Turnbull High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Motto | Respice Finem - Latin (Look to the end) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1976 |
| Type | Comprehensive school |
| Headmaster | Neil Roarty MA |
| Students | 838 |
| Grades | Standard Grade Scottish Qualifications Certificate |
| Location | Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, Scotland |
| District | East Dunbartonshire |
| Accreditation | Investors in People, Eco School |
| Campus | St.Mary's Road |
| Colors | Royal Blue and Gold |
| Newspaper | Turnbull Times |
| Website | Official Website |
Turnbull High School is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school located in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in August 1976 and named after William Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow and founder of the University of Glasgow. Although open to pupils of all religious denominations and none, the School's religious ethos emphasises practice of Roman Catholic moral values both in the church and in the community, with its own Chaplain and many charitable and community-based groups in the school. The school's staff in the areas of Religious Education, Guidance and Senior Management are appointed with the approval of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, in accordance with the Education (Scotland) Act 1918, which first established state Catholic schools. Turnbull is affiliated with the three Catholic Primary Schools in its Catchment area, St. Matthew's and St. Helen's in Bishopbriggs and St.Machan's in Lennoxtown.
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[edit] History
The present school campus was originally designed as an Annexe to the then non-denominational Bishopbriggs High School but due to campaigning amongst the Catholic community in the town, who had previously had to utilise St Ninian's High School in Kirkintilloch or the private St. Aloysius' College, it was successfully re-established as a separate local state Catholic school. The school originally only offered academic courses up to O-grade in fourth year, however in 1978, it achieved full six year status and began to offer a comprehensive curriculum up to Higher Grade. Its catchment area also expanded to include pupils from the village of Torrance. The school's Parent-Teacher Association was formed in June 1988.
[edit] Facilities and Curriculum
The main teaching block consists of a three-storey building containing classrooms for art, social sciences, religious education, English and modern languages, science labs, ICT and home economics facilities. Administrative offices, the oratory and cafeteria are also housed in this building. An extension to the main building was opened in September 2002 and currently provides enhanced pupil recreational areas, offices, a staffroom and Library. Music studios and two gymnasia for PE are housed in one external building along with the school Auditorium, whilst the Technical and Graphic design department is housed in another. Both buildings are linked to the main building by covered walkways. A modular annexe building was opened in October 1998 providing additional classrooms for Mathematics. A Games Hall and Fitness Suite opened in August 2003 and are open to the local community outwith School-hours. The school also has two Playing fields located on campus.
Turnbull High School also has various established extra-curricular activities including supporting SCIAF, Fair Trade, Pro-life, Public speaking, Theatre visits, Eco-Schools, dance club, School band, football, rugby union, netball and gymnastics. The school also holds regular after-school revision sessions for those preparing for Prelim and SQA exams. The school has an impressive musical tradition and the Turnbull High School band has been recognised nationally and has toured internationally. The school was also awarded an Eco-Schools Green Flag in 2006 and also participates in the annual Careers Scotland Space School competition.
The full School uniform consists of a black blazer, emblazoned with a Lapel pin featuring the school crest. Girls wear a black skirt or tailored trousers, while boys wear black trousers. Both genders wear a light blue shirt, school tie, black pullover or blue sweatshirt.
The school operates a guidance department which is organised as four house groups into which pupils are allocated alphabetically; St Andrew (A-C, P-R), St Kentigern (D-I), Marian (J-O, S) and Mother Teresa (Mc/Mac, T-Z). Each house group is permanently headed by a guidance teacher whose role is to mentor pupils throughout their school career. This typically involves the teaching of Personal and Social Education as well as regular Interviews to discuss academic performance and set targets for improvement, assistance with subject choices as well as handling any personal or disciplinary issues.
[edit] Redevelopment
As part of East Dunbartonshire Council's Public-Private Partnership, which involves a consortium including AMEC and John Laing providing long-term investment in order to improve the area's education infrastructure, Turnbull High School is planned to be replaced by a new building on the existing campus. The new school building will accommodate approximately 650 pupils in a large three-story single block with a central atrium. In order to adjust for the reduced capacity of the new school, the roll has been capped at 120 pupils in each year group, with the current school being down to approximately 745 pupils, from a potential maximum of 838. The new building is already under construction and as a result, the existing Auditorium, Music and PE block was demolished and the Maths annexe relocated in April 2007 to facilitate this. The school will remain on site whilst the new building is constructed adjacent to the existing buildings. In the long-term the only existing building that will remain is the Games Hall, which will be expanded to house the entire PE department. The new school is currently planned to be complete for the start of the August 2009 term. These new construction changes will also conicide with changes to staff and the school schedule. The new headteacher due to replace Neil (I Eat Dogs) Roarty is General Lee who will help train the students to compete in interschool bridge ball and stepping stones. The new head of art will be Neil Buchanan and the head of home economics will be jointly lead by both devon and bubaray dudley. Their course will consist of tables and jam sponges. Mr Carvill is now going to do the newly formed "arsehole club" where fellow arseholes can revel in their arseholeness. Following a new sarcasm studies class being introduced at higher and advanced higher level general lee thought it would only be fair if former pupil beany would teach the class. After being interviewed when he heard he received the job he said " aye am no thrilled to be teaching and im no a sarcastic bastard ". Finally the rumours are that a superhero club is going to be formed with the dudley boys, beany, neil buchanan and josef stalins corpse and they are going to help eradicate all the bad in the world and also help provide free cola cubes for pandas in the world.
[edit] Noted Alumni
- James McFadden
- Marc Twaddle
- Gerry Britton
- Stephen Maguire
- Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile
- Nieve Jennings
[edit] External links
- See also: Education in Scotland
