| Motto | Mente et Manu (With Mind and Hand) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1970 |
| Type | State School |
| Religion | Non-denominational |
| Headteacher | John Wood |
| Location | Ashburnham Road Queensferry Edinburgh EH30 9JN Scotland |
| Local authority | City of Edinburgh Council |
| Staff | c.80 teaching |
| Students | c.850 students |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 12–18 |
| Houses | Dundas Hopetoun Rosebery |
| Colours | Black, white and turquoise |
| Nickname | QHS |
| Website | www.queensferryhigh.co.uk |
Queensferry High School is a six year comprehensive school in the town of South Queensferry, Scotland, run by City of Edinburgh Council. It was opened in 1970 by Princess Margaret marking the 900th anniversary of the arrival of Queen Margaret in Queensferry. Currently it has 850 students, predominantly from Echline Primary School, Queensferry Primary School, Dalmeny Primary School and Kirkliston Primary School. [1] It was made a School of Ambition in 2007.[2]
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Upon enrolment at the school, the pupils are assigned to a house; Dundas, Rosebery or Hopetoun. The houses decide the pupil's registration class, with each house having two classes per year, for example, in first year classes would be D1, D2, H1, H2, R1, R2.[3] Each house has two guidance teachers who serve primarily to monitor welfare and offer career advice.[3] There are also two "heads of house" for each house, made up of student elected pupils from the sixth year.[4] Two students are elected "heads of school" from the sixth year.[5] There is also an extensive prefect system, made up of students from the sixth year.[6]
A school uniform was reintroduced in 2005. It consists of black trousers or skirt, with a black or white shirt bearing the school's initials and the school tie consisting of diagonally striped turquoise, black and white or the schools own registered tartan "the ferry fling". Blazers have now been introduced and are optionally available to senior students.[7]
The school buildings, corresponding with increasing student numbers, have been much extended from their original 1970 form. In 1995 a recreation wing was added, with a substantial extension to the school being added in 1997 and a total refurbishment being undertaken in 1998. The school has, however, retained its characteristic asymmetric red stairwells.[1]
The table below shows the fourth year pass rates at Level 3 (Standard Grade Foundation level or equivalent) or better, Level 4 (Standard Grade General level or equivalent) or better and Level 5 (Standard Grade Credit level or equivalent) or better for Queensferry High School in the 2006/2007 academic year, contrasted with pass rates for Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole.
| Queensferry High School[8] | Edinburgh City[8] | Scotland[8] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 3 | 90% | 89% | 91% |
| Level 4 | 83% | 75% | 76% |
| Level 5 | 39% | 34% | 33% |
The table below shows as a percentage the amount of students from the previous year's fourth years who went on to pass one or more, three or more or five or more level 6 examinations (Highers) in 2006/2007. 37% of those fourth years had left and so attained none. This compared to a city-wide and national rate of 35% leaving.
| Queensferry High School[9] | Edinburgh City[9] | Scotland[9] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One or more | 43% | 38% | 39% |
| Three or more | 23% | 23% | 22% |
| Five or more | 10% | 11% | 10% |
Below is a breakdown of what the leavers of Queensferry High School during the 2006/2007 academic year went on to do. A high percentage of leavers went directly into employment.
| Queensferry High School[10] | Edinburgh City[10] | Scotland[10] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time higher education | 29% | 29% | 30% |
| Full-time further education | 17% | 22% | 23% |
| Training | 1% | 3% | 5% |
| Employment | 41% | 29% | 28% |
| Unemployed, seeking employment | 12% | 14% | 11% |
| Unemployed, not seeking employment | 0% | 2% | 1% |
| Not known | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Queensferry High School has twice been in the news in recent years due to separate security issues. On 15 December 2005 pupils were locked in their classrooms for two hours and told to stay away from windows and out of corridors after a man with a gun threatened to commit suicide in a house opposite the school. Armed police closed off the surrounding area and arrested the man without any injury to anyone.[11]
In the early hours of 22 February 2008 the school was petrol bombed by three former pupils, blowing out an external wall at the back of the school and destroying a ground floor English classroom. No one was harmed as no one was in the school at the time.[12]