Inverclyde Academy is a large secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 in Greenock, Scotland that provides education to the majority of the Inverclyde area. It was created by the amalgamation of Greenock High School and Wellington Academy

Wellington Academy

Wellington Academy was a secondary school in Greenock, Scotland serving the Eastern and Central areas of the town.It was opened in August 1990, as a result of a controversial merger with Cowdeknowes High School . The school campus fell into a state of disrepair...

 and cost £29 million to open. The catchment area for Inverclyde Academy stretches from the Inverclyde

Inverclyde

Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west...

 border at Wemyss Bay to Greenock's East End and Strone Farm areas.

The school was built on the site of three red blaes (gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

) football pitch

Association football pitch

An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...

es. Nicol Stephen

Nicol Stephen

Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen of Lower Deeside in the City of Aberdeen is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008...

, Deputy First Minister of Scotland

Deputy First Minister of Scotland

The Deputy First Minister of Scotland is the deputy to the First Minister of Scotland.The post is not recognised in statute , and its holder is simply an ordinary member of the Scottish Government...

, cut the first sod

Sod

Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...

 at the site on 26 February 2007. The school opened on December 19 2008, but existed previously in the old Greenock High School building prior to opening.

Merger

The school is one of the most democratically created in Inverclyde and the students of all feeder schools and pupils of both Greenock High School and Wellington Academy were involved throughout the creation of the new school.

In September 2007 the pupils went on strike in protest about the teaching time lost commuting between the two sites. As a result, Inverclyde Council has been decided that, from January 2008, all pupils will be housed at a temporary site at Inverkip Road until the new campus

Campus

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

can be occupied.

Greenock High School

When it closed, was performing well in many areas, such as music, enterprise, English and mathematics. The high achievements set by pupils remained steady throughout its last years, pushing up exam results at the same time. The school also got involved in areas such as competitions, volunteering, fund-raising, charity work.

Wellington Academy

The school had an excellent reputation within not only Greenock but in Inverclyde and beyond. It gained excellent reports from HMIE Inspectors and also competed in many national events and contests such as Young Enterprise Scotland and the Stock Market Challenge. The small size of the school made it extremely popular with pupils with around 500 pupils at closure. Uniform uptake was high and participation in events in the wider community representing Wellington was also at a very high level.

Feeder primary schools

• Aileymill Primary School (Greenock)
• Highlanders Academy Primary School (Greenock)
• Inverkip Primary School (Inverkip)
• Kings Oak Primary (Greenock)
• Lady Alice Primary School (Greenock)
• Overton Primary School (Greenock)
• Wemyss Bay Primary School (Wemyss Bay)

Often children from Skelmorlie in North Ayrshire and the Gibshill area of Greenock also put in placing requests to attend the school.

External links

• Inverclyde Academy's page on Scottish Schools Online