Dalkeith High School

Dalkeith High School is a non-denominational secondary state school located in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland.

History

In November 2003, Dalkeith High was integrated into the Dalkeith Schools Community Campus along with St. David's Roman Catholic High School and Saltersgate School, a special education facility, making it the first such joint secondary school campus in Scotland.^[1] After the move, teachers kept students separated from each other in the dining hall and on the playground, citing concern that younger pupils might become disoriented by the sudden transformation of their small school into a large, integrated organisation with 2,200 youths. They initially predicted that the regime of segregation could be relaxed within a few weeks, and that religious factors played no role in their decision.^[2] However, by January 2004, teachers at Dalkeith and St. David's still told their pupils not to talk to pupils from the other school, and students were kept segregated due to threats of violence directed at one another and teachers of different religious backgrounds in addition to actual assaults.^[1]

Though the school's old building, located near the Woodburn area, remains unused, Midlothian Council spent £3,000 on lighting and £10,000 on security between 2004 and 2007, leading to criticism from local Conservative and Green Party politicians. As of June 2007, the council was near an agreement to sell the property.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Harris, Gillian (2004-01-22). "Lesson in bigotry as pupils shun integration". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1000416.ece. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 
2. ^ "School segregation defended". BBC News. 2003-11-03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3237671.stm. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 
3. ^ Devlin, Kate (2007-06-01). "Disused school kept lit to protect intruders". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/01/nschool101.xml. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 

External links

• District site
• Dalkeith High School's page on Scottish Schools Online

Coordinates: 55°53′39″N 3°04′40″W / 55.8941°N 3.0777°W / 55.8941; -3.0777