Newbattle Community High School

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Newbattle Community High School

Challenge
Established	1969
School type	Comprehensive school, School of Ambition
Headteacher	Colin Taylor (since 2000)
Location	Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
Students	902
Teaching Staff	85
Website	www.newbattle.org.uk

Newbattle Community High School is a non-denominational secondary state school located in Easthouses, Dalkeith, Scotland on the road B6455. It is run by Midlothian Council and has about 902 pupils on roll in six year groups from ages 11 up to 18. It serves the towns of Easthouses, Mayfield, Gorebridge, Newtongrange and the villages of North Middleton, Temple and Borthwick and their surrounding areas.

1 Buildings
2 History
3 Departments
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Buildings

The school is accommodated in a large 1960s style main teaching block comprising four floors, with a single-story annexe housing science and Home Economics. There is a library area, and a Centre for Sport and Leisure, which is housed in a self-contained complex which includes a games hall, gymnasium, swimming pool, floodlit synthetic turf pitch and grassed rugby and football pitch as well as a social area known as the O-Zone, which is a national demonstration project that provides pupils with a drop-in facility, which encourages the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. The school has a Vocational Education programme. Facilities for delivery in this area include a Hospitality Suite, Call Centre and Recording Studio.

[edit] History

The current high school building was built in 1969, replacing the former Newbattle Junior Secondary school in Newtongrange. When first built, Newbattle High served the communities of Mayfield, Easthouses and Newtongrange, but following the closure of Greenhall High School in the late 1990s, its catchment area expanded to include Gorebridge and North Middleton.

Newbattle and its associated primaries were granted New Community Schools status in 2000. In 2005, Newbattle was selected as one of twenty eight schools in Scotland to be awarded Schools of Ambition status. According to the Scottish Executive's website, the schools of ambition programme aims to be "a radical step change in the approach to transforming educational outcomes, which aims to raise the ambitions of schools, instil belief and ambition in pupils, extend their opportunities and transform their life chances". [1] The enhanced funding and support is being used to build on the Arts curriculum, and to develop pupil leadership and self-esteem.

Despite claims from the headteacher that this is the best school in midlothian it is quite safe to say that it isn't.