Kelvinside Academy

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Kelvinside Academy
Image:Kelvinside_Academy_Minerva.gif
Rector John L. Broadfoot
School type Private
Religious affiliation Christian
Founded 1878
Location (grid reference) NS565679, Glasgow, Scotland
Roll about 760
Staff about 50
Sports teams Kelvinside Academy
Mascot Minerva
School colour(s) Navy blue with white

Kelvinside Academy is a private school in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 1878. As of 2006 it has a capacity of 760 pupils and spans two years of Junior Start (kindergarten), six years of Junior School (primary school), and seven years of Senior School (secondary school), comprising fifteen years in all. The school was originally grant-aided, but became fully independent in 1985. As of 2004, fees range from £4,000 to £8,000. The school was formerly boys-only, but began experimenting with female pupils on a part-time basis in the late 1980s, and became fully co-educational in 1998. The school is nominally non-denominational Christian. School uniform is mandatory for all years and consists of shirt, blue and white tie, black or grey trousers, black shoes and the school blazer. A blue and white striped scarf and a grey jersey are optional as are shorts for the lower school. School caps are also available. The school has a Combined Cadet Force, and has both an armoury, and a shooting range on-site.

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[edit] The School

The school building is located in the Kelvinside area of the north of Glasgow, near the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It has a large main building, which is Grade A listed and was designed by James Sellars, with a number of more modern additions. The original building was opened on 1878-09-02 and cost £21,698. The school crest shows Minerva with the motto ΑΙΕΝ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΥΕΙΝ (ever to be the best). Minerva appears prominently in carved stone above the main entrance, and in a bronze medallion set in the perimeter wall. Unlike many of the surrounding buildings, the school retains much of its original wrought iron fences despite the metal shortages during the Second World War.

[edit] Extra-Curricular Activities

The school supports a wide range of sporting activities including rugby union, hockey, football, athletics, cricket, shooting, curling, ice skating, squash, aerobics, tennis, and golf. The school owns the Balgray Playing Fields, a short distance from the main site. A new all weather playing facility has been created at Balgray and was formally opened on 2 September 2006 - the school's 128th Anniversary.

The school also encourages a wide range of non-sporting activities, such as drama (The newly built Gilchrist Theatre playing host to a number of school productions, such as the musical Grease), the arts, music, public speaking, debating and many others.

[edit] The Combined Cadet Force (CCF)

Due to the involvement in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) the school also features an on site military store, which is fully stocked with Royal Navy working and parade dress, Full Raf dress, Army parade dress, working dress, camouflage fatigues (for use by all sections) and a small collection of desert camouflage fatigues for the purpose of distinguishing "hostiles" during training exercises. The school has recently taken on one Sergeant McAllister of the British army as an assistant to Captain Simpson in the managing of the CCF stores and to assist in cadet training (predominantly the army section).

The armoury is mainly stocked with L98A1 rifles, also known as the Cadet GP, the general purpose cadet training rifle. The GP is used by all three sections. The RAF also uses the older, Number 8 rifle, a .22 calibre bolt action, iron sight rifle.

The Leaders/volunteers of the various CCF units are as follows:

K.A CCF - Army - Lt.Col Gilliland, Lt Fischbacher, Sgt.McAllister, Capt.Simpson Royal Air Force - Squadron Leader Mann, PltOf Paterson, PltOf Dobson Royal Navy - S/Lieutenant Cuthbertson,

Current Cadet RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major) - Winston T.B. Smith

[edit] Kelvinside Academy Rifle Club

The smallbore rifle range is located above the school theatre, in what was previously an unused loft space. The range is used both by the CCF for cadet training and by the Kelvinside Academy Rifle Club, by far the majority of shooting being done by the latter as sports options from 3rd Form up.

The KA Rifle Club is a formally constituted body, licensed and approved by the Scottish Executive, and affiliated to the national governing bodies. The school treats the rifle club seriously, and the club receives unstinting support as a branch of the Sports Department.

Target shooting is a sports option, usually taken up to full capacity by both boys and girls. The girls always learn shooting faster than the boys, but the boys catch up eventually – once they realise that being beaten every week at shooting by girls in skirts isn’t a good image to maintain. Boys and Girls compete on equal terms in shooting, a rare thing is sports activities. Shooting is not confined to the school range – outings to other clubs are arranged whenever possible.

3rd Formers learn their basic shooting skills using “Air Arms MPR” target air rifles, which were recently donated by the parent of a previous shooting captain. 4th Formers upwards use Anschutz Model 1807 target .22 rifles. Rifle Shooting is run by Mr. Charles Young, one time Major in army transport, firearms specialist (registered dealer) and well known in rifle shooting circles. The school’s target rifles are all fitted with apparently simple (but extremely effective) “iron sights” offering no magnification. These call for intense concentration when aiming, the more so as to score a 10, the shooter must hit a little dot not much bigger than a pinhead from 25 yards! Boys and girls alike soon find that this sort of shooting is REAL shooting, and it is definitely NOT what they used to admire in the movies. Hard work and perseverance are the required qualities if progress is to be achieved at this game, and success seldom comes easily – but it does come, and very few quit. Kelvinside Academy Rifle Club has an enviable record of producing marksmen of National standing, Iain Thomson, Bruce Logan, Cameron Lamont and Ronald Scaglione are actively engaged at national level competing in Full-Bore Rifle shooting at distances up to 1000 yards and sometimes more. Former KARC Shooting Master Allan Mabon is the High Performance Manager for the Scottish Full-Bore Commonwealth Squad.

From 2008 onwards, due to the near impossibility of accessing fullbore ranges, the rifle club is concentrating on smallbore shooting, now including into the Summer Term, and will be entering as many of the Open Meetings as can be arranged around the exams timetables. The ultimate would be the enter a squad in the NSRA Scottish Open, a full week of shooting 50m and 100 yards, just at the end of term. This is being planned for 2008.

In 2008, it is hoped to expand the Rifle Club’s remit to include an adult section, to consist of a modest number of FPs, Staff, Parents and Friends, which it is hoped will add some “power to the rifle club’s elbow”, and support for the pupil members on expeditions to other clubs and “Open Meetings” in the coming years. As things apear in May 2008, the future for KARC lies in Smallbore Target Rifle shooting, and that is where efforts are being concentrated.


[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Related Publications

  • Kelvinside Academy, 1878–1978 by Colin Mackay
  • Kelvinside Academy, 1878–1923 by William Brodie
  • Kelvinside Academy, 1878–1928 by David Morrice Low
  • Minerva, termly newsletter

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources

Coordinates: 55.88280° N 4.29566° W

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