Buckie High School
Encyclopedia
Buckie High School is a mixed secondary school
in Buckie
, Moray
, Scotland
which has a roll of around 900 pupils
in years S1 to S6. The school serves the coastal communities of Portgordon
, Buckie, Portessie
, Findochty
, Portknockie
, and Cullen. Buckie High School aims to be a learning community which has a ‘can do’ ethos, and it is a place where pupils, staff, parents, and the wider community work together to make learning and teaching an enjoyable, fun experience, where everyone involved is supported, challenged, engaged and motivated.
, and two pupil teachers. The curriculum consisted of Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Grammar and Composition, History, Geography, Singing and Religious Knowledge, with Latin for some pupils.
School Board records show that by 1881 Mathematics and Domestic Economy had been added to the curriculum and the roll had risen to 400, with a rector, two assistant teachers and six pupil teachers. In 1896 the school had nineteen staff and 850 pupils. The curriculum had been widened and now included Greek, French, Cookery, Industrial Work, Drawing, Military Drill, German, Science and Shorthand.
The first mention of national examinations was in 1894 when the School Log in June noted that “the Leaving Certificate Examinations interfered with work”, but in 1895 the Inspectors report noted with commendation that “there were gained 53 Leaving Certificates – 18 at the Higher Grade.”
For many years after 1876, school attendance followed a seasonal pattern depending on the herring fishing. At this time many families travelled with the fishing fleet as they followed the herring around the coast of Britain. In September 1880, for example, the school opened with 83 in attendance. In the next two weeks attendance rose to 183 and then 255, but by July it had dropped to 65. School log books refer to the herring fishing, lifting potatoes, pupils “jooking” and the problem of pupils “forgetting what they have been taught”.
In 1919 control of the school moved to the newly formed Banffshire County Council. By this time there had been several extensions to the original Buckie Public School building and the pupil roll was well over 1000. The School Log notes the existence of a “Supplementary Course” for pupils who did not wish to pursue academic studies and also that pupils were achieving success in the Aberdeen University Bursary Competition. The Bursary Competition was the yardstick of success at this time. Navigation was introduced to the curriculum as it was becoming important for Board of Trade examinations.
By 1921 the old school building was inadequate and it was decided to build a new secondary school, at a cost of £30,000, on its present site in West Cathcart Street. It was opened in 1927, by which time there was a staff of 36 (including seven principal teachers) and sport and music began to play an important part in the life of the school. This new stone-built building, now known as the “Old Building”, is still in use today and houses four subject departments. All primary classes, technical education and cookery remained in the original Buckie Public School building in West Church Street.
In 1937 it was decided to build a new building for the primary department for Buckie Public School immediately opposite the secondary department in West Cathcart Street. The building was, however, too small even before it opened, so classes continued to use the original building in West Church Street into the 1960s. The Banffshire education Committee decided to make the primary department a separate school in 1969. It was known as Buckie Primary School for a decade until it was renamed Cluny Primary School.
After the Second World War the welfare state provision led to the opening of canteen facilities, provision of free books and travel when required, and to the provision of courses which, in the catch phrase of the day, “were suitable to the age, aptitude and ability of the pupil”. Ordinary and Higher Grade exams were introduced after 1962.
The raising of the school leaving age to 16 in 1972-3, and the introduction of comprehensive education, led to an urgent need to expand what was by now known as Buckie High School. Banffshire Education Committee planned to build a new tower block at Buckie High School and close the junior secondary schools in Portgordon, Buckpool (St.Peter’s), Portessie, Findochty, Portknockie and Cullen.
However, HMIe report that in addition to Scottish Qualifications Authority examinations, large numbers of young people are participating in a range of activities which develop skills and confidence. These include a wide range of sports, music and theatrical productions as well as regular residential and overseas visits, college courses, enterprise activities and an annual activities week. Young people's skills are recognised through a range of awards including awards from the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN), Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, Sports Leadership awards, Youth Achievement awards, John Muir Awards and Dynamic Youth Awards.
To meet young people’s learning needs the school provides a distinctive range of courses at different levels for all year groups. In common with other Moray schools, Buckie High school provides for pupils with a very wide range of additional support needs.
, Terry Deary
, Ian Rankin
, Alan Bissett
, Keith Gray, Catherine Forde, Anne Macleod, Liz Lochhead
, Bernard MacLaverty
and Liz Niven. Terry Deary’s "Horrible History of Scotland” is dedicated to the pupils of Buckie High School, after they challenged him to produce such a book.
