Harris Academy
Encyclopedia
Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school located in the West End
West End, Dundee
The West End is an area of the city of Dundee, Scotland. Bordered to the south by the River Tay, to the north by Blackness and to the east by the city centre, the West End is primarily an affluent residential area surrounding its main commercial thoroughfare, Perth Road, and the main campus of the...

 of Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Admissions

The school's current rector is Mr. James Thewliss.

The school is situated in the west of Dundee, north of the railway line, the A85
A85 road
The A85 is a major road in Scotland. It runs east from Oban along the south bank of Loch Etive, through Lochawe and Tyndrum, Crianlarich, Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Crieff before passing through Perth, where it crosses the River Tay via Perth Bridge. Its name between the latter two locations is...

 and Dundee Airport
Dundee Airport
-Road:The airport lies on the main A85 Riverside Drive, which links the city centre to the Kingsway and the A90, with the airport barely a couple of kilometers from the city centre itself. Taxis are available from outside the airport.-Bus:...

. The University of Dundee Botanic Garden
University of Dundee Botanic Garden
The University of Dundee Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in the West End of the city of Dundee, Scotland. The gardens are kept and funded entirely by the University of Dundee.-History:...

 is nearby to the west.

Houses

Harris Academy has a house system which allocates each pupil to one of four houses, named Birnam, Cawdor, Forres and Kinloch. The former three come from houses in William Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 "Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

". The latter comes from the name of George Kinloch, former MP and reformer in Dundee and from the village of Kinloch. Each of the houses has an associated colour, Birnam - Red, Cawdor - Yellow, Forres - Green, Kinloch - Blue.
Each house competes against each other in Interhouse competitions; both sporting and academic. They receive points for their success, and at the end of the year, the points are totalled to declare the winner of the house championship.

There are captains of each house (1 boy, 1 girl, 1 boy's vice, 1 girl's vice and a house secretary) who encourage members of their house to participate in Interhouse events.


Sixth Year pupils who have shown exemplary behaviour throughout their time at the school become Prefects. Prefects are determined by the results of combined vote of S6 pupils and teachers. There are also 2 school captains from S6 (one boy and one girl) and four vice-captains (2 boys and 2 girls) that represent the pupils and organise events for the school chosen by the teachers.

The school's rector is supported by one Depute Rector, Mr Quinn, and 4 House Heads who are each in charge of a 'house' group for their duration at the school.

The annual school's prizegiving ceremony, held on the last day of the school year in the assembly hall is steeped in tradition. Merit prizes are awarded to pupils in all years who are judged to have shown excellent behaviour and a positive attitude to learning. Along with this, academic subject prizes are awarded along with a Dux in every subject for pupils in the senior school. The Frida C. Swanson Prize (formerly Dux of the School) is given to a sixth year pupil who is widely considered to have shown academic excellence throughout their 5th and 6th years at Harris.

Grammar school

It was established in 1885 through a bequest from corn-merchant and mill owner William Harris. The original building was in Park Place and the school moved to its present building in Perth Road in 1931.

Uniform

The uniform of Harris Academy is a three button blazer in maroon with the school badge embroidered on the left Front pocket. It is compulsory for pupils to wear a white shirt with black trousers or skirt but not the maroon blazer. Prefects wear yellow bands on the arms of their blazers.

The Harris tie is a maroon tie striped with yellow and black. All the pupils are supposed to wear ties. Since the school session 2007/2008, pupils in their sixth year who participate in the school's peer support schemes receive a special tie that is maroon with the school crest on it. Pupils who have represented Scotland receive an International tie to acknowledge their achievements.

Buildings and grounds

The main building was built in 1931 after the school population outgrew the previous Park Place building. The current building houses the Modern Languages department, the Social Subjects departments, the Science departments, The Religious Education department, the Craft and Design department, the Mathematics department, Assembly Hall, the Guidance base, Year-Heads' offices, and the Rector's office.

Pupils of the nineteen fifties will remember with mixed feelings the Crawford Lodge annex to the west of the main school. It had been purchased by the Town Council in 1946 as an extension to the school (see school history). Classics and modern languages were taught there in rather primitive conditions. It was burnt down in 1958 and remained a shell till it was replaced by the new buildings in the late 1960s. This houses the Computing and Business Studies departments, the Home Economics department, the English department, the Art department, the school library, the careers base, the Dining hall, two of the three gymnasia, and the school's swimming pool.

