Eastbank Academy

The school was founded in 1894 originally as a senior secondary or Academy, before the abolition of the two-tier system of junior and senior secondaries. Today the institution is a non-denominational comprehensive school.

When constructed in 1894, the grand red sandstone building located on Main Street (now Shettleston Road) was thought to be "too grand" for the tiny village of Shettleston, which at the time was separate from Glasgow. The building had been proposed by Dr Alexander Scott of the Shettleston School Board in the late 1880s and for many years had been branded as "Scott's Folly" by the local population. The roll of the school quickly grew over the years, and required the construction of an annexe building in 1901, which housed primary education until Eastbank Primary School gained its independence from the Academy in 1969 following the construction of its own dedicated building on nearby Gartocher Road. Although now operationally separate, the two institutions retain their affiliation, sharing the same badge, colours and motto; the primary school being one of Eastbank Academy's five feeder primaries.

The original 1894 building grew increasingly inadequate over the decades, with practical departments being scattered across a series of pre-fabricated buildings on the Amulree Street side of the school campus. As part of the GEAR (Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal) initiative, a brand new building costing £4m was proposed, being sited on Academy Street which would now be dissected into two sections by the new complex. Groundbreaking was in early 1984 and the building opened in early 1986. At the time state-of-the-art, the 1986 Eastbank Academy building was noted for its open plan design, with a dual purpose concourse on the ground floor designed essentially as an indoor alternative to the playground. Science and practical departments were also designed as large open plan workshops as opposed to individual classrooms. The old 1894 building was extended, refurbished and redeveloped in 1989 into a home for John Wheatley College, whilst the 1901 Annexe building was acquired by Greater Glasgow Health Board in 1995. Consolidation of Glasgow's secondary school portfolio in the late 1990s led to the former John Street secondary being closed, and Eastbank's catchment area increased once again. With the need to accommodate an expanded roll, the 1986 building was substantially extended and remodelled, with the alterations officially completed in 2002. Following John Wheatley College's move to a new purpose built campus in the Haghill area in 2007, the original 1894 building of Eastbank Academy is now used by other community organisations.

The school's motto, Splendeat Lux, is a contraction of the Latin phrase Splendeat Lux Vestra which, when taken from Matthew Chapter 5, Verse 16 (the Sermon on the Mount), translates literally as "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works.",

To date, Eastbank Academy has had 18 head teachers. The longest serving being Jim Dalziel, holding the office for almost 27 years,[1] who in 1995 overtook the previous holder of the title - William Farquhason - who was in office for 10 years between 1931 and 1941. The shortest incumbent being John McFarlane (1945-47). John Wilson is to date the only Eastbank head teacher to die in office in 1973.

Famous alumni of Eastbank Academy include:

• Junior Campbell (William Campbell) – lead guitarist, singer and songwriter with the sixties band The Marmalade). Also known for writing the music for the original Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series and films.
• Neil Carmichael – Labour Party politician.
• Cliff Hanley – broadcaster and lyricist of the Scottish anthem Scotland the Brave.
• Angus Lennie – actor.
• Cameron McKenna – STV announcer, Daybreak Scotland presenter and STV Nightshift presenter.
• Thomas Renfrew – HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland from 1957 to 1966.
• Charles Wilson – journalist; editor of The Times from 1985 to 1990; managing director of Mirror Group Newspapers plc. from 1992 to 1998.
• Janey Godley – stand-up comedian

• Eastbank Academy website
• Eastbank Academy's page on Parentzone