Dumfries Academy

Coordinates: 55°04′16″N 3°36′40″W / 55.071°N 3.611°W / 55.071; -3.611

Dumfries Academy is one of four secondary schools in the town of Dumfries in south west Scotland.

History

Dumfries Academy has existed in its present form, though not in the buildings it currently occupies, since 1804. Its history dates back to the 14th century, making it the earliest school in the Dumfries area.

Early records show that John of Greyfriars, a monk, was appointed rector of a new school in Dumfries in 1330. Being a church school it concentrated on the study of religious texts, but in the centuries which followed other schools built in the town which taught subjects such as brewing, mathematics, English, baking, and needlework became integrated into the Academy building.

The Academy operated as a grammar school for those in Dumfries deemed academically gifted as based on exam results until July 1983. The most gifted students from three surrounding secondary schools transferred to the Academy after second year. As a result, Dumfries Academy had the highest rate of university entrance of any state school for many years.

Uniform

The current uniform of Dumfries Academy consists of a white shirt, black/grey trousers or skirt, a plain black or maroon jumper/cardigan and a maroon and white striped tie. During the 2006-2007 academic year, a senior tie consisting of a black background with white and maroon stripes, and including the school crest was introduced.

Dumfries Academy today

The Academy has been a six-year comprehensive school since July 1985 serving part of the Burgh of Dumfries and surrounding rural communities, with an average roll of over 600 pupils and around 50 teaching staff. Students are placed into one of three houses in their first year; Barrie, Haining and Laurie.

Notable people

Dumfries Academy plaque of notable pupils

• Sir James Anderson, who captained the SS Great Eastern on the Transatlantic telegraph cable laying voyages in 1865 and 1866
• Sir J.M.Barrie - writer of Peter Pan attended the school from 1873, and it was here where his first play Bandelero the Bandit was performed by the Dumfries Amateur Dramatic Club in 1877^[1]
• Sir James Crichton-Browne, eminent psychiatrist and president of the Medico-Psychological Association
• Rev. Dr. Henry Duncan, founder of the first savings bank
• James Oswald Dykes, ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1859
• Maurice Elliott, professional footballer
• Christian Jane Fergusson, artist
• Ian Gibson
• Alex Graham, cartoonist best known for the Fred Basset series
• Jane Haining, Church of Scotland missionary who ultimately lost her life to the Nazis rather than betray her convictions
• Dave Halliday, one of the highest goal scorers in UK football history and manager of Aberdeen to the Scottish League championship
• John Hanson, singer
• Sir Alexander Knox Helm, civil servant who held several important diplomatic posts
• Davie Irons, professional footballer and manager
• Stephen Jardine, TV presenter
• John Laurie, actor famous for Dad's Army
• Lex Law, ex professional footballer and age group internationalist
• Hugh McMillan, poet and now teacher at Dumfries Academy
• Barry Nicholson, Scottish international footballer
• Neil Oliver, archaeologist and author best known for his television work on the BBC series Coast and Two Men In A Trench
• Don Peattie, ex professional association footballer and now Head of Sport at City of Sunderland College
• Robin Philipson, artist
• Dougie Sharpe, Scottish Football League internationalist
• Ben Trueman, Hotel Babylon fictional semi professional hitman and part-time mystic
• Roger White, CEO of soft drinks group A G Barr
• Jock Wishart, who in 1998 set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe in a powered vessel

Awards

In 2005, William McGair, History teacher at the Academy, was awarded the Scottish Daily Record Gold Award for Inspirational Teacher.^[2]

References

External links

• Dumfries Academy website
• Dumfries Academy's page on Scottish Schools Online