In addition to these there is also a Music Block housing the Music department as well as rooms for music tuition; and a substantial Games Hall building with a fitness room. The school has access to a wrought-iron footbridge over the Dundee-Perth railway line to playing fields at the Riverside.

Not far from the school are the school sports grounds at Elliot Road. These include a recently-improved pavilion, a rugby pitch and several football or hockey fields. In summer time, it is converted to Athletics tracks.

In the late 70's the school experienced a boom in numbers, as a result of its conversion from a Senior Secondary School to a comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 (it was never known as a 'grammar school'). In addition to its Perth Road buildings, Harris Academy took over the premises of Logie Junior Secondary School on Blackness Road, Dundee.

The school was split with 1st and 2nd years attending Harris Academy in the Blackness annexe, 3rd to 6th Years continued at the Perth Road building. Mini-buses provided transport for staff between the two locations by Red Line Coaches. The Logie building burnt down in 2001 and teaching is now entirely centred in the Perth Road campus.

Notable former pupils

Former pupils of notability include:
  • Claire Bartlett
    Claire Bartlett
    Claire Bartlett is a British writer and journalist, who has co-written a number of radio plays, short stories and novels. Her regular writing partner is Iain McLaughlin. They have written for Big Finish, Telos and Imagination Theater.- References :...

     (born 1973), writer and journalist
  • Craig Brewster
    Craig Brewster
    Craig James Brewster is a Scottish football player and coach. He made his name in a long and successful career playing as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic...

     (born 1966), football player and manager
  • George Galloway
    George Galloway
    George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...

     (born 1954) British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2010.
  • Mick Cooke
    Mick Cooke
    Mick Cooke is the trumpet player of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian. Besides trumpet, Cooke plays other brass instruments, including the French horn, and occasionally plays electric guitar and bass live...

     (born December 15, 1973) is the trumpet player of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian
    Belle & Sebastian
    Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...

  • Darren Howey (born 1995), A master assassin, full time personal debt collecter for Hilltown House Breaking co.
  • James Crabb
    James Crabb
    James Crabb, is a classical accordion player.Scottish born James Crabb is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading ambassadors of the classical accordion. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with classical accordion pioneer Mogens Ellegaard and was awarded the Carl...

     (born 1967), classical accordion player
  • Christian Dailly
    Christian Dailly
    Christian Eduard Dailly is a Scottish professional footballer who is without a club having last played for Championship side Portsmouth. He is a versatile player, often seen in defence or defensive midfield, but has played in most outfield positions during his career. Dailly is Scotland's...

     (born 1973), international football player
  • Stefani Dailly
    Stefani Dailly
    Stefani Dailly is a sports correspondent for STV News in Northern Scotland. She also occasionally reads the news for Tayside and North-east Fife and the regional sports bulletins during STV News at Six....

     (born 1978) STV North sports reporter and relief presenter
  • Craig Ireland
    Craig Ireland
    Craig Ireland is a retired Scottish professional football player.Ireland began his a career at Aberdeen, although he only made one League Cup appearance during his time at the club. He moved to Dunfermline Athletic in February 1996 for £75,000 and would make 56 appearances in total for the Pars...

     (born 29 November 1975 in Dundee) is a former Scottish professional football player
  • Rod Johnston
    Rod Johnston
    Rod Johnston was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and Wisconsin State Senate.-Biography:Johnston was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and George Washington University Law School.-Career:...

     (born 1974), radio presenter on Fife & East Central Scotland's Kingdom FM and Wave 102 in Dundee also Glasgow's Q96 now known as Rock Radio
  • Steven Morrison, musician (member of The View
    The View (band)
    The View are a Scottish indie rock band. They incorporate various styles such as punk, pop, alternative rock, pop punk, powerpop, folk, and acoustic in their music....

    )
  • Bill Skelly
    Bill Skelly
    Bill Skelly became HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland by Royal Warrant in December 2008, on the retirement of Paddy Tomkins HMCIC. He is seconded from Lothian and Borders Police where he was appointed temporary Deputy Chief Constable in August 2008, having previously been the Assistant Chief...

    , HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland since 2009
  • Pauline Stott, international hockey player
  • Sheena Wellington, Scottish folk singer who also sang at the opening of the Scottish Parliament and presented her own Scottish folk music programme on Radio Tay & BBC Scotland
  • Lee Wilkie
    Lee Wilkie
    Lee Wilkie is a former Scotland international footballer who played as a central defender. Wilkie spent the majority of his career in Dundee, playing for both Dundee and Dundee United, and won 11 international caps between 2002 and 2003...