, Tanzania
since 1989. Between 1992 and 2010 there have been nineteen reciprocal visits, with a group from Tanzania due to visit in June 2011. Pupils and staff have been involved with presentations at the Commonwealth Institute, the Commonwealth Education Ministers' Conference in 2003 and the Scottish Learning Festival in 2007. Both schools recognize the need to embed global issues in the curriculum and are exploring together issues of diversity, values and perceptions, sustainability, and social justice.
The global perspective was further enhanced when, in March 2010, the Rector, David Barnett, visited Beijing and Tianjin in China as part of a Learning & Teaching Scotland delegation. As a result, through the North East Confucius Classrooms Hub, Buckie High School now has an emerging link with Haihe High School in Tianjin. Three pupils (Thoams Sadler, Fiona Logan and Emily Grant) took part in a three-week immersion course in Mandarin in Beijing in July 2010, along with Miss Mhairi Duncan (Teacher of English). The school is planning an "China Week" in June 2011.
Buckie High School brought automated messaging to the UK in 2000 to notify parents and carers of unexplained absences. A Scottish Executive grant allowed an American system to be adapted for use in United Kingdom. The initial system used recorded voice messages to advise parents whenever their child could not be accounted for. This has been replaced by text messaging and is now widespread across the UK.
Innovative strategies have been used to help older pupils support younger ones in their learning. Based on the notion that the best way to learn something is to teach it, cross-age tutoring has been used to teach pupils specific skills. Fourth year maths classes have, for example, paired up with a second year class for pupils to teach fractions. Fifth and sixth year students have paired up with younger students to learn about HIV. This cross-age tutoring in relation to HIV has also involved teachers and pupils from Buckie High School’s partner school in Tanzania.
Similarly, all pupils in the school belong to a mixed-age tutor group. Pupils meet daily with their tutor in a group representing every year group in the school. Tutor groups provide a microcosm of the wider school and provide support and leadership opportunities for pupils.
Senior students provide in-class and social support to young pupils through a well established buddy support scheme. Each year upwards of seventy students are trained in buddying techniques. Another team of students each year offers peer coaching to pupils needing help and yet another student team offers paired reading to encourage reluctant readers.
In 2007-2008, Music, drama and art were used to inspire better performance in Mathematics. The Scottish Arts Council provided funding to allow artists to work alongside Mathematics teachers in classrooms. Finding new ways to help pupils understand key concepts such as volume continues to be central to Scotland’s emerging Curriculum for Excellence
.
Upstairs of the old building is mainly mathematics. However, again there are two Modern Languages classrooms. In the "new" building, there are some recreational areas on the ground floor which includes Reception, the snack bar, and the social area with vending machines. There are also the medical room, Senior Leadership Team offices and the janitors' office. In classrooms, there is P.E (connected to the swimming pool), Business Education, Art and Design, Computing/ICT and "Successmaker." On the second floor there is Home Economics, the library, the prefects' common room, History, the staff room and another Business Education classroom. Upstairs on the final floor is Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, and the Technicians' base. The brand new extension consists of two RME classrooms, three music classrooms, a suite of music practice rooms and a state-of-the-art Performance Space, with Bleacher seating for 240 people. There is also a technical block which consists of woodwork, metalwork and technical drawing rooms.
1877 - 1879 Peter Grant
1879 - 1896 Alex Horn
1896 - 1912 Alex Muir
1913 - 1932 Charles Thomson
1932 - 1948 George Milne
1948 - 1966 William Dickie
1966 - 1987 George McKenzie
1987 - 2007 Chris Sugden
2007 - 2011 David Barnett
2011 - ? Strachan
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 Buckie
Buckie
Buckie is a burgh town on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland in Moray. Buckie was the largest town in Banffshire by some thousands of inhabitants before regionalisation in 1975 removed that political division from the map of Scotland...
, Moray
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
, 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...
which has a roll of around 900 pupils
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
in years S1 to S6. The school serves the coastal communities of Portgordon
Portgordon
Portgordon is a village in Moray, Scotland. Portgordon is a small fishing village located near Buckie. there is a small shop, a hairdresser, a school, a bowling green, a beach and a football pitch. Portgordon is also known for the seals that bathe on the rocks. there are also dolphins out there to...
, Buckie, Portessie
Portessie
Portessie is a small fishing village to the east of Buckie on the north-east coast of Scotland. It is commonly nicknamed "the Sloch", due to the name of the original settlement being Rottenslough...
