Cumbernauld High School

Cumbernauld High School

Motto	Virtute Ac Labore (Latin: 'Virtue through Hard Work')
Established	1964
Type	Secondary School (UK)
Religion	Non-denominational
Head Teacher	Walter Muir
Location	South Kildrum Ring Road Cumbernauld North Lanarkshire G67 2UF Scotland
Staff	60.2 FTE
Students	c. 600
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–18
Houses	Argyll Braemar Campsie Dunkeld
Colours	Black, Navy Blue, Silver and Light Blue
Website	Cumbernauld High School Website

Coordinates: 55°56′54″N 3°58′09″W / 55.948332°N 3.969079°W / 55.948332; -3.969079

Cumbernauld High School was the first comprehensive secondary school in the then 'New Town' of Cumbernauld. It opened in 1964 and is a non-denominational, co-educational, secondary school.^[1] It is affectionately known by pupils and former pupils as "Cumby High".

Overview

Cumbernauld High covers the Scottish education system's stages S1 to S6 Scottish education system and whilst it has the capacity for 1100 pupils, the current roll is currently around 600. The school draws students from Cumbernauld and the surrounding area and includes Cumbernauld Village, Kildrum, Abronhill, Carbrain, Seafar, Castlecary, Westerwood, Dullatur, Craigmarloch, Carrickstone Vale and Airdrie. Its associated feeder primary schools are Carbrain primary, Cumbernauld primary, Kildrum primary and Ravenswood primary.

The school is situated in a large area to the south of the Kildrum Ring Road.[1] It is bordered on the east and backs onto extensive woodland. The predominantly brick-built structure forms around the Robert Burns building which consists of three tower blocks and houses most of the classrooms. These blocks are now known as A, B and C Blocks. In the past these were referred to as Boys, Girls and Senior Blocks respectively, with each having its own dining room. The James Watt building houses the technical workshops and classrooms. The David Livingstone building houses the science labs, art and home economics classrooms. There are also extensive playing fields and indoor sports facilities, including a swimming pool.

There are currently four houses in the school; all are named after geographical regions in Scotland: Argyll, Braemar, Campsie and Dunkeld. The Dunkeld house was a new addition and was created near the start of the 2010–2011 session.

The school has a highly respected supported learning unit,^{[citation needed]} which provides on-site support for pupils with special and additional learning needs. There is also a flourishing performing arts unit which presents major musicals on a bi-annual basis with annual summer concerts and Christmas performances. With emphasis on extracurricular music tuition, the school has both an excellent soul and samba band.

Statistics and performance

• Learning and Teaching Scotland [2]
• Latest HMIE report [3]

History

Built in the early 1960s to a modern design, it was designed to accommodate the needs of the rapidly swelling population of Cumbernauld and was a large school with places for over 1000 pupils. As the Cumbernauld Development Corporation's first secondary school and therefore totemic, it was finished to an exceptionally high standard for the era, with teak and mahogany used widely throughout.

There were originally four school houses named after famous Scottish historical figures: Livingstone (David Livingstone), Watt (James Watt), Stevenson (Robert Louis Stevenson) and Burns (Robert Burns).

Pupils attended from the surrounding villages including Luggiebank and Castlecary and after the closure of Twechar Primary School's Junior Secondary Department in 1966, pupils were sent to Cumbernauld High School until the new Kirkintilloch High School opened in 1972.

Previous heads

• Matthew Brown
• James Mearns
• James Sinclair
• Mike Doig

Notable former pupils

• Isobel Buchanan, opera singer
• Craig Ferguson, comedian
• Lynn Ferguson, comedienne
• Gregg McClymont, Member of Parliament, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
• Gordon MacDonald, Member of the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh Pentlands
• Bristow Muldoon, former Member of the Scottish Parliament

Notable former teachers

• Liz Lochhead, poet and dramatist [4]
• Margaret Ewing, MP East Dunbartonshire 1974-9, MP Moray 1987-2001, MSP Moray 1999-2005 (deceased)

References

1. ^ Scottish education system

External links

• Cumbernauld High School Website
• Cumbernauld High School's page on Scottish Schools Online
• Gillespie, Kidd & Coia Website