Harlaw Academy is a six-year comprehensive

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) ...

situated 200 yards from the junction of Union Street and Holburn Street in the centre of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland. It is directly adjacent to St Margaret's School for Girls. The academy draws most of its pupils from its associated primary schools, namely, Broomhill Primary School, Ferryhill Primary School, Kaimhill Primary School and Hanover Street School. Ross McLaren has been headteacher since February 2020.

History

The school was established in Little Belmont Street as the Aberdeen High School for Girls in 1874. The school moved to 19 Albyn Place, where it amalgamated with Mrs. Elmslie's Institution which occupied a prominent building designed by

Archibald Simpson Archibald Simpson (4 May 1790 – 23 March 1847) was a Scottish architect, who along with his rival John Smith, is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as "The Granite City".Simpson, William Douglas, (1947) ''The Archibald S ...

, in 1891. The Former Pupils' Club established a fund for the acquisition of a playing field at Hazlehead, as well as the cost of building and equipping a pavilion there. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the building was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

to create the 1st Scottish General Hospital, a facility for the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

to treat military casualties. Subsequent changes included the abolition of fees in 1947, the phasing out of the primary department in 1971 and the introduction of the city's area comprehensive system which brought about the changing of the school's name to Harlaw Academy in 1970. Ruthrieston Secondary School was to become part of Harlaw Academy in 1972. In 2010, Harlaw Academy was threatened with closure, as part of the

Aberdeen City Council gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption ...

's programme of financial cutbacks. This created serious concerns in the feeder communities which launched a successful campaign to save the school.

Head teachers

Past and present head teachers include: * John McBain 1874-1913 * Lucy Ward 1913-1929 * Beatrice Rose 1929-1957 * Margaretta McNab 1957-1971 * Alexander Chalmers 1971-1985 * Norman Horne 1985-1993 * John Murray 1993– 2012(OCT) * David Innes (2012–2020) * Ross McLaren (2020–present)

Notable former pupils

Notable

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

include: *

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

, singer and member of the musical group

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

Nan Shepherd Anna "Nan" Shepherd (11 February 1893 – 27 February 1981) was a Scottish Modernist writer and poet, best known for her seminal mountain memoir, ''The Living Mountain'', based on experiences of hill walking in the Cairngorms. This is noted as a ...

(1893–1981), modernist novelist and poet * Dr

Nanette Milne Nanette Lilian Margaret Milne (born 27 April 1942, in Aberdeen) is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland from 2003 to 2016. Early life and education ...

, former

Scottish Conservative The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

MSP for North East Scotland (1999-2016) * Elaine Thomson, former

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...

MSP for Aberdeen North (1999-2003) *

Graeme Dey Graeme James Dey (born 29 October 1962) is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Transport from 2021 to 2022, having previously served as Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Scottish Nat ...

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

MSP for

Angus South South Angus was a county constituency in Scotland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Depen ...

and Scottish Government

Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans The Minister for Cabinet and Parliamentary Business ( gd, Ministear a’ Chaibineit agus Gnothaichean na Pàrlamaid) is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet but sup ...

. *

Ray Michie Janet Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach (''née'' Bannerman; 4 February 1934 – 6 May 2008) was a Scottish speech therapist and Liberal Democrat politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Argyll and Bute for 14 years, from ...

(1934–2008), Baroness Michie of Gallanach, former MP for

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) ...

and

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

Spokesperson on Scotland *

Sonia Dresdel Sonia Dresdel (5 May 1909 – 18 January 1976) was an English actress, whose career ran between the 1940s and 1970s. Life She was born Lois Obee in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, and was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls a ...

, film and television actress between the 1940s and 70s. * David Robertson, former footballer for

, Rangers,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

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 ...

and current manager of Real Kashmir F.C. * Pauline Cook, former newsreader and journalist for STV North's nightly news programme,

North Tonight ''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television). History During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...

. *

Lisa Milne Lisa Milne (born 22 April 1971 in Aberdeen) is a Scottish soprano described by the BBC as "one of RSAMD's best-known alumni", who was among the first artists to be invited to the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme in 1999-2001. Known for ...

, soprano. * Charlie Allan, sports journalist.

References

External links

Harlaw Academy's page on Parentzone
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1874 Secondary schools in Aberdeen 1874 establishments in Scotland