Stonelaw High School

Stonelaw High School

Established	1970
Type	Secondary School
Head Teacher	Brenda McLachlan
Location	140 Calderwood Road Rutherglen Glasgow G73 3BP Scotland
Local authority	South Lanarkshire
Staff	91 FTE
Students	1,141
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	11–18
Houses	Dryburgh Jedburgh Kelso Melrose Rosslyn
Website	Stonelaw High School

Stonelaw High School is a non-denominational state high school located in Rutherglen, Scotland near the city of Glasgow.

Admissions

Stonelaw High School is a leading Scottish school delivering the new National 4/5 qualifications introduced by the SQA. It was established in August 1970 as a four-year school based in the former Rutherglen Academy building at the corner of Stonelaw Road and Melrose Avenue.^[1] Eventually Stonelaw High became a six-year school and was relocated to new premises on Calderwood Road, Rutherglen in 1998.^[2] The current head teacher is Brenda McLachlan who took over from Brian Cooklin in 2012. Stonelaw was awarded sports hub status on the 5 November 2013 by MSP Shona Robison - Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport.^[3] There are around 100 FTE staff members at Stonelaw.

History

Grammar school

Prior to 1970, a selective secondary education system existed in Scotland that involved two grades of secondary schools: Senior Secondaries and Junior Secondaries. At the heart of this selective system was an exam called the 11-Plus taken by all children in the last year of primary school. Those who passed the 11-Plus went to one of the Senior Secondaries (six-year schools) while all others attended one of the Junior Secondaries (four-year schools). Senior Secondary pupils were expected to stay on at school until aged eighteen and proceed to some sort of tertiary education at university or college, whereas Junior Secondary pupils had to leave school aged fifteen for jobs and/or apprenticeships. Before 1972, fifteen was the minimum school leaving age in Scotland.

Comprehensive

Stonelaw High School was first formed by merging some of the pupils already at Rutherglen Academy with pupils from Gallowflat Junior Secondary. Other Academy pupils who had been at primary schools in Cambuslang, Carmunnock and Burnside largely went up to the new (1970) Cathkin High School. Subsequently, Stonelaw pupils wishing to do Highers or Certificates of Sixth-Year Studies (CSYS) - these being pre-university qualifications - transferred to Cathkin High for their last two years.

Notable former teachers

• Norman Buchan, Labour MP from 1983-90 for Paisley South
• Bill Butler, politician
• Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist
• Adam McNaughton, Scottish folk singer, noted for his songs on post-War Glasgow
• Harry Johnston (Physical education teacher) was a footballer with Montrose and Partick Thistle^[4]
• janitor Jim Holmes was previously a successful footballer with Greenock Morton ^[5]

Feeder Schools

The primary schools whose pupils progress to Stonelaw include Bankhead, Burgh, Burnside, Calderwood and Spittal located in Rutherglen, James Aiton and Park View in Cambuslang and Toryglen in Glasgow. ^[6]

House system

The school operates a house system. The four houses Dryburgh, Jedburgh, Kelso and Melrose are named after local avenues which are in turn the names of abbeys in the Borders.^[7]

Extracurricular activities

The school has many extra curricular activities and clubs including football, volleyball, a table tennis club, a cricket club and a soul band. They also have a band with full brass, woodwind and percussion sections. The music department also hosts a choir, brass ensamble and a recently started Samba band.

Notable alumni

• Simon Donnelly, Partick Thistle and former Celtic, and Scottish international
• William McLachlan, Rangers player
• Steven Saunders, Ross County player
• Alan Trouten, Airdrie United player
• Scott Kyle, actor
• Jayd Johnson, actress

Rutherglen Academy

• Sir Denis William Brogan, historian, Professor of Political Science from 1939-68 at the University of Cambridge, father of Hugh Brogan
• Janet Brown, well-known female impressionist, who married the Carry-On actor Peter Butterworth
• Steven Campbell (artist)
• James Davidson CBE, former Managing Director of the Clyde Port Authority
• Duncan Glen, poet
• Stan Laurel, actor, writer and comedian ("Laurel and Hardy")
• Adam Little, footballer
• Jim McColl OBE, entrepreneur and "Scotland's richest man" (£800 million in 2008)
• Sir Ian McGregor CBE, expert on malaria at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Prof Edwin Morgan OBE, Titular Professor of English from 1975-80 at the University of Glasgow, and National Poet for Scotland from 2004–10
• Alexander Pollock, Conservative MP from 1983-7 for Moray, and from 1979-83 for Moray and Nairn
• Dr John Rae, Chief Executive from 2000-01 of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE plc), and Chief Scientist from 1986-89 at the Department of Energy
• Sir Adam Thomson CBE, founder of British Caledonian (Managing Director from 1964–70 and Chief Executive from 1970–88)
• Midge Ure, musician

References

External links

• Official website
• profile on ParentZone at Education Scotland

Coordinates: 55°49′16″N 4°11′47″W / 55.82111°N 4.19639°W / 55.82111; -4.19639