The High School of Dundee is an independent,
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
,
day school
A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...
in
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only private school in Dundee.
The school's
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
is a member of the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the United ...
.
The school has been registered as a charity in Scotland since July 1897.
History
The Grammar School
The school has origins in the Grammar School of Dundee founded by the
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
and
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s of
Lindores Abbey
Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh, Fife, Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a reduced ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about north of the village of Lindores and is a scheduled ancient monumen ...
after they were granted a
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
by
Gregory, Bishop of Brechin, in the early 1220s to "plant schools wherever they please in the
burgh
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...
". Their rights were confirmed by a
papal bull conferred by Pope
Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
on 14 February 1239. It is from this bull that the school's
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
"''Prestante Domino''", translated as "Under the Leadership of God", is taken.
Little information survives about the early grammar school: it would have taught a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
curriculum to boys from Dundee and the surrounding area. In 1434, the teaching methods of the Master, Gilbert Knight, were challenged by
John, Bishop of Brechin, who conferred Laurence Lownan as the new Master in Knight's place.
Dundee was a hotbed of the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, and
St Mary's Church had, according to
John Knox
John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Born in Giffordgat ...
, the first truly reformed congregation in Scotland. The school itself was the earliest reformed school in the country, having adopted the new religion in 1554 under the master, Thomas Makgibbon, with the assistance of the (by-now Protestant) Dundee Town Council. However,
John, the Abbot of Lindores, stepped in to take control of the school which his predecessors had founded, replacing Makgibbon nominally with the Vicar of St. Mary's, John Rolland, who was given the power to appoint substitutes; this he did, his substitutes opening schools in opposition to the Grammar School, poaching its pupils. In the ensuing furore the Town Council, which approved of Makgibbon's methods, intervened to prevent rival schools.
Among other early masters was John Fethy, who left Scotland for
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
from Dundee, having come into contact with Lutheran influences. He returned to Scotland around 1532 "the first organist that ever brought to Scotland the curious new fingering", that is, playing the
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
with five fingers.
Early scholars included
Hector Boece
Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...
, historian and first
principal of the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
;
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
; and
James, John and Robert Wedderburn
James Wedderburn (c. 1495 – 1553) was a Scottish poet, the eldest son of James Wedderburn, merchant of Dundee (described in documents as "at the West Kirk Style" to distinguish him from others of the name), and of Janet Barry, sister of John B ...
, authors of ''
The Gude and Godlie Ballatis
James Wedderburn (c. 1495 – 1553) was a Scottish poet, the eldest son of James Wedderburn, merchant of Dundee (described in documents as "at the West Kirk Style" to distinguish him from others of the name), and of Janet Barry, sister of John B ...
'', one of the most important literary works of the Scottish Reformation.
After the Reformation, the Grammar School came under the auspices of Dundee Town Council.
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
was added to the curriculum shortly after 1562, under the Master
Alexander Hepburn, who would author ''Grammaticae Artis Rudimenta Breviter et Dilucide Explicata'', a Latin primer, in Dundee, and become
bishop of Ross in 1574.
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
, also made an annual grant to the school in 1563, from the revenues of the church.
The school moved into its first permanent home in 1589, a building in St Clement's Lane demolished to make way for the City Square in the 1930s. Among the masters here were
Andrew Duncan, an academic and Presbyterian minister, and
David Lindsay, later
Bishop of Edinburgh
The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh.
Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Archbishop of St Andrews ...
, who crowned
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
at
Holyrood. Pupils were still expected to speak only Latin – to ensure which, their schoolmates were to act as "clandestine captors". Boys entered at the age of eight, and stayed for seven years (two years longer than in other Scottish schools: in 1773, this was reduced to the customary five) at which point the boy could proceed to university. A boy had probably only two teachers in all this time: each of the three assistants, known as doctors, taught one class for three years, after which the rector would teach for two years.
The English School and Dundee Academy
The English School was founded by the burgh council in 1702, and was the successor to the pre-Reformation “Song School”: it acted as a sort of elementary school for both sexes. It stood in School Wynd, by the city churches, near to the present site of the
Mercat Cross. The Grammar School shared a building with it from 1789, though the two remained separate.
