Balfron High School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

situated in the village of

Balfron Balfron ( gd, Both Fron) is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is situated near Endrick Water on the A875 road, 18 miles (29 km) west of Stirling and 16 miles (26 km) north of Glasgow. Although a rural settlement, it ...

, approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of Stirling and 16 miles (26 km) north of Glasgow. The catchment area extends over most of West Stirlingshire including the villages of

Arnprior Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Downtown Ottawa, at the confluence of the Madawaska River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior has experienced sign ...

Balmaha Balmaha (Gaelic: ''Baile Mo Thatha'') is a village on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond in the council area of Stirling, Scotland. The village is a popular tourist destination for picnickers and day trippers from Glasgow as well as walkers on ...

Blanefield Blanefield is a settlement in Scotland contiguous with Strathblane's northwestern fringe. To the west is the volcanic plug Dumgoyne, Glengoyne Distillery and the Trossachs National Park. The West Highland Way—a long-distance trail—passes cl ...

Buchlyvie Buchlyvie is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is situated west of Stirling and north of Glasgow. Lying within the Carse of Forth, to the north is Flanders Moss and to the south are the Campsie Fells. The village lies on th ...

Croftamie Croftamie (Scottish Gaelic ''Croit Sheumaidh'') is a small village and community council area in the Stirling council area in Scotland. It lies to the south of the larger village of Drymen. The village was traditionally part of Dunbartonshire. ...

Drymen Drymen (; from gd, Druiminn ) is a village in the Stirling district of central Scotland. Once a popular stopping place for cattle drovers, it is now popular with visiting tourists given its location near Loch Lomond. The village is centred arou ...

Fintry Fintry is a small riverside village in Stirlingshire, central Scotland. Landscape The village of Fintry sits on the strath of the Endrick Water in a valley between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills. The name Fintry is said to have derive ...

Killearn Killearn (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhearann'', from orig. ''Ceann Fhearann'', "Head/End of (the) Land/Territory" – until the 15th century when ''Ceann'' was replaced by ''Cill''; denoting the presence of a house of worship) – is a smal ...

Kippen Kippen is a village in west Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies between the Gargunnock Hills and the Fintry Hills and overlooks the River Forth, Carse of Forth to the north. The village is west of Stirling and north of Glasgow. It is south-east ...

Milton of Buchanan Milton of Buchanan is a small village in Stirling, Scotland, within the parish of Buchanan. Historically, the village was in the Registration County of Stirlingshire. It was the main village of the parish of Buchanan. However, the village is n ...

and

Strathblane Strathblane ( gd, Strath Bhlàthain, ) is a village and parish in the registration county of Stirlingshire, situated in the southwestern part of the Stirling council area, in central Scotland. It lies at the foothills of the Campsie Fells and the ...

, along with the hamlets of Balfron Station,

Boquhan Boquhan (pronounced Bowhan) is a hamlet in Stirling, Scotland, sometimes known as Wester Boquhan to distinguish it from the other nearby Boquhan, near Kippen. The hamlet lies southwest of the village of Balfron and northeast of Killearn. Just ...

Buchanan Smithy Buchanan Smithy is a hamlet in Buchanan in the far west of Stirling, Scotland. The current settlement was mostly purpose-built in the 18th century for the estate workers of James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, who lived at nearby Buchanan Castle. ...

Dumgoyne Dumgoyne is a hill prominent on the edge of the Campsie Fells and is a well-known landmark visible from Glasgow. It is a volcanic plug and is high. The plug is readily reached from a path beside Glengoyne Distillery or via a water-board track ...

, Gartness and

Mugdock Mugdock is a hamlet in Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies to the south of the village of Strathblane, and was in the civil parish. In the past the hamlet had more significance. It was considered the main village of the civil parish of Strathblane. ...

. The school also has pupils attending from other nearby areas of

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders P ...

and

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...

History

Balfron High School grew out of the

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of Balfron, which can be traced back to the 17th century. The school became a High School in 1925 with the original school building in Balfron dating back to the early part of the 20th century. A major extension was built in the 1960s. The old school was known for being too small, due to the use of many mobile classrooms that were originally only meant as a temporary measure. In fact the mobile classrooms stood for many years and remained until the school was

demolished Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...

. The original façade was preserved and has now been created into two homes, with the rest of the site of the old school also being developed into new homes. The new school building was completed for the 2001–02 school year, costing £14 million to build. In May 2016, defects were found in the building. A total of 440 pupils in S1 to S3 were decanted to schools in Stirling. The current head teacher at the school is Ms Elaine Bannatyne. Senior Leadership Team: Claire Appelquist (Depute for Endrick House), Phil Slavin (Depute for Campsie House), Amanda Short (Depute for Lomond House)

The School Houses

The school operates a three-house system. Campsie House (Green) is named for the

Campsie Fells The Campsie Fells (also known as the Campsies; Scottish Gaelic: ''Monadh Chamaisidh'') are a range of hills in central Scotland, stretching east to west from Denny Muir to Dumgoyne in Stirlingshire and overlooking Strathkelvin to the south. The ...

, a range of hills bordering the south east of the school's catchment area. Endrick House (Blue) is named for the

Endrick Water The Endrick Water or River Endrick ( gd, Eunarag) is a river which flows into the eastern end of Loch Lomond, Scotland. Its drainage basin covers a large part of the west of Stirling District. The Burnfoot Burn rising on the southern slopes of the ...

, a river flowing through the school's catchment area. Lomond House (Red) is named for

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...

, a loch at the western fringes of the school's catchment area.

Notable alumni

Colin Gregor Colin Gregor (born 31 May 1981) is a retired Scottish rugby union player. He was the captain of the Scotland 7s team from 2009 to 2014. He is only the eighth player, and first Scot, to score over 1,000 points on the IRB Sevens World Series. ...

- Scottish Rugby 7s Captain *

Lauren Gray Lauren Gray (born 3 November 1991) is a Scottish curler from Stirling. As alternate for the Eve Muirhead rink, she won a gold medal at the 2013 World Championships for Scotland, and a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics for Great Britai ...

- Team GB

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Curling bronze medallist * Logan Gray - Scottish international curler *

Iain Turner Iain Ross Turner (born 26 January 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper and who works as goalkeeping coach at Tranmere Rovers. He represented the Scotland under-21 team, the Scotland B team and been sel ...

- former

Everton FC Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

and Scotland 'B' international Goalkeeper *

Rory Kerr Rory Kerr (born 20 December 1979 in Glasgow) is a former Scotland rugby union international and Glasgow Warriors player. He could play at Fullback or Wing positions. Amateur career He played for various clubs. Starting out at amateur level with ...

- Scottish International rugby union player *

Craig Mathieson (polar explorer) Craig Mathieson is a polar explorer who is ‘Explorer-in-Residence’ with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Craig takes children from high school all over Scotland on a polar expedition Overview Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire and raised ...

Ross Murdoch Ross Murdoch (born 14 January 1994) is a Scottish competitive swimming (sport), swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics in 2016 and 2020, the FINA World Championships and the LEN European Championships, and Scotland at ...

- Swimmer and

Glasgow 2014 The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

gold medallist * Julian Smith - Member of Parliament for

Skipton and Ripon Skipton and Ripon is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Julian Smith, a Conservative. Constituency profile The constituency covers a mainly rural area of the Yorkshire Da ...

and former

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

References

External links

Balfron High School
- School website {{authority control Secondary schools in Stirling (council area) 1925 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1925