, Findochty
Findochty
Findochty is a village in Banffshire, Scotland, 4 miles east of the town of Buckie.Findochty stands on the shores of the Moray Firth. The Gaelic name of the village was recorded by Diack in his own transcription method as fanna-guchti which is unclear in meaning...
, Portknockie
Portknockie
Portknockie is a coastal village on the Moray Firth in northeast Scotland, in Moray. Portknockie is a coastal village on the Moray Firth in northeast Scotland, in Moray. Portknockie is a coastal village on the Moray Firth in northeast Scotland, in Moray. (Family historians will note that this...
, and Cullen. Buckie High School aims to be a learning community which has a ‘can do’ ethos, and it is a place where pupils, staff, parents, and the wider community work together to make learning and teaching an enjoyable, fun experience, where everyone involved is supported, challenged, engaged and motivated.
Rathven School Board
There has been a secondary school in Buckie since 1875. The opening followed the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which made education compulsory between the ages of 5 and 13 and put education in the charge of 895 school boards. Rathven School Board covered the Buckie area and built Buckie Public School in West Church Street, at its junction with Pringle Street. The first entry in the school’s log book on 14 January 1876 records that there were 100 pupils enrolled in the charge of a rectorRector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, and two pupil teachers. The curriculum consisted of Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Grammar and Composition, History, Geography, Singing and Religious Knowledge, with Latin for some pupils.
School Board records show that by 1881 Mathematics and Domestic Economy had been added to the curriculum and the roll had risen to 400, with a rector, two assistant teachers and six pupil teachers. In 1896 the school had nineteen staff and 850 pupils. The curriculum had been widened and now included Greek, French, Cookery, Industrial Work, Drawing, Military Drill, German, Science and Shorthand.
The first mention of national examinations was in 1894 when the School Log in June noted that “the Leaving Certificate Examinations interfered with work”, but in 1895 the Inspectors report noted with commendation that “there were gained 53 Leaving Certificates – 18 at the Higher Grade.”
For many years after 1876, school attendance followed a seasonal pattern depending on the herring fishing. At this time many families travelled with the fishing fleet as they followed the herring around the coast of Britain. In September 1880, for example, the school opened with 83 in attendance. In the next two weeks attendance rose to 183 and then 255, but by July it had dropped to 65. School log books refer to the herring fishing, lifting potatoes, pupils “jooking” and the problem of pupils “forgetting what they have been taught”.
Banffshire County Council
In 1919 control of the school moved to the newly formed Banffshire County Council. By this time there had been several extensions to the original Buckie Public School building and the pupil roll was well over 1000. The School Log notes the existence of a “Supplementary Course” for pupils who did not wish to pursue academic studies and also that pupils were achieving success in the Aberdeen University Bursary Competition. The Bursary Competition was the yardstick of success at this time. Navigation was introduced to the curriculum as it was becoming important for Board of Trade examinations.
By 1921 the old school building was inadequate and it was decided to build a new secondary school, at a cost of £30,000, on its present site in West Cathcart Street. It was opened in 1927, by which time there was a staff of 36 (including seven principal teachers) and sport and music began to play an important part in the life of the school. This new stone-built building, now known as the “Old Building”, is still in use today and houses four subject departments. All primary classes, technical education and cookery remained in the original Buckie Public School building in West Church Street.
In 1937 it was decided to build a new building for the primary department for Buckie Public School immediately opposite the secondary department in West Cathcart Street. The building was, however, too small even before it opened, so classes continued to use the original building in West Church Street into the 1960s. The Banffshire education Committee decided to make the primary department a separate school in 1969. It was known as Buckie Primary School for a decade until it was renamed Cluny Primary School.
After the Second World War the welfare state provision led to the opening of canteen facilities, provision of free books and travel when required, and to the provision of courses which, in the catch phrase of the day, “were suitable to the age, aptitude and ability of the pupil”. Ordinary and Higher Grade exams were introduced after 1962.
The raising of the school leaving age to 16 in 1972-3, and the introduction of comprehensive education, led to an urgent need to expand what was by now known as Buckie High School. Banffshire Education Committee planned to build a new tower block at Buckie High School and close the junior secondary schools in Portgordon, Buckpool (St.Peter’s), Portessie, Findochty, Portknockie and Cullen.
