Firrhill High School

Firrhill High School
Motto Air-carraig
Established 1960
Type State secondary
Headteacher Graham Hamilton
Deputy Headteacher Roberta Porter, Nick McClellan & Julie Statham
Location 9 Oxgangs Road North
Edinburgh
EH14 1DP
Scotland
Staff 121 approx
Students 1123 approx[1]
Grades S1 to S6
Website Firrhill High School

Firrhill High School is a state secondary school located in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The school was established in 1960, being unveiled by the city's Lord Provost. The school has around 1123 students with a teaching staff roll of around 120.[2] The school serves areas such as: Oxgangs, Colinton Mains, Colinton Village, Bonaly, Fairmilehead, Buckstone, Craiglockhart and Longstone.[3]

In 2001, the school underwent drastic refurbishing work, with several run-down buildings dating from the 1960s being either refurbished or demolished with new buildings being built in their place. This was completed in mid-2005.[4] The school was refurbished by a private finance initiative.

Headteacher and SMT

The current headteacher is Graham Hamilton. Nick McClellan, Julie Statham and Roberta Porter are the deputy head teachers.[5]

Houses

Pupils at the school are separated into four groups, known as "houses". The houses are:

  • Allermuir
  • Braidlaw
  • Caerketton
  • Darroch (2017-)

The Houses are named after three of the Pentland hills, to the south of Edinburgh and in sight of the school. As of 2017 Student ties have changed to remove individual house colours, in place a plain blue tie with logo centered, S6 Pupils have additional gold stripes on ties.

Notable former pupils and teachers

  • Robbie Foy, formerly of Liverpool F.C. and Scunthorpe United FC, is a former pupil of the school. Foy, Sives and Vita represented Scotland Schoolboys in 2000 and 2001[6] respectively whilst at the school[7] and all three played in the Victory Shield.
  • The Scottish actress and comedian Elaine C Smith was a teacher at the school in the early 1980s.[8]
  • The pianist and composer Stuart Mitchell who discovered the musical symbols in Rosslyn Chapel and has been celebrated in the Classic FM Hall of Fame for 15 years was a former pupil at Firrhill High School.[9]

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education

On 13 June 2006, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education reported on the school.[10] The inspectors identified as key strengths "The coherent and progressive programme of enterprise activities from S1-S6" and "The high standards of attainment at S5/S6". The report also commended the strong direction given by the Head Teacher Karen Prophet.

The Report also commended the condition of the school saying that the school was well-designed and had good specialist teaching areas and had good social areas for pupils.

HM Inspectorate of Education issued a follow-up report on 22 April 2008.[11] The report identified "good" or "very good" progress regarding all the items identified for action in the 2006 inspection report, and found no need to conduct further follow-up inspections.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00420794.xlsx
  2. ↑ http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00420794.xlsx
  3. ↑ Catchment Area Map
  4. ↑ Written Answer, Scottish Parliament
  5. ↑ "Firrhill High School SMT". Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Capital starlets to take off on a trip of a lifetime". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 9 February 2002.
  8. ↑ "Elaine C Smith Comedy Instead Of Teaching". Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "Composer cracks Rosslyn's musical code".
  10. ↑ Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report on Firrhill High School, 13 June 2006 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report on Firrhill High School, 22 April 2008 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.

Coordinates: 55°54′52.51″N 3°14′10.86″W / 55.9145861°N 3.2363500°W / 55.9145861; -3.2363500

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