Holyrood Secondary School

The school was founded in 1936 and originally functioned as a Senior Secondary with entry dependent on a high mark in the "Qualifying examination". In 1971 the exam was abolished and all Scottish state schools became equal in terms of status, curriculum offered and examinations taken.

In 2012, the school was the subject of a BBC television documentary series titled High School.

In 2017, former pupil Joe McFadden visited Holyrood during his appearance on the BBC’s Stricly Come Dancing. The school was featured in an episode of Strictly, as him and his dance partner Katya Jones showcased a dance in front of the pupils.

In 2020 Holyrood, along with all other Scottish schools, closed due to the global pandemic. The SQA for the first time in 130 years cancelled all exams.

The original school building, designed by the firm of John Burnet, Son & Dick, was built in 1936, and is now protected as a category B listed building.[1]

Over the years, the school has had renovation and additional blocks purposely built, this is known as the "new block" and "I.T. Wing". The new block also features new classrooms for English, Religious education and Social Subjects. The school features over 20 purpose built I.T. Rooms and also hosts three drama studios, complete with sound and lighting effects. In addition, several wood work and metal workshops are situated as well as modern laboratories for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Nearly all classrooms within the school are fully equipped with state of the art SMART boards and projectors.

In 2001, Glasgow city council commissioned a modern sports centre to be built directly next to Holyrood, known as "Holyrood Sports Centre". The school has exclusive access during the day to all the facilities, with the centre being open at night to the public. The sports centre features a full size synthetic floodlit pitch, 3 seven-a-side pitches, changing rooms, inside gym hall and shower accommodation. In addition, an open plan gym which can be split into two separate halls, a dance studio and a modern extensive fitness suite. These facilities are used by all pupils for physical education and are an addition to the swimming pool and gymnastics hall.[2]

In 2012, the school was selected as the Glasgow base for the Scottish Football Association's Performance Schools, a system devised to support the development of the best young talented footballers across the country (there are seven such schools across Scotland). As of 2018, the dedicated coach for the young players at Holyrood is Joe McBride.[3]

The school has established a close partnership with Mary's Meals, which saw former deputy head, Tony Begley, resign from his position to take up a new role as the education co-ordinator of this non-profitable charity.[4] The school has also been at the forefront of fundraising for Malawi as well as Mary's Meals which involves under 30 pupils travelling to areas close to Blantyre, Malawi to reconstruct, renovate and build schools.[5]

A team of 36 young people has now been chosen for 2013 after a successful 5 years of the project and will continue the work in Malawi, led by previous head teacher, Thomas McDonald.[6] The school has so far raised in excess of £200,000 for Malawi.[7]

The school has a pupil roll of approximately 2,000 pupils and 150 teachers making it one of the largest state comprehensive schools in Europe.[8]

Arts & media

• Frankie Boyle[9] Comedian
• James Boyle[10] Broadcaster: head of BBC Radio Scotland and controller of BBC Radio 4. Chairman of the Scottish Arts Council.
• Des Clarke (b. 1981), comedian[11]
• Bob Crampsey[12] teacher (including history teacher at Holyrood in the 1970s), broadcaster, journalist and historian. Human encyclopedia of football knowledge. Won Brain of Britain 1965. Reached semi-finals of Mastermind 1973.
• Tony Curran[13] Actor.
• Fran Healy[14] (lead singer of Travis)
• Jim Kerr, (lead singer), Charlie Burchill and Brian McGee of Simple Minds.[15]
• Gav Livz (b. 1988), music artist
• Johnny McElhone musician and songwriter of Altered Images, Hipsway and Texas.[16] Also, Michael "Tich" Anderson and Tony McDaid of Altered Images.[17] Also, Johnny's brother, Gerry McElhone, who managed both Altered Images and Hipsway, and contributed to songwriting for the former.[18]
• Joseph McFadden[19] actor
• Brian McGee (b. 1959), musician
• James Meechan (b. 1930), artist

Business & finance

• Willie Haughey, businessman and philanthropist[11]
• Benny Higgins, banker[11]

Politics

• Margaret Ferrier, MP (2015-2017 and from 2019 Rutherglen and Hamilton West).[20]
• Jim Fitzpatrick,[21] Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town since 1997, and former London Fire Brigade firefighter
• Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, lawyer, human rights activist and chair of the British Council.[22]
• Pat McFadden Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East since 2005[23]
• Bob McTaggart (1945-1989) - Labour Party politician; Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central

Sports

• Alan Brazil former professional footballer with Ipswich Town, Detroit Express, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Coventry City, Queens Park Rangers. Capped 13 times by Scotland. Presents TalkSport radio breakfast show
• Pat Crerand former Scotland International footballer, clubs included Celtic and Manchester United.
• Charlie Gallagher,[24] footballer
• Jim McCalliog former Scotland international footballer
• Lee McConnell (b. 1978), athlete
• John McGeady (b. 1958), footballer

The school chaplain is Monsignor Paul Murray of St. Helen's.

• Official website of Holyrood R.C. Secondary
• Holyrood Secondary School's page on Parentzone