Grampian Regional Council
Regionalisation transferred the school to Grampian Region in 1975. Buckie High School’s “New Building” was completed in 1974 allowing it to cater for all secondary age pupils in the coastal area between Cullen and Portgordon. It was now a comprehensive school aiming to meet the needs of all pupils in the west of Banffshire. The old building in West Cathcart Street continued to be used to house the Music Department until around 1983 before it's eventual sale and conversion into flats known as 'Pringle Court'. The school became fully inclusive when Clochan Special School was integrated into the High School in 1986. Grampian identified Buckie High School as one of its six “social priority” schools following the downturn in fishing and related industries. The new Standard Grade exams were phased in during the late 1980s and Buckie High became a front runner in developing the curriculum for these new courses. A new reception and community wing was added in 1990 and the school became known locally as Buckie Community High School.The Moray Council
Buckie High School was transferred to The Moray Council in 1996 and is now one of eight secondary schools in the Moray area, each serving a distinctive community within the local authority area. Buckie High School works closely with its associated primary schools – Portgordon Primary school, St Peter’s Primary School, Cluny Primary School, Millbank Primary School, Portessie Primary School, Findochty Primary School, Portknockie Primary School and Cullen Primary School.Learning and achievement
Examination results are broadly in line with those of young people with similar needs and backgrounds in other schools.However, HMIe report that in addition to Scottish Qualifications Authority examinations, large numbers of young people are participating in a range of activities which develop skills and confidence. These include a wide range of sports, music and theatrical productions as well as regular residential and overseas visits, college courses, enterprise activities and an annual activities week. Young people's skills are recognised through a range of awards including awards from the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN), Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, Sports Leadership awards, Youth Achievement awards, John Muir Awards and Dynamic Youth Awards.
Courses
School inspectors report that the school provides a very good range of courses and activities to motivate young people and meet their needs in innovative ways. As well as the full range of school-based Scottish Qualifications Authority courses, vocational courses at Moray College and Banff and Buchan College are widely used to complement the in-school curriculum and all pupils undertake a week’s work experience. In addition, some pupils each year work towards a vocationally orientated Scottish Group Award. In 2006, pupils on this course teamed up with Springfield Properties, an Elgin based building company, to build their own house in the school grounds. Buckie High School also enriches the curriculum with a wide range of enterprise and citizenship activities including young enterprise companies, fair trade and Africa weeks, and enterprise challenges. As an Ecoschool, Buckie High has been endeavourng to tackle litter and waste, is landscaping the grounds and, with the support of the Co-op, installed solar roof panels in 2008.To meet young people’s learning needs the school provides a distinctive range of courses at different levels for all year groups. In common with other Moray schools, Buckie High school provides for pupils with a very wide range of additional support needs.
Working with partners
Buckie High School has an active Parent Council which also includes pupils. The school makes innovative use of an interactive American website to extend learning into the home. The simple technology allows all teachers to post materials on line, while the password-protected subject message boards allow pupils to access learning materials or provide feedback from home or anywhere in the world.Library
Buckie High School’s library and resource centre is central to the school’s endeavours to improve literacy and foster a love of literature. From before young people arrive at the school, until they leave, young people have multiple opportunities to meet a renowned Scottish authors and poets. Recent visitors include Catherine MacPhailCatherine MacPhail
Catherine MacPhail is a Scottish-born author. MacPhail has quickly established a reputation as a writer of gritty, urban stories that tackle emotitional, contemporary issues but always work towards a positive solution and usually always are realistic....
, Terry Deary
Terry Deary
Terry Deary is a children's author now living in Burnhope, County Durham, England.A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29...
, Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
, Alan Bissett
Alan Bissett
Alan Bissett is an author and playwright from Hallglen, an area of Falkirk in Scotland. After the publication of his first two novels, Boyracers and The Incredible Adam Spark, he became known for his different take on Scots dialect writing, evolving a style specific to Falkirk, suffused with...
, Keith Gray, Catherine Forde, Anne Macleod, Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead is a Scottish poet and dramatist, originally from Newarthill in North Lanarkshire.-Background:After attending Glasgow School of Art, Lochhead lectured in fine art for eight years before becoming a professional writer....
, Bernard MacLaverty
Bernard MacLaverty
Bernard MacLaverty is a writer of fiction. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 14 September 1942, and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children...
and Liz Niven. Terry Deary’s "Horrible History of Scotland” is dedicated to the pupils of Buckie High School, after they challenged him to produce such a book.
