| Lasswade High School Centre | |
|---|---|
|
Usque conabor
(I will try my utmost) |
|
| Location | |
| 11 Eskdale Drive Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, EH19 2LA, Scotland |
|
| Information | |
| Type | State secondary |
| Established | 17th century |
| Headteacher | Albert Jaster |
| Grades | S1 to S6 |
| Number of students | 1,216 (as of September 2009) |
| Houses | St. Leonards, St. Annes & Mount Esk |
| Website | http://lasswadehsc.mgfl.net/ |
Lasswade High School Centre is a non-denominational secondary state school in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, Scotland.
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Education has flourished in the parish of Lasswade from medieval times in various church and monastic establishments, but schooling as we know it dates from the 17th century. Lasswade Kirk Session records list the names of the parish schoolmasters from 1646, and some of these, particularly the famous Scottish poet, William Tennant, LL.D., later Professor of Oriental languages at the University of St. Andrews, and Robert Marshall, who resigned in 1899 after 32 years as headmaster, laid the foundation of Lasswade's excellent record as a higher grade school. The school dux to this day is presented with the Marshall Memorial Medal. There are obvious connections with noble estates of Melville, Dalhousie and Roslin and the school coat of arms reflects these and other educational connection within the area. On petition by the former headmaster, the late F. Webster, M.A., the Lyon Court granted to the school a coat of arms.
The Melville "fess" or bar in red on a gold background, with the "engrailed" edges refers to the great House of Roslin. The falcon's heads are the heraldic charge of the Nicolson Family, closely associated with Lasswade, and the Golden Key represents Gibson of Pentland, the family most prominently associated with the school. The black spread eagle represents the House of Dalhousie and the open book represents learning.
In 1956, Lasswade Senior Secondary School transferred to a new building on the present site with improvements and extensions opened in 1978 to provide new accommodation for Business Studies, Home Economics, Music, Art & Design, Science, Craft, Design & Technology, Library, Computer Room, Kitchen, Dining Room and Sports Centre. During session 1999/2000, a new Mathematics and Support wing was built and formally opened by Jack McConnell, at the time Education Minister for Scotland. This included state of the art fully equipped Mathematics classrooms, Guidance classrooms, offices and meeting rooms and a Learning Support base with tutorial rooms.[1] The school also has a purpose built Sports Centre which comprises of a game hall, squash courts, fitness training rooms, activity movement studio, cafeteria, creche and spacious playing fields.
Lasswade has been further development as a community school since 1979.
Lasswade High School Centre received the prestigious award at a ceremony in London in recognition of the school's involvement with the local community. The award was open to all schools - nursery, primary and secondary - in the United Kingdom. Assessment of the school was made in two stages - an initial written submission followed by a visit by two external assessors - to ensure that the school met the challenging criteria set by the Trustees. The award is sponsored by the government departments and private industry.
The school took the top prize in the Fitter Schools Challenge,[2] in which 3,000 UK schools put their sporting prowess to the test. The school was presented with a trophy and £10,000 worth of sports equipment by Olympian Roger Black. The challenge was open to first and second year pupils at every school in the UK last year. Each school had to complete in three challenges which tested their skills and stamina. Pupils were asked to complete a shuttle run, which tested their ability to accelerate and change direction. They were also challenged to see how many star jumps they could do in a minute.[3]
In recent years, the school has developed educational links with Tianlin No 3 Middle School in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The collaboration is part of a wider initiative to develop a closer relationship between Scotland and China, and will include teacher and pupil exchanges as well as using e-mail and the internet to develop joint projects.[4][2]
Following a visit by an Eco-Schools inspection team in 2008, Lasswade High became the first and currently only secondary school in Midlothian to be awarded the Green Flag. The Green Flag is an internationally respected environmental award, indicating that a school is committed to the highest standards in environmental education and management.[5]
Lasswade High School is one of 134 schools in Scotland whose buildings are classified by the Scottish Government as Category D, meaning they are deemed 'economically expired' and 'in danger of failure'. In 2009, it was announced that a new Lasswade High School Community Campus is to be built, with construction beginning October 2011.[6]
The school was last inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education in 2005, with key strengths being identified as: