Lomond School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

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 and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

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 ...

. Lomond School is, currently, the only day and

on the west coast of

. It was formed from a merger in 1977 between Larchfield School (founded 1845 and previously called Larchfield Academy) and St Bride's School for Girls (founded 1895). Lomond School primarily teaches to the

Scottish Education System Education in Scotland is overseen by the Scottish Government and its executive agency Education Scotland. Education in Scotland has a history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly differ ...

, but in pupils' senior years (S5 & S6) at the school they can move into the one of the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

programmes. The IB programmes were introduced in August 2021. It is a member school 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 Unite ...

. The principal of the school is Johanna Urquhart, who took over from the previous headmaster, Simon Mills, in August 2014.

History

Lomond School was the result of a merger between Larchfield School (founded 1845 and previously called Larchfield Academy) and St Bride's School for Girls (founded 1895) in 1977. Larchfield Academy (often called Larchfield School) was a preparatory school for boys in Colquhoun Street,

and was founded in 1858. Larchfield Academy had existed in various forms and in other buildings prior to that, with the original year of foundation given as 1845. The old school building was purchased along side the newly-completed Larchfield Academy in 1858 by James S. Scott. The school originally used both the Larchfield and St Brides sites. In February 1997, the St Brides building burnt down in a fire. In October of 1998, a replacement building was built on the St Brides site and incorporated elements of the former building that were not destroyed by the fire. The design of the new building was completed by senior master Ian McKellar, an architect turned graphic communication teacher at Lomond, and Glasgow-based architects G D Lodge. The Larchfield site was also sold at around the same time.

Notable former pupils

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demo ...

* Fiona Burnet, field hockey *

Alexander Murray Drennan Alexander Murray Drennan FRSE FRCPE (4 January 1884 – 29 February 1984) was a Scottish pathologist. In the First World War, he promoted the widespread use of Edinburgh University Solution (sold under the brand name of Eusol). A keen yachts ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1884-1984) Professor of Pathology *

James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. Personal life He was born on 1 Janua ...

, Scottish social anthropologist, clacissist and folklorist * Vicki Hopkinson, artist * Bonar Law *Dr John Edwin MacKenzie FRSE (1868-1955) chemist *

Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde, (22 February 1853 – 2 October 1928) was a Scottish politician, judge, and georgist land value tax activist. Life He was the son of John Ure, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and his wife Isabella. He studied ...

References

External links

Lomond SchoolProfile
on the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

website
1966 All school photo via Steve Kropper
Boarding schools in Argyll and Bute Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Independent schools in Argyll and Bute Primary schools in Argyll and Bute Secondary schools in Argyll and Bute Helensburgh International Baccalaureate schools in Scotland {{Scotland-school-stub