Our Lady & St Patrick's High School is a six-year co-educational comprehensive Roman Catholic school, situated in the Bellsmyre area of

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, Scotland. It is the only denominational secondary school for Dumbarton, the nearby

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...

Community and

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 ...

History

The school's origins can be traced back to the closure of two previous Roman Catholic single-sex schools in the area: St. Patrick's (an all-boys school) and Notre Dame (an all-girls school). In 1990 the two were merged into a new school, using the newer buildings of Notre Dame in the Castlehill neighbourhood on the west side of Dumbarton (completed in 1969). In order to represent both of the previous schools, the new name "Our Lady and St. Patrick's" was chosen.Pictures: Demolition of Our Lady and St Patrick's High School
Daily Record, 17 October 2018 Previously, a local

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

had a large influence in the school as they previously managed the all-girls school Notre Dame, which was incorporated into it. The school colours, green and blue were chosen from the existing schools and are the colours most commonly associated with the namesake religious figures; blue for the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

and green for St. Patrick.

21st century

In 2017, a new campus was constructed for the school at a cost of £25 million, located in the northern edge of the town at Bellsmyre (the location was previously occupied by four residential tower blocks). The Castlehill campus was demolished the following year.Old School Premature end as Our Lady and St Patrick’s comes under the hammer
The Dumbarton Democrat, 3 September 2018 The school enjoys a healthy reputation amongst the community as a school of high achievement with some year groups experiencing a regular pass rate of 95% in exams. The school serves the catchment of Dumbarton,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Balloch,

and the Rosneath peninsula. The school is currently providing educational services for around 1100 pupils and the current headmaster is Chris Smith, who assumed the role with the retirement of previous headmaster Charles Rooney in 2014.

Philosophy

Like all Catholic schools in Scotland, Our Lady and St. Patrick's conforms with the "Charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland", a set of guidelines set down by the Scottish Government. Our Lady and St Patrick's is a major part of the Catholic community for its relatively large catchment area and regularly performs a celebration of mass for events such as local Primary 7 graduation into the school and for

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

commemorations.

Notable former pupils

Morgan McMichaels Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981) is the stage name of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White, best known as a contestant on the second season of the reality television competition ''RuPaul's Drag Race,'' as well as the third seaso ...

(b. 1981) - professional drag performer and contestant in

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

, season two * Caroline Glachan (b. 1982) - murdered while a pupil *

Zander Diamond Alexander Kevin "Zander" Diamond (born 12 March 1985) is a Scottish former professional footballer and current assistant manager of Lowland League club Broomhill. Diamond played as a centre-back and began his career with Scottish Premier Leagu ...

(b. 1985) - professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Burton Albion F.C. Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

Ryan Conroy Ryan Conroy (born 28 April 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-winger for Peterhead. He can also play as a left-back. Conroy has previously played for Celtic, Queen of the South, Partick Thistle on loan, Dundee, R ...

(b. 1987) - professional

Dundee F.C. Dundee Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland, founded in 1893. The team are nicknamed "The Dark Blues" or "The Dee". The club plays its home matches at Dens Park. The club was formed after a merg ...

. * Jim O'Brien (b. 1987) - professional

Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Cardinal Keith O'Brien Keith Michael Patrick Cardinal (Catholic Church), Cardinal O'Brien (17 March 1938 – 19 March 2018) was a senior-ranking Catholic Church, Catholic prelate in Scotland. He was the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh from 1985 to 2013. C ...

(1938-2018) -

Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The archdiocese covers an area of 5,504 km2. The metropolitan see is in the City of Edinburgh where the archbishop's ...

(attended St. Patrick's High School prior to merging)

References

External links

*
Our Lady & St Patrick's High School's page on Scottish Schools Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Our Lady and St Patrick's High School Catholic secondary schools in West Dunbartonshire Buildings and structures in Dumbarton Vale of Leven