In 1785, Dundee Academy was opened in the Nethergate, in a hospital building built by the Trinitarian Friars before the Reformation; today it is the site of St Andrews Roman Catholic Cathedral. This new school, also founded by the Council, was “to instruct young gentlemen in mathematical learning, and the several branches of the science with which it is connected.” Its first rector, James Weir, described as “a gentleman of considerable abilities, but rather a projector,” took great interest in the problem of perpetual motion. The school closed down altogether in 1795 after its second master,
James Ivory
James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screen ...
, had gone to be a professor at the
Royal Military College. The academy re-opened in 1801, under Thomas Duncan, a brilliant mathematician: but after his appointment to the
Regius Chair of Mathematics
The Regius Professorship of Mathematics is the name given to three chairs in mathematics at British universities, one at the University of St Andrews, founded by Charles II in 1668, the second one at the University of Warwick, founded in 2013 to c ...
at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
in 1820 the school suffered. The author
Robert Mudie
Robert Mudie (1777–1842) was a newspaper editor and author.
Life
He was born in Angus, Scotland on 28 June 1777, was the youngest son of John Mudie, a weaver (occupation), weaver, and his wife Elizabeth (née Bany). After attending the village ...
also taught at the academy from 1808 to 1821.
Dundee Public Seminaries
For some years it had become apparent that the educational needs of the rapidly expanding burgh were inadequately met by the three burgh schools. In April 1829, a public meeting was held to consider the situation, where it was proposed to combine the schools within one building. Dundee Town Council had also been reviewing the position: following deliberations, it was decided that “the Magistrates and Town Council and all classes of the community shall unite in joint efforts for enlarging and improving the means of education in Dundee”. The schools hitherto under the patronage of the Council were to be reconstituted and handed over to a new body of directors, of whom ten were chosen by the Council, and ten by the subscribers to the new buildings. Thus, the three schools were united in 1829 to form the Dundee Public Seminaries, and in 1832-4 the present school, to the design of Edinburgh architect
George Angus, was built, a
neo-classical building
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
designed as part of the civic improvements in Dundee.
The school was opened on 1 October 1834. The total cost of the building, including the playground and enclosure (not completed until 1837) was £10,000, the greater portion of which was raised by public subscription. Though it had one building and one management, the three schools remained more or less distinct; conflicting claims for precedence led to no rector being appointed. The centre was assigned to the academy, the west wing to the Grammar School, and the east wing to the English School; the eight or nine headmasters acted independently, but presided in rotation over a Censor's Court, which dealt with matters of common concern. To this day, the heads of individual departments within the School are known as Headmasters, a unique reminder of this arrangement. From 1840, one of the directors was to exercise general supervision over the school as governor, or superintending director, with powers to "reform all abuses and irregularities".
The High School of Dundee
In 1859, a
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
granted by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
changed the name of the school to the High School of Dundee, and protected the rights of the Subscribers. In 1877, a new curriculum was introduced, and an inclusive fee charged: prior to this, pupils had attended such classes as they chose. The independent future of the school was threatened by the
Education (Scotland) Act 1872
The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 62) made elementary education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 mandatory in Scotland.
The Act achieved a more thorough transfer of existing schools to a public system than the 1 ...
, which made education compulsory and took over the running of parish schools from the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
. Burgh as well as parish schools now came under school boards run by local committees, and similarly ancient schools in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
were taken over by their respective town councils. The Subscribers to the High School objected to this. The situation was worsened by a similar Act in 1878, and legal action looked inevitable, until an alumnus, William Harris, offered, in February 1881, to donate £30,000 for the purposes of higher education in Dundee on condition that the board give up all claim to the school. This agreement was incorporated in an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
, the William Harris Endowment and Dundee Education Act, 1882. This act led to the appointment of a single rector of the High School of Dundee, and the foundation of
Harris Academy
Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the West End of Dundee, Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest state school in Dundee. Harris Academy is also one of the largest state run schools in Dundee in ...