      (born 1980), international football player
  • Timothy Goodman, industrial designer

Grammar school

  • Ian Adam, Chairman from 2004-8 of the Britannia Building Society
  • James Aitken, President from 1933-4 of the National Union of Journalists
    National Union of Journalists
    The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...

     (NUJ)
  • Arthur Adrian, Editor from 1993-2002 of The Courier
    The Courier
    The Courier & Advertiser, more commonly known as simply The Courier, is a broadsheet newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland...

  • Alfred Anderson
    Alfred Anderson
    Alfred Anderson was a Scottish joiner and veteran of the First World War. He was the last known holder of the 1914 Star , the last known combatant to participate in the 1914 World War I Christmas truce, Scotland's last known World War I veteran, and Scotland's oldest man for more than a year.In...

    , Scotland's last known WWI veteran, and Scotland's oldest man in 2005
  • Very Rev Ernest Brady, Dean of Edinburgh from 1976-82 and 1985-6
  • Charles Brown, civil engineer with Mott, Hay and Anderson
    Mott, Hay and Anderson
    Mott, Hay and Anderson was a successful 20th century firm of consulting civil engineers based in the United Kingdom. The company traded until 1989, when it merged with Sir M. MacDonald & Partners to form Mott MacDonald.-Early years:...

    , working on the Forth Road Bridge
    Forth Road Bridge
    The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry...

  • Ernest Chambers, Managing Director from 2001-8 of Beattie Communications Group, and Chief Executive from 1995-2001 of West of Scotland Water (now part of Scottish Water
    Scottish Water
    Scottish Water is a statutory corporation in Scotland that provides water and sewerage services. Unlike in England and Wales, water and sewerage provision in Scotland continues as a public corporation accountable to the public through the Scottish Government....

    )
  • Sir Charles Cunningham CB CVO, civil servant
  • Arthur Donaldson
    Arthur Donaldson
    Arthur Donaldson was a Scottish politician, and leader of the Scottish National Party from 1960 to 1969.-Early years:...

    , Leader from 1960-69 of the SNP
    Scottish National Party
    The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

  • Alexander Donnet, Baron Donnet of Balgay CBE, President from 1970-1 of the Scottish TUC
    Scottish Trades Union Congress
    The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....

  • William Eadie, Managing Director from 1955-61 and Chairman from 1957-64 of Burmah Oil
  • Ernest Fenton, Chief Executive from 1987-92 of Greenwell Montagu Stockbrokers
  • Donald Findlay
    Donald Findlay
    Donald Findlay QC, is a well-known senior advocate and Queen's Counsel in Scotland. He has also held positions as a vice chairman of Rangers Football Club and twice Rector of the University of St Andrews...

    , QC
    Queen's Counsel
    Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

     (born 1951), senior advocate, Rector of the University of St Andrews
    Rector of the University of St Andrews
    The Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews is a university official chosen every three years by the students of the University of St Andrews...

    , and broadcaster
  • Surgeon Rear-Adm
    Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)
    Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....

     Charles Finnigan CB
  • George Galloway
    George Galloway
    George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...

     (born 1954), RESPECT Party politician and author
  • Archibald Goldie CBE, meteorologist
  • Frederick Green, Drapers Professor of French
    Drapers Professor of French
    The Drapers Professorship of French is the senior professorship in the study of the French language at the University of Cambridge, and was founded in 1919 by a donation from the Worshipful Company of Drapers.-Drapers Professors:...

     from 1935-51 at the University of Cambridge
    University of Cambridge
    The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

  • Fred Hartley
    Fred Hartley
    Fred Hartley was a Scottish pianist, conductor and composer of light music best known for his waltz Rouge et Noir. He sometimes composed music under the pseudonym Iris Taylor....

     (1905–1980) composer, pianist and music administrator
  • James Holburn, Editor from 1955-65 of The Glasgow Herald
    The Herald (Glasgow)
    The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...

    , and Chief Middle East Correspondent from 1952-5 of The Times
    The Times
    The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

  • Sir William Lamond, Managing Director from 1935-45 of the Imperial Bank of India
    Imperial Bank of India
    The Imperial Bank of India was the oldest and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, and was subsequently transformed into State Bank of India in 1955.-Origin:...

  • William Lang, Joint Editor from 1921-8 of the Financial News
    Financial News (1884–1945)
    The Financial News was a daily British newspaper published in London. It was founded in 1884 by Harry Marks, who had begun on United States newspapers, and set up to expose fraudulent investments. Marks himself was key to the paper's early growth, when it had a buccaneering life fighting against...

