Trinity Academy
Encyclopedia
Trinity Academy is a state-run secondary school
in the north of Edinburgh
, Scotland. It is located on the border between the upscale leafy suburb of Trinity
and Leith
, next to Victoria Park, and a short distance from the banks of the Firth of Forth
at Newhaven
.
, prior to the abolition of the selective Eleven Plus
exam. The school is ranked as one of the top state schools in Edinburgh and is in the top 10 in Scotland. It is fed from five main primary schools; Trinity Primary (which is right opposite), Fort Primary School in Leith, Victoria Primary in Newhaven, Wardie Primary in Wardie, and before its closure in 2008, Bonnington Primary. The School colours are black and gold.(yellow)
The formal opening was carried out by Miss Flora Stevenson on February 1, 1894, but already there was controversy. The Board intended making all the elementary departments fee-paying, waiving fees only for the secondary, but a dissenting member wanted free education and complained to the Scottish Office. He pointed to friction at Leith Academy, with those paying fees looking down on those who did not. 'Objection was raised against their presence, as, being lower caste, they were injurious to the school,' he wrote. The majority prevailed and fees were paid at Trinity until the comprehensive schooling debate, three-quarters of a century later.
As early as 1919 Trinity began to outgrow its main building and plans were drawn up for a new secondary block. It was to take forty-three years! In the meantime, access to Bangholm was negotiated. In 1925 James Scott arrived as Rector and the following year - how did they cope without it until then? - the House System was created. The houses are Warriston (Red), Royston (Green), Bangholm (White) and Craighall (Blue).
Post-war landmarks during the rectorship of Alexander Neill between 1953 and 1969 were the completion of the new secondary block in March 1962 and the removal of the primary school from the huts at Bangholm to the new school on Newhaven Road in January 1968.
Trinity’s sixth rector, William Brodie, arrived in 1969 at a time when educational tides were turning, fees were being phased out, and the days of selective schooling in the public sector were numbered.
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 the north of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland. It is located on the border between the upscale leafy suburb of Trinity
Trinity, Edinburgh
Trinity is a leafy district of northern Edinburgh, Scotland, once a part of Greater Leith it is one of the more desirable neighbourhoods in Edinburgh...
and Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, next to Victoria Park, and a short distance from the banks of the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
at Newhaven
Newhaven, Edinburgh
Newhaven is a district in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, between Leith and Granton. Formerly a village and harbour on the Firth of Forth, it currently has approximately 5,000 inhabitants....
.
Admissions
Trinity Academy was formerly a grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, prior to the abolition of the selective Eleven Plus
Eleven plus
In the United Kingdom, the 11-plus or Eleven plus is an examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to various types of secondary school. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years...
exam. The school is ranked as one of the top state schools in Edinburgh and is in the top 10 in Scotland. It is fed from five main primary schools; Trinity Primary (which is right opposite), Fort Primary School in Leith, Victoria Primary in Newhaven, Wardie Primary in Wardie, and before its closure in 2008, Bonnington Primary. The School colours are black and gold.(yellow)
Construction
Building work on Trinity Academy should have started on July 11, 1891, with the traditional dram over the foundation stone - laid with full Masonic honours by Leith School Board chairman Robert Somerville - but his wife was a temperance supporter and would not allow it. Instead, each man received a book, From Dark to Dawn in Fiji, and the enterprise was launched into the late Victorian age on the era's twin pillars of Empire and disciplined self-improvement.Craighall Road School
Building delays, which were to characterise the century to come, led to the original contractors being struck off the Board's list, but on September 4, 1893, Craighall Road School, as it was first known, was opened with Thomas Trotter, formerly of North Fort Street, as Rector. With a frontage deemed 'of a superior kind to most other schools' it had cost £18,850 and five shillings, (excluding the purchase of the land from the Laird of Bonnington, James Clerk-Rattray) and had all modern conveniences - electric bells and voice tubes connecting the Rector's room to the classes and Cowan's patent gas lamps throughout.The formal opening was carried out by Miss Flora Stevenson on February 1, 1894, but already there was controversy. The Board intended making all the elementary departments fee-paying, waiving fees only for the secondary, but a dissenting member wanted free education and complained to the Scottish Office. He pointed to friction at Leith Academy, with those paying fees looking down on those who did not. 'Objection was raised against their presence, as, being lower caste, they were injurious to the school,' he wrote. The majority prevailed and fees were paid at Trinity until the comprehensive schooling debate, three-quarters of a century later.
Trinity Academy
In 1895 the first one hundred and twenty-seven pupils were presented for Leaving Certificates in Mathematics, Arithmetic, English, French and German - eighty-one successfully. Inspectors were openly critical in those days ‘grammar needs smartening... sluggishness in oral work' but the school's reputation grew. In 1901, the year of Queen Victoria's death, the school became Trinity Academy under the new Rector, Thomas Duncan. Edwardian inspectors were increasingly enthusiastic but the Great War loomed, a conflict which was to claim seventy-one former pupils and two teachers out of some three hundred who served.As early as 1919 Trinity began to outgrow its main building and plans were drawn up for a new secondary block. It was to take forty-three years! In the meantime, access to Bangholm was negotiated. In 1925 James Scott arrived as Rector and the following year - how did they cope without it until then? - the House System was created. The houses are Warriston (Red), Royston (Green), Bangholm (White) and Craighall (Blue).