. Thanks to Margaret Harris, who waived her right to a life-rent of her brother's estate, a girls’ school was built across Euclid Crescent in two stages between 1886 and 1890. A further Act was passed in 1922, and the school's current constitution is embodied in ‘The High School of Dundee Scheme, 1987’, sanctioned by an Order of the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...
made under the
Education (Scotland) Act 1980, in May 1992.
The school church is
Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's)
Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s) is located in the east section of Dundee's "City Churches", the other being occupied by the Steeple Church. Both are congregations in the Church of Scotland, although with differing styles of worship.
Dundee ...
, continuing a tradition that has existed since its foundation in the thirteenth century, and services and concerts are regularly held in the church.
The school has a total of 1040 pupils in prep-school and the senior school. Fees for the 2021–2022 session range from £9 618.00 to £13 650.00 per annum, depending on the year of study. The High School of Dundee was among the first Scottish charities investigated by the
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland.
OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for more than 24,000 Scottish ch ...
for the public benefit derived from their tax-exempt status, and was the first independent school in the United Kingdom judged to have demonstrated its charitable aims and "local and national benefit".
The High School was voted Scottish Independent Secondary School of the Year 2008 by
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
.
Buildings and grounds
![Dundee High School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Dundee_High_School.jpg)
The High School of Dundee is situated in seven buildings in the city centre:
* the Main Building (traditionally the Boys School)
* the Margaret Harris Building (the Girls School)
* the Robert Fergusson Building, housing the English department
* Trinity Meadowside, a former church, designed by
David Bryce
David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect.
Life
Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...
, housing the hall, library, drama department and recording studio
* Bonar House
* Baxter Hall
* the Lodge
There are also two main playing grounds, Dalnacraig and
Mayfield, approximately one mile from the school, at which sports such as
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
, tennis,
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, and
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
are played. Mayfield has undergone massive investment in recent years with new sports facilities, and is the home of
Dundee High School Former Pupils’ RFC; it is also let out to other groups. The school holds an annual sports day at the Mayfield playing grounds in June where the four school
houses
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
compete against each other throughout the day.
Houses
The school has four
houses
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
to which pupils are assigned randomly, or depending on their family history in the school. The four houses are
Airlie, Aystree (after the house of a Benefactor of the School),
Lindores
Lindores is a small village in Fife, Scotland, in the parish of Abdie, about 2 miles south-east of Newburgh. It is situated on the north-east shore of Lindores Loch, a 44 ha freshwater loch. A possible derivation of the name ''Lindores'' is 'c ...
(originally "School"), and Wallace (after
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
). Junior School get the opportunity to gain house points during class and the senior school gain house-points through competitions such as inter-house
debating
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...
, and through the results collected from sports day. At the end of every session, the points are added together, and the house plate is awarded to the winning house.
Staff Bullying
In 2019 the school was required to pay £60,000 as a result of unfairly dismissing the principal teacher of religious, moral and philosophical studies. The court found that the rector's treatment of the teacher was “extremely threatening and unpleasant”. Judge Ian McFatridge said that evidence from Dr Halliday and Lise Hudson, his deputy and named successor, was not credible or reliable: the school did not contest the ruling.
Notable alumni
References
Further reading
* The Dundee High School Magazine 1934
* The High School of Dundee Prospectus 1964
* Durkan, J., “Education: The Laying of Fresh Foundations”, in J. MacQueen (ed.), Humanism in Renaissance Scotland (Edinburgh, 1990).
* Durkan, J., “The cultural background in sixteenth-century Scotland, in David McRoberts (ed.) Essays on the Scottish Reformation, (Glasgow, 1962), pp. 274–331.
* Maxwell, A., Old Dundee prior to the Reformation, (Dundee, 1891).
* Stephenson, J.M.W., Education in the Burgh of Dundee in the Eighteenth Century, (Edinburgh, 1973).
External links
School WebsiteHigh School of Dundee's page on Scottish Schools OnlineProfileon the
ISC #REDIRECT ISC
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
website
Profileon the
HMC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:High School Of Dundee
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