  • James Mann
    James Mann
    James Mann is an American journalist, and senior writer-in-residence at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.-Life:He graduated from Harvard University with a B.A...

    , marine painter
  • David McDonald CMG, government architect in Hong Kong
  • Bruce Millan
    Bruce Millan
    Bruce Millan is a Scottish Labour politician. He was born in Dundee and educated at the Harris Academy in that city.He was elected as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Craigton at the 1959 general election and served for that seat, and after its abolition for Glasgow Govan, until 1988...

     (born 1927), former Scottish Labour Party
    Scottish Labour Party
    The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

     politician, MP from 1959-83 for Glasgow Craigton
    Glasgow Craigton (UK Parliament constituency)
    Glasgow Craigton was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from United Kingdom general election, 1955|1955]] until United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983]]....

    , and from 1983-8 for Glasgow Govan
    Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)
    Glasgow Govan was a parliamentary constituency in the Govan district of Glasgow. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 2005, returning one Member of Parliament elected by the first-past-the-post system.The area which the constituency...

    , and Secretary of State for Scotland
    Secretary of State for Scotland
    The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...

     from 1976-9
  • Neil Mudie (born 1950), BBC News Television and now Freelance television and radio broadcaster
  • Sir William Murrie, civil servant, planned the evacuation of children in Scotland before WWII, later worked for Churchill's War Cabinet
    Churchill War Ministry
    -The War Cabinet:Changes*August 1940: Lord Beaverbrook , Minister of Aircraft Production, joins the War Cabinet*October 1940: Sir John Anderson succeeds Neville Chamberlain as Lord President. Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, enter the War...

    , and later the Permanent Under-Secretary for Scotland
  • Roger Nicholson, former Managing Director of Thomson Regional Newspapers (owned The Scotsman
    The Scotsman
    The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

    )
  • Iain Pirie, Sheriff of Glasgow and Strathkelvin from 1982-99
  • Harold Plenderleith
    Harold Plenderleith
    Harold Plenderleith was a Scottish art conservator and archaeologist.-Biography:Harold Plenderleith was born in Scotland on 19 September 1898....

     CBE, conservationist and archaeologist
  • Prof George Pryde, Professor of Scottish History and Literature from 1957-61 at the University of Glasgow
    University of Glasgow
    The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

  • Gerry Quinn
    Gerry Quinn
    Gerry Quinn is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Corofin and was a member of the Clare senior inter-county team since 2000.-References:...

     (born 1953) was the very first Breakfast presenter on Radio Tay 17 October 1980
  • Syd Scroggie, mountaineer
  • Herbert Smith, William Jacks
    William Jacks
    William Jacks was a British ironmaster, author and Liberal politician-Early life:Jacks was born at Cornhill-on-Tweed, near Coldstream, Northumberland the son Richard Jacks, a farmer and land steward, and his wife, Mary Lamb...

     Professor of Germanic Languages from 1919-51 at the University of Glasgow
    University of Glasgow
    The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

  • Norman Kemp Smith
    Norman Kemp Smith
    Norman Kemp Smith was a Scottish philosopher who lectured at Princeton University and was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh. Born Norman Smith in Dundee, Scotland, he added his wife's last name when he married Amy Kemp in 1910.-Career:Kemp Smith received his...

    , philosopher
  • Nikola Stewart, Sheriff of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway at Lanark since 2000
  • Rev Ian Thompson, Dean from 2005-9 of King's College, Cambridge
    King's College, Cambridge
    King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....

  • David Urquhart, Baron Tayside OBE
  • Prof William Walker, Regius Professor of Materia Medica
    Regius Professor of Medicine (Aberdeen)
    -Holders:*1912-1928 Professor Sir Ashley MacIntosh*1994-2009 Professor Andrew Rees*2009-present Professor Michael P. FrenneauxThis list is incomplete-See also:* Regius Professor of Medicine** Regius Professor of Physic...

     from 1973-82 at the University of Aberdeen
    University of Aberdeen
    The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

  • Charles Milne Winter CBE, President from 1981-3 of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland
    Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland
    The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland , which is now known as the Chartered Banker Institute, was established in 1875 and is the oldest banking institute in the world and the only remaining banking institute in the UK. It aims to help rebuild public confidence in banks and banking by...

    , and Group Chief Executive from 1985-93 of the Royal Bank of Scotland
    Royal Bank of Scotland
    The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...


External links

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