Stirling High School is a state high school for 11- to 18-year-olds run by Stirling Council in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, Scotland. It is one of seven

high schools 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 '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in the Stirling district, and has approximately 972 pupils. It is located on Torbrex Farm Road, near Torbrex Village in the suburbs of Stirling, previously being situated on the old volcanic rock where

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

lies and on Ogilvie Road. The headteacher of the school is Paul Cassidy. The school operates a

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to o ...

. The five houses are Douglas, Eccles, Randolph, Snowdon and Stewart. Originally established for the training of ecclesiastics, it began as the seminary of the

Church of the Holy Rude The Church of the Holy Rude (Scottish Gaelic: ''Eaglais na Crois Naoimh'') is the medieval parish church of Stirling, Scotland. It is named after the Holy Rood, a relic of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The church was founded in 11 ...

, founded in the reign of

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland (di ...

in 1129. Both the church and school, along with those of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, were brought under the charge of the monks of the Church of the Holy Trinity of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

in 1173.

New school buildings

The school now operates from a new building on the former site of Williamfield Cricket Pitches, ex-home to Stirling County Cricket Club. Stirling High School had an official opening ceremony on 26 June 2008, which consisted of a ribbon cutting by former pupil

Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter. From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015. Early ...

Private Finance Initiative

The new school was financed by the Public Private Finance initiative, which involves the current site being sold to developers. Over the following years, the developers then lease the school back to the council. The school's facilities management is carried out by FES FM Ltd rather than Stirling Council. Teaching, administration and catering will continue to be provided by Stirling Council.Stirling Council website
Accessed 26 October 2011

Location

The new school sits adjacent to St Ninian's Primary School. It was built on a greenfield site of the old cricket club, and the current playing fields are to be sold off to housing.

Coat of arms and motto

The coat of arms shows Queen Margaret, richly habited and crowned bearing in her right hand a sceptre and in her left a book all proper between two trees of knowledge, to remind us of the remote 12th century, when a bishop of St. Andrews, in whose diocese Stirling was, gave to Queen Margaret's Church of the Holy Trinity of Dunfermline the churches of

and Stirling and their schools. The wolf, couchant gardant, at the Queen's feet is taken from the "Small" Burgh seal, and reflects the early interest in education taken by the magistrates of the

Royal Burgh A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

, for later charters speak of ''scholam de Striuelin'', and ''Scholam ejusdam ville'', which suggest that the 'Church' school fairly soon became the town's school. The Latin motto ''Tempori Parendum'' translates to 'Be prepared for your time'.

The Old School

The High School of Stirling has been housed in several buildings over the course of its long history. In 1856 the high school was housed in a specially created building on Spittal Street. This building housed the classrooms for Mathematics, English, Modern Languages, Art, Classics; as well as a Gymnasium, and an Observatory on the roof. This school stayed open until 1962, long after 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 for children aged 5 to 13 and dramatically increased the intake of pupils for the school, when the school moved from its place at the top of the town, to

Torbrex Torbrex is a small village in Scotland. Geographically Torbrex is enclosed within Stirling by Cambusbarron Cambusbarron is a village in Stirling, Scotland. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 3,224. There is evidence of settlement at ...

- the previous position of the High School. The building the old school was housed in is now the Stirling Highland Hotel. The school's home from 1962 to 2008 was near the village of Torbrex. Through the various relocations great care has been taken to ensure the history of the School has been retained. This has resulted in a dedicated 'Heritage Room' being included in both the 1960s and 2008 buildings. This room is managed by the Former Pupil Association and houses the school Remembrance Book, various whole school photographs and oak panelling from the Rector's office of the Spittal Street Building. Also moved was the War Memorial Window, stained glass windows from the 1850s building and the House Captain Board listing the recipients of the School Dux Award and the names of the Head Boys and Girls. All of these items are displayed in the main foyer of the school.

Notable former pupils

* Kieron Achara - Basketball player *

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- Prime Minister *

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(1805–1885) - first president of the Medico-Psychological Association *

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KCB (1855–1931) - bacteriologist * Patrick Forbes - 17th-century

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* Linda Gilroy -

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and

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(1898–1972) - filmmaker * Robert Henry - historian *

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- Scottish international rugby player * James MacLaren - architect *

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(1914–1987) - animator and film director *

Muir Mathieson James Muir Mathieson, OBE (24 January 19112 August 1975) was a Scottish conductor and composer. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" on many British films. Career Mathieson was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1911. A ...

(1911–1975) - conductor * Sir John Murray - oceanographer * Craig Oliver - former BBC media executive and Downing Street Director of Communications *

Steven Paterson Steven Alexander Paterson (born 25 April 1975) is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling between 2015 and 2017. He was not re-selected by the SNP to contest the Stirling seat a ...

- SNP MP for

* Sir Craig Reedie - chairman of the

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- Director of the Women's Royal Air Force * Sir Josiah Symon

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

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Gregor Tait Gregor Tait (born 20 April 1979) is a Scottish backstroke swimmer, and an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain. He has swum for Great Britain (or Scotland as noted) at the: *Olympics: 2004, 2008 *World Championships: 2003, 2005, 2007 *Commonwealth ...

- Scottish international swimmer and reigning Commonwealth Games 200-m backstroke and 200-m individual medley champion * Prof

John Mitchell Watt Prof John Mitchell Watt FRSE FRSSA FRCPE FLS LLD (1 December 1892–23 April 1980) was a 20th-century South African physician and pharmacologist. He served in both World Wars. He made extensive catalogues of traditional African medicines. L ...

- pharmacologist *

- television journalist

References

Bibliography

''History of the High School of Stirling'' by A. F. Hutchison, Rector of the school 1866 - 1896. The Sentinel Press (Eneas Mackay), Stirling, 1904.

External links

Stirling High School's page on Scottish Schools Online
{{Authority control Secondary schools in Stirling (council area) Educational institutions established in the 12th century 1129 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Stirling (city) School buildings completed in 1962 School buildings completed in 2008 School buildings completed in 1856