This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nach0king (talk | contribs) at 09:26, 3 March 2006 (Added the History section. Might be worth giving the old College its own article? Hesitated over calling Stow a pioneer because it's a loaded term; can anyone think of a more neutral one?). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 09:26, 3 March 2006 by Nach0king (talk | contribs) (Added the History section. Might be worth giving the old College its own article? Hesitated over calling Stow a pioneer because it's a loaded term; can anyone think of a more neutral one?)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jordanhill School is a non-fee paying, non-selective school for pupils from 5 to 18, located on Chamberlain Road in Glasgow. Uniquely among Scottish schools, it receives funding directly from the Scottish Executive rather than Glasgow City Council. Although it is regularly categorised as a state school - as distinct from a private fee paying school, it does not fall under the control of the local education authority.
Jordanhill School consists of a primary school and a secondary school. In the primary school, each year has three classes of 22 pupils, while the secondary school receives an additional 33 pupils from other local primary schools in order to bring the number per year up to 99.
The school regularly tops the list of academic performance for state schools in Scotland. In a recent inspection by the HMI the school received a very good report.
History
Jordanhill School was formerly a "demonstration school" for the Jordanhill College of Education, a teacher training center founded by education training pioneer David Stow, a Glasgow merchant. It was known as the Jordanhill College School.
The college was an out-of-town location that sought to merge Stow's Free Kirk Normal Seminary with his Dundas Vale Normal Seminary, two early teacher training colleges. This was a government-sponsored initiative of 1905, when it was decided that taking teacher training should be taken away from the churches and placed under provincial committee control.
The site of the college - and now the school - was on the old Jordanhill Estate grounds. The old Jordanhill House was demolished around 1915, with the Glasgow Provincial Committee effecting purchase of the land to build their new college, though the plot had been for sale since 1911. The school buildings were completed in 1921, although the school was actually founded a year earlier, in 1920.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
Music
Jordanhill School is also renowned for its high proportion of students participating in curricular and extra-curricular music activities, with many of its pupils taking part in school, regional and national orchestras. Jordanhill students and music groups regularly excel in competitions such as the Glasgow Music Festival.
Modernisation
Jordanhill School has recently been recognised for integrating IT in education by BECTA with an 'ICT in Practice Award'. It has also been recognised as a 'Centre of Excellence' for the use of interactive whiteboards.
The school is in the process of modernising and expanding the premises in order to replace its aging huts which provide classrooms for the school's modern languages and social subject departments, but which are fast becoming a hazard due to damp throughout the structures. As part of its estates plan, in early 2005 the school bought the sports complex at Laurel Park and acquired a site adjacent to the existing science building to allow for an expansion of facilities in the near future.
Local Community
The school and its pupils have a very active involvement with the local community - with senior pupils undertaking community service as part of their extra-curricular activities. Each year a committee of senior pupils produce the 'Jordanhill School Magazine' and is a not for profit venture with submissions from pupils in primary, secondary and staff. It records the year’s events from the viewpoint of the pupils in article and photographic form. It is professionally published and sold to the school community. In the 2006 edition of The Times 'Good Schools Guide' the magazine received a favourable comment in their assessment of the school.
Miscellaneous
Jordanhill has a long standing relationship with the colour brown. The main school building itself is brown, as is the school uniform, and two of the school's Senior Management Team also possess this as their surname.
The school's board of managers has recently begun to introduce a number of new policies. These include placing limits on the pupils' ability to move to, from and even around the school during their free periods, and the new "personal development plan".
The closest railway station is the Jordanhill railway station.
External link
- Donnelly, Max (1987) "Jordanhill - A Historical Sketch" (2nd ed) (Glasgow: Self-published (printed at Strathclyde University))