Dunfermline High School
Dunfermline High School is one of four main high schools located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The school also caters for pupils from Camdean, Kincardine and Rosyth.[1] The school was founded in 1468. Today it has over 1,550 pupils. The current Rector of Dunfermline High School, since 2007, is Mr Brian Blanchflower.[2]
History
The school has its origins in the 12th century when Dunfermline was the capital of Scotland. King David I (son of Queen Margaret and Malcolm Canmore) initially put up the money to found a school as part of the wider operations of Dunfermline Abbey in the early 1120s (meaning Dunfermline has a claim against the Royal High School in Edinburgh and the High School of Glasgow's predecessor school for being the oldest in Scotland). Abbot Richard de Bothwell formally founded the high school in the town in 1468 as a separate organisation although the school maintains a strong link with the Abbey. The original buildings were destroyed during the reformation and the school was reconstituted by Queen Anne of Denmark in the 16th century. The poet Robert Henryson was one of the first to hold the title "Master" (now Rector) of the high school. It is from these people, who shaped the school in the first 800 years of its life, that the house names come from: Canmore, Queen Margaret, Bothwell, and Henryson. Denmark house was lost as recent school restructuring work took place.
The school celebrated 500 years since its official foundation in 1968.
In August 2012, the brand new £40 million Dunfermline High School was opened to pupils after many years of planning and construction.
Feeder areas
The school's feeder primary schools are:
Within Dunfermline
- Canmore Primary School
- Commercial Primary School
- Pitreavie Primary School
- St Leonard's Primary School
Outwith Dunfermline
- Camdean Primary School, Rosyth
- Kings Road Primary School, Rosyth
- Tulliallan Primary School, Kincardine
Facilities
Facilities include a five-a-side football pitch; a main football pitch; meeting room; free parking spaces on site; sports hall and an assembly hall with a stage. [3]
Uniform
The school badge is made up from the crest of Malcolm Canmore, the Queen Margaret Cross and the symbol of Abbot Bothwell. The two typical colours featured as part of the school blazer and ties are black and "gold" which is more or less yellow. In 2008, a second 'senior tie' was introduced which features the school's crest.
School motto
The school has two Latin mottos:
- Quid agis age pro viribus, meaning "Everything you do, do it with vigour".
- Labor Omnia Vincit, meaning "Work conquers everything".
Notable alumni
- Phil Gallie (1939–2011), Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr 1992–97 and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the South Scotland region 1999–2007
- Malcolm Grant (born 1944), Anglican priest
- Ian Jack (born 1945), journalist and writer who edited the Independent on Sunday 1991–95 and Granta 1995–2007
- Sir William Kininmonth (1904–1988), architect who mixed a modern style with Scottish vernacular
- Billy Liddell (1922–2001), Scottish footballer who played his entire professional career with Liverpool F.C.
- Tom Nairn (born 1932), Scottish political theorist of nationalism
- Thomas Shaw, 1st Baron Craigmyle (1850–1937), radical Liberal Party politician, MP for Hawick Burghs 1892–1909, and Law Lord 1909–29
- Moira Shearer, Lady Kennedy (1926–2006), ballet dancer and actress.
- Alan Turnbull, Lord Turnbull, lawyer, and Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of Scotland's Supreme Courts
- Michael Scott Weir (1925–2006), United Kingdom's ambassador to Egypt 1979–1985
References
- ↑ "Dunfermline High School". fifedirect. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
- ↑ "Scottish schools, names, addresses and school rolls". Scottish Government. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
- ↑ "Dunfermline High School Community Use". fifedirect. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
Coordinates: 56°03′44″N 3°27′03″W / 56.0622°N 3.4507°W