Second World War
Plans for a new block were again on the drawing board when the Second World War broke out. Many pupils were evacuated to Macduff on the Moray Firth until normal classes resumed in 1941. The following year Dr Albert Weir became Rector and at the height of hostilities, in September 1943, the school celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. In this war Trinity lost sixty-two former pupils.Post-war landmarks during the rectorship of Alexander Neill between 1953 and 1969 were the completion of the new secondary block in March 1962 and the removal of the primary school from the huts at Bangholm to the new school on Newhaven Road in January 1968.
Trinity’s sixth rector, William Brodie, arrived in 1969 at a time when educational tides were turning, fees were being phased out, and the days of selective schooling in the public sector were numbered.
Comprehensive
In September 1974, Trinity Academy merged with David Kilpatrick’s to become a fully comprehensive secondary serving North and West Leith, Newhaven and Trinity. Adjustment was difficult at times and there was the added inconvenience of running a split site, first with the David Kilpatrick building and then, after 1981, with the Holy Cross annexes. Declining school rolls across the city even led to the possibility of closure of the school or of merger with Leith Academy. However, there was life in Trinity yet. The objective of the current Rector, Peter Galloway, has been to combine the best elements of Trinity’s traditions with the aspirations and methods of a modern comprehensive. With pupil numbers on the increase, and with the school on a single site, Trinity Academy looks forward to continuing the tradition of turning out well-rounded citizens.Rugby
Trinity Academy's first XV rugby team won Rugby World Team of the Month in November 2005 after an unbeaten run including away wins at Heriots, Glenalmond and Hutchison Grammar School. This is arguably Trinity's best ever team who played open attacking rugby no matter who they were playing.Rectors
- Alec Morris (2008–Present)
- Sir Peter Galloway (1983–2008)
- William Brodie (1969–1983)
- Alexander Neill (1953–69)
- Dr. Albert Weir (1942–53)
- James Scott (1925–42)
- Thomas Duncan (1901–25)
- Thomas Trotter (1893–1901)
Notable former pupils
- James Arthur CMG, High Commissioner to Barbados from 1978–82 and to Fiji from 1974-8
- Prof James Baxter, William Dick Professor of Veterinary Medicine from 1970-85 at the University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
- Prof George Home, Professor of International Banking from 1978-85 at Heriot-Watt UniversityHeriot-Watt UniversityHeriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....
- Prof Robin Mackenzie, Vice Principal, Edinburgh Napier University since 2007 and Professor of Acoustics from 1995–2007
- Malcolm MacPhersonMalcolm MacPhersonMalcolm MacPherson was a Scottish Labour politician. He was elected Member of Parliament for Stirling and Falkirk at a 1948 by-election, and served until his death in 1971.- External links :...
, Labour MP for Stirling and FalkirkStirling and Falkirk (UK Parliament constituency)Stirling and Falkirk Burghs was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918, comprising the burghs of Stirling, Falkirk and Grangemouth. It ceased to be a District of Burghs in 1950, but a constituency of the same name covering...
from 1948–71 - Martin O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of ClackmannanMartin O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of ClackmannanMartin John O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan is a Scottish politician.He was a Labour Member of Parliament between 1979 and 2005, representing the Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire, Clackmannan and Ochil seats successively...
, Labour MP for OchilOchil (UK Parliament constituency)Ochil was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 until 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament Ochil was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 until 2005. It elected one Member of...
from 1997–2005, for ClackmannanClackmannan (UK Parliament constituency)Clackmannan was a parliamentary constituency in the Clackmannan area of Central Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....
from 1983–1997, and for Clackmannan and Eastern StirlingshireClackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire (UK Parliament constituency)Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire was a parliamentary constituency in the Clackmannan area of Central Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.The constituency was created for the...
from 1979–83 - Sir William PateyWilliam PateySir William Charters Patey KCMG is the British Ambassador to Afghanistan. Patey previously served as Ambassador to Sudan, Ambassador to Iraq and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.-Early life:...
CMG, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia since 2007 - Dave PetrieDave PetrieDavid Dick Petrie was a Scottish Conservative & Unionist politician, and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Highlands and Islands Region....
, Conservative MSP for Highlands and IslandsHighlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Eight of the parliament's first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament .The...
from 2006-7 - Prof Noel Robertson CBE, Professor of Agriculture and Rural Economy at the University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and Principal of the East of Scotland College of AgricultureScottish Agricultural CollegeThe Scottish Agricultural College exists to support the development of land-based industries and communities through Higher Education and training, specialist research and development and advisory and consultancy services....
from 1969–83, and President from 1965-6 of the British Mycological SocietyBritish Mycological SocietyThe British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi.-Formation:The Society was formed based on the efforts of two local societies, the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club of Hereford and the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. The curator of the Hereford... - Sir Arthur Weller CBE, Chairman from 1989-96 The Maritime TrustThe Maritime TrustThe Maritime Trust is a Registered Charity in England, based at 2 Greenwich Church Street, London SE10 9BG.It was founded in 1970 and amalgamated with the Cutty Sark Society in 1975, and has a permit to restore, preserve, and display to the public historic British ships.Vessels owned by The...
- Scott Wilson, footballer, North Queensland Fury, former Rangers and Dunfermline Athletic defender
External links
- Trinity Academy - the Trinity Academy home page
- Trinity Academy's page on Scottish Schools Online