Lenzie Academy
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Founded in 1886, Lenzie Academy is a six year comprehensive school which serves the town of Lenzie and southern parts of Kirkintilloch. It is situated some nine miles east of Glasgow and to the south of the Campsie Fells. There are currently 1414 students in attendance with an annual first year of eight classes of thirty pupils each, all coming from five associated primary schools, namely Auchinloch, Millersneuk, Lairdsland, Lenzie Moss and Lenzie Primary. 500 of the total roll are from outwith the catchment area, attending as placing requests.
Lenzie Academy has a proud record of achievement regarding pupils of all levels of ability and sends about 60% of their annual intake of pupils to University or Further Education colleges each year. Many pupils are also involved in extra-curricular activities like sport, music, drama, debating and science. The school offers a full range of Standard Grade, Higher, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2 and Advanced Higher courses as well as programmes of personal and social education, learning support, school/industry links, work experience and enterprise activities.
The Senior Management Team consists of the Rector and their six Deputes. Eighteen Principal Teachers of subjects manage the curriculum in separate departments and eight Principal Teachers, manage Guidance and Pastoral Care, with one additional Principal Teacher overseeing Education for Work initiatives.
The current Rector is Mr Roderick J McLelland, BSc who has been Rector since 1996.
The Academy has an active School Board and a Parents' Association and both are very supportive of the school and has appeared in The Sunday Times best schools list for a number of years ranking around the 20th in Scotland, going up one place to 17th in 2006.
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[edit] History
By 1884, the population of Lenzie had grown to over 1500, and the town was beginning to experience some of the problems of growth. Residents of Lenzie, concerned about their children's education, started a petition for a public school to be set up, probably with schools like Hillhead High School and Bellahouston Academy in mind.
The petition was successful, and Lenzie Academy was built, capable of providing primary and secondary education. On the day of the school's opening on 1st September 1886, 220 pupils enrolled, many from the local private schools. The Academy was managed by the "School Board of Kirkintilloch and Cadder" as Lenzie fell within those two parishes.
In 1910, an extension to the original building was completed, allowing the school to accommodate more pupils. However, the school roll continued growing and, by the 1930s, was outgrowing the space of the building on Kirkintilloch Road, with space also being used in the Lenzie Public Halls and Lenzie Union Church.
Because of this growth it was decided that the school should move to a new, larger site, where a new Lenzie Academy could be built, capable of accommodating more pupils than before. However, the outbreak of the second world war stalled planning until the 1950s. On the 21st of September 1960, the new Lenzie Academy building was opened at a cost of £300 000. It was decided that the new school would be for secondary education only and the old school was renamed Lenzie Primary School and, as the name suggests, was for primary education only.
[edit] Famous Pupils
Famous Pupils have included:
- Tom Johnston, former Secretary of State for Scotland,
- Andy Dunlop, Travis guitarist,
- Ian McCartney, former Chairman of the Labour Party,
- Andrew Henderson, Scottish rugby union footballer.
[edit] Extensions
Lenzie Academy has seen many extensions in its lifetime. Between 1972 and 1973, six new hutted classrooms were added to make room for pupils from Lairdsland and Townhead primaries, for whom no room could be found at Kirkintilloch High School. An extension to the science and technical block was ready for 1974 and two further hutted classrooms were added beside the gymnasia.
In 1983, it was decided that the English department, which had been scattered around various rooms in the school, should be moved to the huts. The Rector decided that bringing the teaching staff of the department together would "make interdepartmental co-ordination and management easier" and help pupils realise that English is of prime importance.
In recent years, the school building has had major additions. During winter 1996, work started on a new wing, a £1.5 million extension to accommodate the growing number of pupils. The new wing is now home to the Art, Music, Computing, Geography, Modern Studies, History and Mathematics departments.
Finally, in August 2000, a new games hall complex was built, comprising of a main hall, changing rooms, showers, a fitness suite and a new PE staffroom.
These additions to the school buildings have allowed to school to reach a capacity of about 1400 pupils.
As part of an upgrade to the school, a new dining hall and social areas will be built (building to commence November 2007). A program has also started to replace all windows in the school (currently in operation).
[edit] Charity Work
Lenzie Academy is extremely well-known for its charity work. The most recent appeal was for Children In Need, where many pupils appeared on a telethon with Jackie Bird.
