High School of Glasgow

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The High School Of Glasgow
Motto	Sursum Semper (Always Higher)
Type	Independent school
Rector	Colin Mair
Students	1000
Location	Glasgow, Scotland
Website	www.glasgowhigh.com

The High School of Glasgow is a co-educational Independent School now located in the Anniesland area of Glasgow, Scotland, enroling just over 1,000 pupils between the ages of 3 and 18. It is the oldest school in Scotland, and the ninth oldest in the United Kingdom. The school is regarded as Scotland's highest performing secondary school, consistently topping official and unofficial league tables.

The school was founded as the Choir School of Glasgow Cathedral in 1124 and changed its name to The High School of Glasgow in 1834.

For centuries it was an integral part of the city's educational system, but in 1976, despite its high standing and achievements, it was closed when education in Glasgow was reorganised along 'comprehensive' lines. The Glasgow High School for Girls was founded in 1894 and flourished until it too disappeared in the 1970s as a result of changes to Glasgow's schooling system.

The day after the closure of the Boys' High School, the new, independent, co-educational high school came into being, following a merger involving the Glasgow High School Club and Drewsteignton School in Bearsden.

The new, purpose-built Senior School is now set among the spacious playing-fields of Old Anniesland, while the much-extended Junior School is in Bearsden. Many of the extensions to the school have been made possible through the generous funding of former pupils and parents. Recent additions to the school include the Jimmy Ireland grandstand, which serves as the school's refectory, meeting rooms, and fitness gym as well as the seating area for rugby games.

Hawks RFC and GHK RFC also play at Old Anniesland and make use of the Jimmy Ireland grandstand.

The current rector of the school is Colin Mair. Mrs Karen Waugh is headmistress of the Junior School.

[edit] Notable alumni

William Beardmore, Industrialist
James Bryce, Politician, British Ambassador to the United States
Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, General
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister
Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, Senator of the College of Justice
Charles Scott Dickson, Lord Justice Clerk
David Pinkerton Fleming, Solicitor General for Scotland
Muriel Gray, Journalist and Broadcaster
Arthur Campbell Hamilton, Lord Hamilton, Lord President of the Court of Session
Jimmie Ireland, Scotland rugby player
David Lacy, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 2005
Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister
Norman Macfarlane, Baron Macfarlane of Bearsden, Industrialist and Life Peer
Sir John Moore, British Soldier and General
Edwin Morgan, Poet, The Scots Makar
Sir Muir Russell, Principal of The University of Glasgow
Sir Teddy Taylor, former MP

Four of the alumni give their names to the four senior school houses, Bannerman (red), Clyde (blue), Law (green) and Moore (yellow); the junior school houses take their names from British lifeboats: Broughtyferry (red), Campbeltown (blue), Lizard (green) and Longhope (yellow).