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James Gillespie's High School
James Gillespie's High School
Address
	Lauderdale Street; Edinburgh, EH9 1DD; Scotland
Information
Type	State school
Motto	Fidelis Et Fortis ; (Latin: Faithful and Brave)
Established	1803; 221 years ago
Founder	James Gillespie
Local authority	Edinburgh City
Head teacher	Neil McCallum
Staff	FTE 116.4 (2021)
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1524 (2019)
Website	http://www.jamesgillespies.co.uk

James Gillespie's High School (Scottish Gaelic: Àrd-sgoil Sheumais Ghilleasbuig) is a state-funded secondary school in Marchmont, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a comprehensive high school, educating pupils between the ages of 11 and 18, situated at the centre of Edinburgh. Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace are within the catchment area of James Gillespie's High School.^[2]

History

James Gillespie's High School was founded in Bruntsfield Place in 1803 as a result of the legacy of James Gillespie, an Edinburgh tobacco merchant, and was administered by the Merchant Company of Edinburgh. The school acknowledges Gillespie's links to the North Virginia slave trade and, in keeping with best practice, educates students about slavery in its various forms.^[3]

The original building was designed by Edinburgh architect Robert Burn.^[4]

In 1870, the school moved into a larger building on the south side of what is now Gillespie Crescent. The number of students at the school would later exceed 1,000 and include female students.

In 1908, the Edinburgh School Board took responsibility for this school from the Merchant Company of Edinburgh Education Board.

In 1914, the school moved into the original Boroughmuir School building on Bruntsfield Links, which was previously used by Boroughmuir High School as an annex. The novelist Muriel Spark attended James Gillespie's High School from 1923 to 1935. She based the main character of her 1961 novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on one of her teachers, Christina Kay.

In 1935, Edinburgh Corporation acquired Bruntsfield House and its grounds from the Warrender family.^[5]

The construction of the school on Lauderdale Street began in 1964 and was completed in 1966. The school became a secondary school for 800 girls. The project added three teaching blocks, a separate library, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium to the original Bruntsfield House building.

In 1973, the school became a co-educational comprehensive school, taking in boys and girls.^[6]

In 1978, ownership of the school was taken over by Lothian Regional Council, and school uniforms became optional. At this time, the school also started to use an annex at 7 Gillespie Street to cope with the rising intake.

In 1989, the school moved to one site at the completion of an extensive building and modernisation program.^[6] Prior to the move, the high school divided the student population into four 'houses' — Warrender, Roslin, Spylaw, and Gilmore. The houses would compete in intramural sports events, etc. The house system lasted into the early 1980s before being reformed into three 'communities' - Raeburn, Maxwell and Chi. In 2016 further reform took place. The previous three 'communities' were abolished and five new ones were established - Roslin, Spylaw, Warrender, Thirlestane and Lauder. In August 2021, due to rising pupil numbers, a further revision was made and as of then, the communities have been Roslin, Spylaw and Lauder. Since the 1980s, buildings on the high school campus have adopted the house names along with the addition of a new name, Bruntsfield. Each of the building names reflects a connection to the name of a locality in, or a historic family from, South Edinburgh.

In 2007, improvements were made to the school buildings after a state inspection found significant deficiencies in several of the 1966 structures. There was a campaign to build a new school.^[7] Following consultation with parents, students, staff, and the wider community, building of a new school began on the existing site in December 2013.^[8]

In July 2013, work started to replace all the school buildings apart from Bruntsfield House, which is a listed building. The campus was completed in August 2016 and was officially opened by John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, on 26 October 2016. As of October 2016^[update], it was composed of four buildings: the Bruntsfield House, the Malala Teaching Block, the Muriel Spark Performing Arts Building, and the Eric Liddell Sports Building. In mid-2019, a small set of temporary units serving as a Humanities building were built in order to better space out these subjects.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2022, Darroch Annexe^[9] in the nearby Fountainbridge area of the city opened after it was refurbished. The school will use the facility for additional classes as it provides an additional 12 classrooms, a canteen, and a sports hall. It will also become the home of Gaelic medium education at JGHS, and SQA exams are also held there.^{[citation needed]}

Gaelic language unit

There is a Gaelic language unit within the school, catering for around 120 pupils, which allows those students who have been taught through the medium of Gaelic in Primary School (Bun Sgoil Taobh na Pairce) to continue with their Gaelic Medium Education.^[10]

Notable alumni

Muriel Spark, writer^[11]
Dorothy Dunnett, writer^[12]
Alistair Sim, actor
John Leslie, television presenter on Blue Peter, Wheel of Fortune and This Morning
Michael Thomson (actor), Scottish actor
Grant Stott, actor
Robert Cavanah, Scottish actor
Sam Heughan, Scottish actor
Annie Hutton Numbers, Scottish chemist
Ronnie Corbett, stand-up comedian, actor, writer and broadcaster^[13]
Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, artistic director
Damien Hoyland, rugby player
Elizabeth Malloch, educator and priest^[14]
Callum Skinner, Olympic cyclist: Callum won a Silver(individual sprint) and a Gold (Team sprint) medal at the Summer Rio Olympic Games 2016^[15]
Kirstin Innes, writer^[16]
Stuart Harris, architect and local historian^[17]
Ethel Houston, Enigma code breaker & first woman to become senior partner at a Scottish law firm.^[18]

References

^ "School Information Dashboard - Secondary". Retrieved 9 August 2022.
^ "Find your catchment school". The City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
^ "School history | James Gillespie's Primary School, Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh, EH9 1BD, Scotland". Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Burn
^ "Edinburgh, 57 Lauderdale Street, Bruntisfield House". Canmore. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Our School". Jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
^ Rose, Gareth (12 June 2006). "£100m plan to upgrade five schools in Capital unveiled". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
^ "BBC News - Work started on the new James Gillespie's High School in Edinburgh". BBC Online. 11 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
^ "Darroch Annexe Refurbishment". 7 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
^ "Gàidhlig and Gaelic Learners". Retrieved 17 November 2018.
^ "Childhood - Muriel Spark - National Library of Scotland". digital.nls.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
^ Linklater, Magnus (15 November 2001). "Dorothy Dunnett". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 October 2023. An only child, Dorothy went to James Gillespie's High School for girls, where she overlapped with Muriel Spark, and was taught by Miss Kay, the model for Jean Brodie.
^ "Ronnie Corbett, best known for The Two Ronnies, dies aged 85". BBC News * Jay Mcnair, Trapper. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ "Elizabeth Malloch". HeraldScotland. 10 October 2000. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
^ "Rio Olympics 2016: Callum Skinner joy at 'amazing' cycling gold". BBC Sport. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ McGinty, Stephen (10 June 2023). "Kirstin Innes's Scabby Queen focuses on fame and fortune of female celebrities" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
^ "Stuart Lowe Harris". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ "Ethel Houston - Solicitor and veteran of Bletchley Park who was a fiercely independent thinker with an enduring passion for Scotland". The Times. 21 December 2017.