| Biggar High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Market Road Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Secondary |
| Motto | Decraret Factum |
| Headteacher | Mrs Annette Rose (Acting) |
| Teaching staff | 60 (approximately) |
| Number of students | 724 (approximate intake) |
| School Color(s) | Black (clothing) |
| Website | http://www.biggar.s-lanark.sch.uk |
Biggar High School (Local education authority: South Lanarkshire) is a secondary school located in the town of Biggar, South Lanarkshire.
It is a mixed secondary school of non-denominational religion.[1] The current headteacher is Mr David J. Chalmers.[2] The school was most recently inspected by HMIe in November 2007, and generally performed well.[3] In 2008-2009, a new Biggar High School was erected. Pupils and staff were relocated to new school building, situated at the former site of the playing fields on Market Road, in August 2009.
A new school building was recently erected. There are approximately 724 pupils (age range 11-18) with a teaching staff of around 60. The Head of the establishment is Mr stewart.[4] There are 6 Years in Biggar High, S1-S6. If they wish to do so, pupils have the choice to leave school after completing S4 (if they are over 16 years old at the time) or in S5. Years groups are split usually into two classes for each year in each house. For example: S3, Burns, Class 3 = 3B3.
There are two school captains, six house captains (two for each of the three houses) and in each class there is an elected person who tells the year head if the pupils want anything changed. The school captains are S6 pupils; the house captains are S5 pupils, and the class representative can be from any years. These duties are decided unanimously by ballot.
The subjects pupils study change as they progress through the school. As they develop, the pupils are given more options and flexibility with the subjects they wish to study.[5]
During S1 and S2, pupils complete two years of mandatory subjects; these including English, Mathematics, Science, Modern Languages (French), History, Geography, Music, Art, Technology, Food and Textile Technology, Religious Education and Physical Education.
In S3, pupils are given the option of what subjects they would like to study at Standard Grade level through the course of S3 and S4. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly popular for students to do Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 qualifications in hands-on subjects (i.e. Music, Art & Design, etc.), as opposed to Standard Grades.[6]
If pupils opt to stay for S5, then they can decide to take a maximum of five of either Intermediate 1s, Intermediate 2s or Highers.
In S6, pupils are given the option of undertaking Advanced Highers - these are qualification normally required if one were, for instance, wanting to go on to study at an English University. There are only a handful of subjects offered at Advanced Higher level, including English, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Music.
If they wish, S6 students can also partake in several Open Learning courses through Stevenson College, Edinburgh. In recent years, Biggar High School has been one of the few schools in Scotland to offer YASS courses through the Open University. These are at an equivalent level to first year University, and are taken in a column if there are no other subjects that appeal to pupils.[7]
The location of the old school building is now where a purpose-built, all-weather astroturf playing field stands. After years of lack of appropriate facilities, pupils of Biggar High School now have access to a new, state-of-the-art fitness centre, fitted with cardio-vascular exercise machines and weights for weightlifting. There is also a gymnasium and a dance studio. Members of the public may use the gym and fitness centre on designated evenings. In order to use the facilities, a South Lanarkshire Leisure membership is required to be held.
The school has both a school library and a public library. These are run by the same librarian(s) and are separated by a glass wall. The school library is solely for use by school pupils. Both libraries have access to many of the latest books - both fiction and non-fiction - and DVD rental is also offered. What's more, there is also access to several RM computers equipped with Windows XP, on which one can browse the web, check e-mails and create Microsoft Office documents. If you have a South Lanarkshire library card, then this is valid at Biggar's Library as well.[5]
There are 3 school houses; they were changed recently due to one of the guidance staff leaving, so that the three remaining guidance staff only had one house to deal with each.
The Current 3 Houses are: Anderson; Burns; Wallace.
The previous 4 Houses were: Clyde; Lowther; Medwyn; Tinto
There are annual events where the houses go head-to-head with one another, with the ultimate aim of winning the house trophy at the Awards Ceremony held in June. Such events include, but are not limited to, the S1 Commonhealth Games and the School Quizzes. At this Awards Ceremony, good pupil behaviour and dress code is recognised; in addition to this, Endeavour and Merit Awards are achieved by some pupils in S1-S3.
In June 2007, Biggar High School won the Most Enterprising School in Scotland award.[8]
Biggar High School recently won the silver medal at the British Schools Orienteering Championships at Druridge Bay Country Park, Northumberland, England, where three pupils, along with their coach - Mr Blair Young - ran 4 kilometres over sand dunes as high as 25 metres. This was a great achievement - for the participants, their coach and for the school as a whole! [9]
The school holds a number of events on an annual basis, including those which follow.
Amongst these are two charity days every year, where the students are given the opportunity to dress up, and various fund raising activities are to be found around the school. These have been of great success in previous years.
Each year in mid-December, students of Biggar High School with ranging musical abilities are given the opportunity to perform to not only their peers, but to the local community. Performances that can be seen partaking in the event year-after-year include both the Junior Band and Senior Woodwind Band. Due to nationwide adverse weather conditions (now and ice), the Christmas concert that had been originally scheduled for December 2010 has regretfully now been postponed until 13 January 2011.
At Christmastime, there is also a hugely popular traditional Christmas Dance; pupils and teachers prepare for this weeks in advance during their social dance sessions in Physical Education, where the pupils learn to 'master' the dances. There are three Christmas dances: one for the junior school (S1 and S2); one for the middle school (S3 and S4) and one for the senior school (S5 and S6).
There is a ceilidh band year in, year out; pupils are also given party snacks and beverages during the course of the evening. The evenings always finish with the traditional song 'Auld Lang Syne' being sung.
Also, there are the Easter and Christmas services, held at the local church. These are held on the last day of term, and the students are taken out of classes and up to the church. It must be said that those who belong to religions other than Christianity do not have to attend. With this said, those pupils are more than welcome to attend the service though.
There is also the school "Rock Night". This is an annual rock concert, in which any student (and even recently ex-student) band can perform a couple of songs of their choosing.
After rock night 2010, Biggar High school produced an album for fans to purchase.