | 5+ @ level 6 |
| 32 | 18 | 9 | |
| S6 | 3+ @ level 6 | 5+ @ level 6 | 1+ @ level 7 |
| 37 | 23 | 12 |