Williamwood High School is a non-denominational
comprehensive secondary school in
Clarkston, East Renfrewshire
Clarkston ( sco, Clairkstoun, gd, Baile Chlarc) is a suburban town in East Renfrewshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. A dormitory town with a population of around 10,000, Clarkston is on the southern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurb ...
, Scotland, with a roll of around 1700 pupils. It was originally opened in the 1930s as Eastwood Senior Secondary School, located on Seres Road in the Williamwood area of Clarkston. In 2006 the school relocated to a new site at Eaglesham Road on the southern edge of Clarkston, with fields and farm roads to the south, west and north, about 1.5 miles from the original site.
As of 2018, the school contained 1632 pupils out of a capacity of 1710.
History
![Williamwood High School - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Williamwood_High_School_-_geograph.org.uk_-_23140.jpg)
The school was originally opened as Eastwood Senior Secondary School in Seres Road, Williamwood in the 1930s, later being renamed Williamwood High School. It was announced in 2003/2004 that a new school would be built to replace the ageing facilities at Seres Road. It was funded under the
PPP scheme by the private company HBG.
In August 2006 the new £29 million school opened at the Eaglesham Road site. It features over 70 classrooms, each fitted with interactive whiteboards. The school has high quality sports facilities including
astroturf
AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...
pitches and running track, a video editing suite, and high standard drama studios. The new school was officially opened by the First Minister of Scotland,
Jack McConnell
Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister ...
, on Monday 11 December 2006.
Following an inspection in 2009, Williamwood became the first school in Scotland to be awarded a maximum of five "excellent" ratings by
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for the inspection of public and independent, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community learnin ...
.
The unoccupied former building was damaged by fire in February 2007. Within around a year of this, the school was demolished, and townhouses were built on the old site. The former playing fields were redeveloped into the Eastwood Health Centre, alongside the old
Isobel Mair School building. Some parts of the playing fields remain brownfield, however. Former headteacher John Fitzpatrick was awarded the OBE in 2011 for services to education, whilst at Williamwood.
In April 2015, the
S6 year group from the school went
viral
Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents).
Viral may also refer to:
Viral behavior, or virality
Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example:
* Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...
on the internet after filming a video of themselves and various staff members miming to the song
Uptown Funk by
Bruno Mars and
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...
. The video was made to be shown at their end of year graduation but amassed over one hundred thousand views after being posted online.
In June 2015, following the retirement of John Fitzpatrick, William Inglis became headteacher.
In 2021, Nicola MacGlashan took over as headteacher, having previously been the headteacher at nearby
Woodfarm High School
Woodfarm High School is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school in Woodfarm, East Renfrewshire. It has a roll of approximately 800 pupils. Gillian Boyle is the acting Headmistress, taking over from Nicola MacGlashan who left to join nearby ...
. Soon after the appointment, the school implemented a controversial new rule that toilets were to be locked during class time to prevent
truancy. This prompted backlash amongst the school community, with an online petition set up to oppose the decision. The school later reversed the rule in view of the negative response.
Departments
The subject areas at Williamwood are separated into different departments. Each department has a principal teacher who has overall management responsibility and leads the learning and teaching. The departments are:
* English
* Design & Technology
* Home Economics
* Mathematics
* Modern Languages (French/Spanish/Mandarin)
* Creative and Performing Arts (Art/Photography/Drama/Music/Music Technology)
* Social Subjects (History/Geography/Modern Studies)
* BICT
* Physical Education
* RMPS
* Science (Biology/Chemistry/Physics)
Curriculum
Williamwood follows the
Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence is the national curriculum for Scottish schools for learners from the ages 3–18.
It was developed out of a 2002 consultation exercise – the 'National Debate on Education' – undertaken by the-then Scottish Execut ...
, the national curriculum for schools in Scotland. In the senior phase (S4-S6) students study for SQA qualifications starting at National 1–5 in S4, progressing to Highers and Advanced Highers in S5 & S6 respectively.
Associated Primary Schools and Nurseries
Primary Schools
Netherlee Primary School is located in Netherlee, which is Clarkston's neighbour. Netherlee also has nursery facilities in buildings called the "Saplings" and "Acorns" buildings. The catchment for Netherlee Primary also includes the Stamperland area of Clarkston.
Carolside Primary School is located in the Carolside area. It also has nursery facilities, some of which are currently being extended (as of March 2020). Its catchment covers the large Carolside and South Williamwood areas, as well as the small area of Overlee (not to be confused with the Stamperland park of the same name), as well as most of Clarkston's town centre.
Busby Primary School is located in the village of
Busby, next to Clarkston. A nursery is also currently under construction at this location. The catchment mostly covers the village of Busby, however small parts of Clarkston, including the Williamwood High School itself, are in the catchment for Busby.
St Joseph's Primary School, located in Busby, shares Williamwood's catchment area, but is a Catholic school, and students from this school normally attend
St Ninian's High School.
Notable alumni
*
Aidan Connolly
Aidan Charles Patrick Connolly (born 15 August 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Raith Rovers in the Scottish Championship.
Connolly began his career with Queen's Park before joining Dundee United in 2013, ...
(born 1995), professional footballer
*
Joe Thomson (footballer)
Joseph Alexander Thomson (born 14 January 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder for NIFL Premiership side Larne. Thomson started his senior career at Celtic and he has played on loan at Dumbarton, Livingston, two ...
(born 1997), professional footballer.
*
Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work and has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Moray since 2006. He was previou ...
(born 1969), SNP MSP for North East Scotland 1999–2004, for Moray 2006–present
*
Euan Murray
Euan Murray (born 7 August 1980) is a retired Scottish rugby union footballer, whose last club was Pau in the French Top 14.
He started his career with Glasgow Warriors before playing for a number of clubs including Northampton Saints, Newc ...
(born 1980), Scotland international rugby union player
*
Michael Oakley (born 1982), producer and musician
References
External links
Official website
{{authority control
Secondary schools in East Renfrewshire
Educational institutions established in 1930
Clarkston, East Renfrewshire