St Ninian's High School ( gv, Schoill Ard Noo Ninian) 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) ...

located in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

and

Onchan Onchan (; glv, Kione Droghad) is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with wh ...

, on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. The School is set over two different sites, catering for different year groups.

History

The modern institution originated as a 1985 union of previously independent upper and lower schools. The lower dates to 1894, originally based at Park Road in central Douglas. The upper school, Douglas High School for Boys was founded in 1927 at Ballaquayle. Alumni of the high school formed the football club

Douglas High School Old Boys A.F.C. Douglas High School Old Boys A.F.C. (DHSOB AFC) are a Association football, football club from Onchan on the Isle of Man. They compete in the Isle of Man Football League and wear a blue and white kit. They play their home games at Blackberry Lane ...

A review of secondary education in Douglas in 1985 formed St. Ninians, establishing a new name and uniting the two parts. In 1998, staff member Alex Townsend developed the

Manx Telecomputer Bus The Manx Telecomputer Bus was a Manx government initiative to teach IT to children at a time when access to computers was limited in schools. A converted bus was equipped with 23 Macintosh computers and acted as a mobile classroom. Operating from ...

program, which saw the development of a mobile IT classroom. While primarily aimed at supporting primary schools, the computer bus facilitated a trip to London for St. Ninian's students in 1999. A new location was established for the lower school in 2012- relocating to Bemahague, in Onchan. This was because the Park Road site was falling into disrepair and space for further expansion was limited. The upper school had also become crowded by this time, relying on several mobile classrooms. This necessitated the construction of a new school which could take Park Road's former students as well as one year group from the upper school.

Facilities

The Upper School campus has received many renovations over its period of existence. It is now much larger than the original construction of the 1920s. Most recently a new Sixth form Centre was built in 2000. Named the Barbra Cottier Centre, it formed a purpose built centre for Sixth Form studies. In 2006 a new dining area and Special Needs centre was built on the site of a central courtyard. The new lower school in Onchan has several tennis courts, playing fields, modern football pitches and a large gymnasium.

Notable alumni

Samantha Barks Samantha Jane Barks (born 2 October 1990) is a Manx people, Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series ''I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series), I'd Do Anything'' in 2008. She has rele ...

– Actress *Prof.

Martin Bridson Martin Robert Bridson is a Manx mathematician. He is the Whitehead Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Oxford, and President of the Clay Mathematics Institute. He was previously Head of Oxford's Mathematical Institute. He is a F ...

, FRS – Whitehead Professor of Pure Mathematics, University of Oxford *

Christine Collister Christine Collister (born 28 December 1961) is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adapt ...

– Award winning folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter *

Paul Quine Stephen Paul Quine (born 17 January 1969), is a Manx-born commercial pilot and former politician who, on August 31, 2002, was pilot in command of the final Manx Airlines flight. On 27 August 2020 he was elected as a Member of the House of Keys ...

Member of the House of Keys The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council. History The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in ...

and Commercial Airline Pilot who was in command of the final

Manx Airlines Manx Airlines was an English-owned, Isle of Man-based airline that existed between 1982 and 2002. Its head office was located on the grounds of Isle of Man Airport in Ballasalla, Malew. An airline of the same name existed between 1947 and 1958. ...

flight *

Peter Craine Peter Alfred Craine (30 November 1931 – 5 January 2003) was a baker and a politician from the Isle of Man and a Member of the House of Keys (MHK) for Douglas South. Politics He was originally elected with the Manx nationalist party Mec V ...

- Member of the House of Keys *

Peter Kennaugh Peter Robert Kennaugh MBE (born 15 June 1989) is a Manx former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2019 for and . In 2012 he won the gold medal as part of the Great Britain Team Pursuit team at the 2012 Summ ...

– Cyclist and Olympic gold medalist. *

Frank Kermode Sir John Frank Kermode, FBA (29 November 1919 – 17 August 2010) was a British literary critic best known for his 1967 work '' The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction'' and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing. He was ...

– literary critic and professor of English literature *

Charles Kerruish Sir Henry Charles Kerruish OBE LLD CP MLC (23 July 1917 – 2 August 2003) was a Manx politician who was the first President of Tynwald and, as Speaker of the House of Keys from 1962 to 1990, was the longest-serving Speaker in any Parliamen ...

– First President of Tynwald *

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

– Best known for the creation of the character Professor Bernard Quatermass

References

External links

School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Ninian's High School, Douglas Schools in the Isle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man Onchan Secondary schools on the Isle of Man 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom Educational institutions established in 1985