Notre Dame High School is a local, catchment based state funded secondary school for girls, located on Observatory Road in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. It was founded in 1897 as a fee paying school for girls. Notre Dame High was the last remaining single sex council school in Scotland until November 2019.

History

In 1894 Archbishop Eyre of Glasgow invited the Sisters of Notre Dame to come from the Mother House in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to establish a community in Glasgow. The Notre Dame Training College was opened in 1895 at

Dowanhill Dowanhill is an area in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. An upper middle-class residential district, the area generally contains a mixture of terraced townhouses with private communal gardens, detached villas with private grounds and a number ...

. In 1897 Notre Dame School was opened as a private school, with a roll of 24 pupils, instructed by two teachers. By 1912, the number of pupils had risen to 193. Overcrowding led to proposals for a new building. This was designed by Thomas Cordiner in 1939, but due to the outbreak of war construction was delayed, and the building opened in 1953. In 1987, the school was protected as a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

. At the same time as proposals to close the school were defeated. The former high school building and adjoining

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

building and church were damaged in a fire on 12 June 2010. The single-sex entry criteria has been a controversial issue. Local parents campaigned for the school to become co-educational in the 1990s but the bid failed at Council committee level. In 2016, a new campaign group of local school parents (NDH4ALL) was established to ask

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

to reconsider the single sex entry criteria and allow access to both girls and boys in the local catchment area. A public consultation on Notre Dame High's entry criteria was launched in March 2019 and ran for a period of 10 weeks. The consultation received a high level of publicity and engagement, with almost 5000 responses counted. Glasgow City Council also conducted three high profile public meetings during the consultation period. The meetings saw attendance in the hundreds with many pupils speaking of their experiences. Consultation results were released in August 2019 revealing that, of the three options proposed, co-education received the highest number of responses (45.7%). In November 2019 a consultation response report was published by Glasgow City Council Education Services in conjunction with

Education Scotland Education Scotland ( gd, Foghlam Alba) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, tasked with improving the quality of the country's education system. Origins The creation of the Agency was announced by Scottish Government Education a ...

. The report recommended that Notre Dame High become co-educational. A final vote on the recommendation by the Glasgow City Council City Administration Committee took place on 28 November 2019, with the committee unanimously voting to make the school co-educational. The Head Teacher is Mrs Rosemary Martin who succeeded Philomena McFadden in 2014.

Alumnae

* Lady Elish Frances Angiolini, Former

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

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 ...

Maureen Beattie Maureen Jane Beattie (born 14 August 1953) is an Irish-born, Scottish actress of both stage and screen. Early life Beattie was born in Bundoran, County Donegal on 14 August 1953, as the daughter of Scottish actor and comedian Johnny Beattie, ...

, Actress *

Helena Carroll Helena Winifred Carroll (13 November 1928 – 31 March 2013) was a veteran film, television and stage actress. Early life Born to clothing designer Helena Reilly and Abbey Theatre playwright Paul Vincent Carroll, she was the youngest of thr ...

, Actress * Marcella Evaristi,Marcella Evaristi - The Glasgow Story
/ref> Playwright * Anne Ferguson (1941-1998),

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, clinical researcher and expert in

inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammation, inflammatory conditions of the colon (anatomy), colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine a ...

. *

Clare Grogan Claire Patricia Grogan (born 17 March 1962), known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as ...

, Singer, actress * Kate Robinson, Sculptor

References

External links

*
Notre Dame High School's page on Scottish Schools Online.
* http://www.ndh4all.net * https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/gc/ndhs/ {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1897 Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur schools Catholic secondary schools in Glasgow Girls' schools in Glasgow Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Listed schools in Scotland 1897 establishments in Scotland

History

Alumnae

See also

References

External links