Graeme High School is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

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) ...

located in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The school is operated by

Falkirk Council Falkirk (; sco, Fawkirk; gd, An Eaglais Bhreac) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one ...

on behalf of the Education Department of the Scottish Government. The catchment area, from which the school's pupil population is drawn, comprises Hallglen, Laurieston, St. Margaret's, Victoria and

Westquarter Westquarter is a village in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is west of Polmont and south-east of the town of Falkirk. Westquarter can be accessed from the north via the A803 road The A803 is a road in central Scotland. It ...

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, located in the east of Falkirk itself and in the nearby Lower Braes villages.

Admissions

The school roll contains approximately 1200 pupils, and there are almost 90 teachers on staff.

History

The school is named after Sir John de Graham, a leader in the army of

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 ...

. In 1998, it was decided by the Scottish Executive that five local schools, including Graeme High School, would be rebuilt. Graeme High was rebuilt on the playing fields east of the original school. In August 2000 the replacement school was opened by the then

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000. He previously served as ...

. At the time the Public Private Partnership scheme ( PFI) project that included the rebuilding of Graeme High was one of the largest in the UK. In 2012, the school was selected as the Falkirk base for the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

's ''Performance Schools'', a system devised to support the development of the best young talented footballers across the country (there are seven such schools across Scotland). As of 2018, the dedicated coach for the young players at Graeme High is Ian Ross.

Traditions

There are four houses – Lockhart (whose colour is Red), Morrison (whose colour is Yellow), Steele (whose colour is Purple) and Thomson (whose colour is Blue) – which are named after the first four rectors of the school.

Notable former pupils

Adam Crozier Adam Alexander Crozier (born 26 January 1964) is a Scottish businessman, and was formerly the chief executive officer of media company ITV plc, operator of the ITV television network covering most of the United Kingdom. After a career at Saatc ...

, chief executive of

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...

, and former chief executive of

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

and

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

Graham Gardner Graham Gardner is the Librarian at Abingdon School (near Oxford, UK) and author of the novel '' Inventing Elliot''. He was born and brought up in the county of Worcestershire, England, and is the second eldest of ten children. From 2009 to 2014 h ...

, cricketer *

Malcolm Middleton Malcolm Bruce Middleton (born 31 December 1973) is a Scottish musician and member of indie band Arab Strap. He has also released seven solo studio albums and three albums performing under the pseudonym Human Don't Be Angry. Early life Middleto ...

, musician *

Bill Buchanan (professor) William Johnston Buchanan OBE FBCS CEng PFHEA (born 6 March 1961) is a Scottish computer scientist. Buchanan was born in Falkirk, Scotland in 1961. He currently leads the Blockpass ID Lab and the Centre for Distributed Computing and Securi ...

– Leading security expert and author of many academic books. * James Redmond, broadcaster *

Tam Scobbie Thomas "Tam" Scobbie (born 31 March 1988 in Falkirk) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Berwick Rangers. He has previously played for Falkirk, St Johnstone. Dundee United. Partick Thistle, Brechin City, and Kelty Hearts. Sco ...

, footballer *

Craig Sibbald Craig Alexander Sibbald (born 18 May 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Dundee United. He has previously played for Falkirk and Livingston, and represented Scotland at under-16 and under-17 level. Club ...

, footballer *

Ruth Connell Ruth Connell (born 20 April 1979) is a Scottish theatre, television and film actress, and producer. She is also a former professional dancer and choreographer. Connell is known for her recurring role as Rowena in the CW series '' Supernatural'' ...

, actress *

Gary Gillespie Gary Thompson Gillespie (born 5 July 1960) is a Scottish former professional football defender who played for Coventry City and later Liverpool, through much of the 1980s. Liverpool His three goals in that double winning season all came in th ...

, footballer

References

External links

Pictures of the original school

Official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Falkirk (council area) Buildings and structures in Falkirk 1937 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1937 Youth football in Scotland