Thurso High School
Encyclopedia
Thurso High School in Thurso
, Caithness
, Scotland
, is the most northerly secondary school on mainland Great Britain.
The Highland Council employs about 75 staff which work at the school. The current rector is Dr F Grant and the deputy rectors are K Mackay, K Murphy, L McAuslan and C Omand.
The school presently (autumn 2008) has just over 900 students.
The School consists of 2 main buildings and 3 huts.
Each building is given individual surface treatment and a variety of contrasting materials have been used including Caithness stone, polished stone, timber boarding, and concrete slabs.
The school was commissioned in two phases, the first completed in October 1958 and the second begun in May 1959. The reason for the extension to the school was the growth in Thurso and the surrounding area’s population after the development of the Dounreay nuclear power station
. Although the school was built in anticipation of a population increase, the growth was greater and more rapid than expected, and at its peak Dounreay’s staff of 2,400 people trebled the size of the town.
Thurso
-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
, Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
, 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...
, is the most northerly secondary school on mainland Great Britain.
The Highland Council employs about 75 staff which work at the school. The current rector is Dr F Grant and the deputy rectors are K Mackay, K Murphy, L McAuslan and C Omand.
The school presently (autumn 2008) has just over 900 students.
The School consists of 2 main buildings and 3 huts.
History and Building
In 1954 Basil Spence & Partners, along with Caithness County Architect William Wilson, were commissioned by the Thurso County Council to build a new high school. A large green-field site was chosen on the east side of County Road (now designated as Ormlie Road), to the south of the town. Officially opened in October 1958, Thurso High School is the most northerly secondary school on mainland Great Britain. The main campus is made up of a number of informally grouped buildings of varying heights surrounding a central courtyard.Each building is given individual surface treatment and a variety of contrasting materials have been used including Caithness stone, polished stone, timber boarding, and concrete slabs.
The school was commissioned in two phases, the first completed in October 1958 and the second begun in May 1959. The reason for the extension to the school was the growth in Thurso and the surrounding area’s population after the development of the Dounreay nuclear power station
Dounreay
Dounreay is the site of several nuclear research establishments located on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland...
. Although the school was built in anticipation of a population increase, the growth was greater and more rapid than expected, and at its peak Dounreay’s staff of 2,400 people trebled the size of the town.