A Global Perspective
Buckie High School has been building a partnership with Mawenzi Secondary School in MoshiMoshi
Moshi is a Tanzanian town with a population of 144,739 in Kilimanjaro Region. The town is situated on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, a volcanic mountain that is the highest mountain in Africa....
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
since 1989. Between 1992 and 2010 there have been nineteen reciprocal visits, with a group from Tanzania due to visit in June 2011. Pupils and staff have been involved with presentations at the Commonwealth Institute, the Commonwealth Education Ministers' Conference in 2003 and the Scottish Learning Festival in 2007. Both schools recognize the need to embed global issues in the curriculum and are exploring together issues of diversity, values and perceptions, sustainability, and social justice.
The global perspective was further enhanced when, in March 2010, the Rector, David Barnett, visited Beijing and Tianjin in China as part of a Learning & Teaching Scotland delegation. As a result, through the North East Confucius Classrooms Hub, Buckie High School now has an emerging link with Haihe High School in Tianjin. Three pupils (Thoams Sadler, Fiona Logan and Emily Grant) took part in a three-week immersion course in Mandarin in Beijing in July 2010, along with Miss Mhairi Duncan (Teacher of English). The school is planning an "China Week" in June 2011.
Innovation and improvement
The School has a strong tradition of innovation and improvement. This was recognized when it achieved Investors in People status in 2004, renewed in 2007 and 2010. In 2009 HM Inspectorate noted that the school has “a strong capacity for improvement".Buckie High School brought automated messaging to the UK in 2000 to notify parents and carers of unexplained absences. A Scottish Executive grant allowed an American system to be adapted for use in United Kingdom. The initial system used recorded voice messages to advise parents whenever their child could not be accounted for. This has been replaced by text messaging and is now widespread across the UK.
Innovative strategies have been used to help older pupils support younger ones in their learning. Based on the notion that the best way to learn something is to teach it, cross-age tutoring has been used to teach pupils specific skills. Fourth year maths classes have, for example, paired up with a second year class for pupils to teach fractions. Fifth and sixth year students have paired up with younger students to learn about HIV. This cross-age tutoring in relation to HIV has also involved teachers and pupils from Buckie High School’s partner school in Tanzania.
Similarly, all pupils in the school belong to a mixed-age tutor group. Pupils meet daily with their tutor in a group representing every year group in the school. Tutor groups provide a microcosm of the wider school and provide support and leadership opportunities for pupils.
Senior students provide in-class and social support to young pupils through a well established buddy support scheme. Each year upwards of seventy students are trained in buddying techniques. Another team of students each year offers peer coaching to pupils needing help and yet another student team offers paired reading to encourage reluctant readers.
In 2007-2008, Music, drama and art were used to inspire better performance in Mathematics. The Scottish Arts Council provided funding to allow artists to work alongside Mathematics teachers in classrooms. Finding new ways to help pupils understand key concepts such as volume continues to be central to Scotland’s emerging Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence is the national curriculum for Scottish Schools for learners from age 3 to 18. It was developed out of a 2002 consultation exercise – the 'National Debate on Education' – undertaken by the Scottish Executive on the state of school education...
.
Buildings
The main school building is separated into three sections - one being the old building, one being the "new" building and one being the new Performing Arts facility, opened in 2010. The old building has two floors, the ground floor consisting of the English Department and some of the Modern Languages department.Upstairs of the old building is mainly mathematics. However, again there are two Modern Languages classrooms. In the "new" building, there are some recreational areas on the ground floor which includes Reception, the snack bar, and the social area with vending machines. There are also the medical room, Senior Leadership Team offices and the janitors' office. In classrooms, there is P.E (connected to the swimming pool), Business Education, Art and Design, Computing/ICT and "Successmaker." On the second floor there is Home Economics, the library, the prefects' common room, History, the staff room and another Business Education classroom. Upstairs on the final floor is Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, and the Technicians' base. The brand new extension consists of two RME classrooms, three music classrooms, a suite of music practice rooms and a state-of-the-art Performance Space, with Bleacher seating for 240 people. There is also a technical block which consists of woodwork, metalwork and technical drawing rooms.
Rectors of Buckie High School
1876 - 1877 James Buchanan1877 - 1879 Peter Grant
1879 - 1896 Alex Horn
1896 - 1912 Alex Muir
1913 - 1932 Charles Thomson
1932 - 1948 George Milne
1948 - 1966 William Dickie
1966 - 1987 George McKenzie
1987 - 2007 Chris Sugden
2007 - 2011 David Barnett
2011 - ? Strachan