Paisley Grammar School

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Paisley Grammar School is situated on Glasgow Road in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Paisley Grammar School dates back from 1586.

Currently, Paisley Grammar School is under the leadership of its first female Head Teacher, Ms. Caroline Amos, who took up the top job of the school on 9th January 2006.

Paisley Grammar School has always been highly regarded across Renfrewshire. The school promotes high standards in academic, cultural and community endeavour.

In 1988 when threatened with imminent closure by Strathclyde Regional Council, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher intervened personally to ensure the survival of the historic and popular school. The law was changed so that local councils could no longer close schools which were more than 80% full without approval by the Secretary of State for Scotland. Soon after the council was forced to drop its plans and, in an ironic twist, the same government abolished Strathclyde Regional Council just a few years later.

[edit] Notable former pupils

Notable former pupils include:

The current Doctor Who, David Tennant (formerly David MacDonald)
Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Neil
Jacqui Lait MP
Colin Campbell MSP
Kenyon Wright
Fred Goodwin – CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland
John Macquarrie sometime Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford, and Canon Residentiary, Christ Church, Oxford

[edit] Rectors

There have been many Rectors of this prestigious school over its history, most recently, John Clarke OBE (1937 - 1956), Ninian A. Jamieson (1956 - 1966), Robert Y. Corbett (1966 - 1988), Hugh H Nisbet (1988 - 1995) and John C Pears (1995 - 2006). Hugh Nisbet is also a former pupil of the school. John Pears and Hugh Nisbet are the only two current living former Rectors of the school.