Firrhill High School: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox school

'''Firrhill High School''' is a state-run secondary school in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]. The school was established in the year 1962, being unveiled by the City's Lord Provost. The school has over 1000 pupils with a teaching staff of around 70. Current Head-teacher is Karen Prophet, and senior management team consists of John Wood - Deputy Head, Ron Wadell - Head of house, Elizabeth Ford - Joint head of house, David Simpson - Joint Head of House, Nick Mclellan - Head of House.

| name = Firrhill High School

| image = Firrhill-high-logo.jpg

| image_size = 90px

| caption =

| motto = Air carraig

| established = 1960

| closed =

| type = State Secondary

| religious_affiliation =

| president =

| head_label =

| head = Graham Hamilton

| r_head_label =

| r_head =

| chair_label =

| chair =

| founder =

| specialist =

| address = 9 Oxgangs Road North

| city = Edinburgh

| county =

| country = Scotland

| postcode =

| local_authority =

| dfeno =

| urn =

| ofsted =

| staff = 121 approx

| enrolment =1331 approx<ref name="scotland_gov_uk">{{Cite web |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00420794.xlsx |title=Archived copy |access-date=7 January 2014 |archive-date=2 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102235809/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00420794.xlsx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

| gender =

| lower_age =

| upper_age =

| houses =

| colours =

| publication =

| free_label_1 = Grades

| free_1 = S1 to S6

| free_label_2 =

| free_2 =

| free_label_3 =

| free_3 =

| website = http://firrhillhigh.org/

}}

'''Firrhill High School''' is a secondary school located in the south-west of [[Edinburgh]], Scotland. The school was established in 1960, and was officially opened by the city's lord provost. The school has around 1123 pupils and a teaching staff roll of around 121.<ref name="scotland_gov_uk" /> The school serves areas such as: [[Oxgangs]], [[Colinton|Colinton Mains]], Colinton Village, [[Bonaly]], [[Fairmilehead]], Buckstone, [[Craiglockhart]] and [[Longstone, Edinburgh|Longstone]].<ref>[http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/616/firrhill_high_school.pdf Catchment Area Map]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2007 the school underwent some refurbishing, with new classrooms and various upgrading implemented. The school has also recently been inspected, and achieved satisfactory results.

In 2001, the school underwent drastic refurbishing work, with several run-down buildings dating from the 1960s being either refurbished or demolished with new buildings built in their place. Work was completed in mid-2005,<ref>[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/spwrans/?id=2008-02-29.S3W-9239.h Written Answer, Scottish Parliament]</ref> and the school was refurbished by a [[private finance initiative]].

==Departments==

*Physics

*Chemistry

*Mathematics

*History

*Geography

*PE

*Art

*Music

*CDT

*Computing

*Business Management

*Home Economics

== Achievements Headteacher==

Firrhill has a successful male football team and there has also been a hockey team. In exam results, Firrhill has one of the highest pass rates in Edinburgh both for [[Standard Grade]] and [[Higher (Scottish)|Higher]], and in 2006 the school produced a number of straight A students.

The current headteacher is Graham Hamilton.<ref>{{cite web |title=Senior Leadership Team |url=http://firrhillhigh.org/our-school/senior-leadership-team |website=Firrhill High School |access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>

== Famous alumni and teachers ==

==Notable alumni and teachers==

[[Calum Elliot]] is now a professional footballer playing for [[HMFC|Hearts]].

{{See also|Category:People educated at Firrhill High School}}

Ross Elliot, older brother of Calum, was also a professional footballer, once playing for [[Alloa Athletic F.C.|Alloa]]. Robbie Foy, formerly of [[Liverpool FC]] and now [[Scunthorpe United FC]] was a former pupil of the school. Scottish actress

[[Elaine C Smith]] was a Drama teacher at the school at one point.

*[[Robbie Foy]], formerly of [[Liverpool F.C.]] and [[Scunthorpe United FC]], is a former pupil of the school. Foy, Sives and Vita represented Scotland Schoolboys in 2000 and 2001<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=356894 |title=Football - Article - TES Connect |access-date=14 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610111741/https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=356894 |archive-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> respectively whilst at the school<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Capital-starlets-to-take-off.2301213.jp | ___location=Edinburgh | work=The Scotsman | title=Capital starlets to take off on a trip of a lifetime | date=9 February 2002}}</ref> and all three played in the [[Victory Shield]].

==Firrhill High School in popular culture==

*The Scottish actress and comedian [[Elaine C. Smith]] was a drama teacher at the school in the early-1980s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Teachers-show-their-comic-credentials.2438196.jp | title=Elaine C Smith Comedy Instead Of Teaching | access-date=30 March 2011}}</ref>

Firrhill appeared in [[The Scotsman]] for its fast track maths program for [[Standard Grade]] students.

*The pianist and composer [[Stuart Mitchell]] who discovered the musical symbols in Rosslyn Chapel and has been celebrated in the Classic FM Hall of Fame for 15 years was a former pupil at Firrhill High School.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/composer-cracks-rosslyn-s-musical-code-1-1098644 | title=Composer cracks Rosslyn's musical code}}</ref>

*[[Margot Wells]], the elite athletics coach, and the wife of 100-metre gold medallist [[Allan Wells]], taught physical education at Firrhill in the late 1970s.

*[[Dougie Fife]], a pupil at Firrhill in the 2000s is a rugby union player with over 120 appearances for [[Edinburgh Rugby]] and represented Scotland in under 20s, 7s and national team. Dougie currently plays in the US [[Major League Rugby]] competition.

==Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education==

On 13 June 2006, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education reported on the school.<ref>[http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/inspection/FirrhillHS.pdf Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report on Firrhill High School, 13 June 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214134/http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/inspection/FirrhillHS.pdf |date=4 June 2011 }}</ref> The inspectors identified as key strengths "The coherent and progressive programme of enterprise activities from S1-S6" and "The high standards of attainment at S5/S6". The report also commended the strong direction given by the Head Teacher Karen Prophet.

The Report also commended the condition of the school saying that the school was well-designed and had good specialist teaching areas and had good social areas for pupils.

HM Inspectorate of Education issued a follow-up report on 22 April 2008.<ref>[http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/followup/5532639%20Firhill%20HS.pdf Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report on Firrhill High School, 22 April 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214211/http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/followup/5532639%20Firhill%20HS.pdf |date=4 June 2011 }}</ref> The report identified "good" or "very good" progress regarding all the items identified for action in the 2006 inspection report, and found no need to conduct further follow-up inspections.

==References==

{{reflist|2}}

==External links==

*{{official|http://firrhillhigh.org/}}

*[http://www.firrhill.edin.sch.uk Official Firrhill High School Website]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070128112831/http://www.scottishschoolsonline.gov.uk/schools/firrhillhighschooledinburghcity.asp Firrhill High School's page on Scottish Schools Online]

{{Schools in Edinburgh}}

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[[Category:Schools in Edinburgh]]

[[Category:Secondary schools in Scotland]]

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[[Category:Secondary schools in Edinburgh]]

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[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1960]]

[[Category:1960 establishments in Scotland]]