Hillhead High School

Hillhead High School
Address
Oakfield Avenue, Hillhead Glasgow
Information
Type	State / public (non-denominational)
Motto	Nous maintiendrons (French for "We will maintain")
Established	19th century (as Hillhead Primary School)
Headmaster	Mr. W. Wight
Faculty	about 90
Enrollment	about 1000
Colour(s)	Navy, black, white, pink, red and gold
Athletics	Hillhead Badminton Club Hillhead Football Club Hillhead Hockey Club Hillhead Basketball Club
Surroundings	Urban

Hillhead High School is a day school located in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow. It is one of the largest schools in Glasgow.

Until 1976 it was a selective school. In that year the local authority in Glasgow abolished the selectivity process and the school gradually became a comprehensive school serving its natural catchment area of Glasgow's West End.

School facilities

The school has two buildings, the Main Building and the Terrace Building. It also uses the nearby Wellington Church for mass assemblies at October, Christmas, Easter and Summer.

The X-shaped listed Main Building, acquired in the 1930s, is the larger of the two buildings, and is where most pupils begin their studies. Most of the school's classrooms and offices are situated on its four floors. Its departments include Drama, Music, Religious Education, Physical Education, English, Art, Mathematics, Modern Languages, and Home Economics. Also in the Main Building is the library, where a career and exam advisor makes biweekly appearances.

Originally owned by the University of Glasgow, the Terrace Building was acquired by Hillhead in c.2001. Its five floors house the Information Technology, Technical and Graphic Communication Studies, Geography, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Modern Studies and History departments, including their classrooms and accompanying staff rooms. This building is used primarily for applied studies.

Minority Time Activity

Hillhead High School is the only school in Glasgow which has implemented Minority Time Activity (MTA). On Friday afternoons, teachers host activities ranging from football to bridge. Students who take part in extracurricular activities can alternatively use this time for additional practice. Pupils choose their desired activity at the start of each major term, for example when returning from the summer holidays. When participating in MTA, pupils are dismissed at 2:40 p.m. rather than the usual 3:30 p.m.

School shows

From the late 1970s until the mid 1990s, Hillhead High enjoyed a reputation for producing the best school shows in Glasgow. The tradition for staging quality musicals began in 1977 when Oklahoma! was performed at Partick Burgh Halls as a result of a very successful collaboration between classics teacher Alistair Fulton and music teacher Irene McLennan. This partnership, over the following years, provided a chance for many pupils to develop their talents both on-stage and backstage. The growing popularity of the shows led to the decision to perform them at the Mitchell Theatre, which helped to add to the professionalism of the productions. In 1985, to celebrate the school's centenary, a special version of The Music Man was produced, which featured several former pupils as cast members. Culminating the partnership between Fulton and McLennan was the Scottish premiere of Li'l Abner in the summer of 1992, after which McLennan retired. In 1994 Fulton again produced Oklahoma! as his farewell show before also retiring. The following year Calamity Jane was produced by a new production team consisting of two music teachers and two English teachers, and was very well received. However this proved to be the final show after a run of nearly twenty years. The tradition still provides some of the fondest memories for ex-pupils, many of whom went on to puruse careers in art, drama and music, having been inspired after their involvement in the shows.

Notable alumni

• Stanley Baxter, comedian (Parliamo Glasgow)
• Menzies Campbell, advocate and politician
• Shahbaz Chauhdry, contestant on Big Brother UK series 7
• Alastair Dunnett, journalist and newspaper editor
• Laura Fraser, actor
• Gordon Jackson, actor
• Ian MacGregor, metallurgist and industrialist, antagonist in the UK miners' strike (1984-1985).
• Alexander Mackendrick, film director
• Alistair MacLean, author
• Saul Metzstein, film director
• Robert Service, poet
• Jean Turner, former Independent MSP
• Jonathan Watson, comedian. (Only an Excuse?)
• James Alfred Wight, writer (pen name: James Herriot)

External links

• Hillhead High's official website
• Hillhead High School's page on Scottish Schools Online
• League tables for the school — Taken from BBC Education