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Harris Academy

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33-519: Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the affluent residential area of West End of Dundee , Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest state school in Dundee. Previously academically-selective, it became a comprehensive school in August 1973. Harris Academy is also the largest state run school in Dundee in terms of number of pupils and the school campus building and

66-410: A clock tower was built at the front of the original 1930s building. The new Harris Academy retained the clock tower that was put in storage during the construction of the new school building. The clock tower was renovated, painted and later retained on a platform at the eastern side of the school campus. The platform that the clock tower stands on was built from the foundations of the former games hall and

99-580: A large degree of studentification . By attracting people from across the UK and other countries, the university district has evolved a separate identity within Dundee. Town and gown relations are generally cordial, although issues such as Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and parking difficulties are amongst the problems between the indigenous population and the University. With the 2007 re-organisation of wards for elections to Dundee City Council there

132-482: A recently improved pavilion, a rugby pitch and several football or hockey fields. In summer time, it is converted to Athletics tracks. In the late 1970s the school experienced a boom in numbers, as a result of its conversion from a Senior Secondary School to a comprehensive school (it was never known as a 'grammar school'). In addition to its Perth Road buildings, Harris Academy took over the premises of Logie Junior Secondary School on Blackness Road, Dundee. The school

165-630: A result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harris Academy was established on 31 August 1885 through a bequest from corn-merchant and mill owner William Harris. The original building was in Park Place designed by Dundee architect James Ireland . William Harris had died in March 1883, two years before the opening of the new school. The school's first rector was James Brebner and on the first day of the new school, approximately 1,035 pupils were enrolled. By 1888,

198-668: Is also located in the West End area of Dundee on Perth Road. The university's Botanic Gardens and sports facilities are located by the river next to Dundee Airport . The university’s College of Life Sciences located on Hawkhill incorporates the Wellcome Trust Biocentre , Sir James W. Black Centre, MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit and Cancer Research UK Centre laboratories. The district has many shops, bars, restaurants and hotels although this

231-477: Is balanced by many residential properties especially heading west. The area has traditionally been more affluent with many large Edwardian period houses compared to the large proportion of tenements built to house workers, primarily those involved in the Jute industry, in other sectors of the city. The housing in the area is popular among students due to its proximity to the university. The West End has been subject to

264-427: Is known for being one of the most successful schools in Dundee and Scotland by record of attainment and exam result successes which are considered 'well above average'. Over the course of its history, Harris Academy has been housed at three locations across the city in Park Place, Perth Road and Lawton Road temporally, with its permanent campus based on Perth Road. The school is situated in the west of Dundee, north of

297-615: Is located in this area and provides a focal point for some 20,000 students. The neighbourhood is also home to St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Cathedral , the Morgan Tower, an 18th-century tenement which is now a pharmacy – and Blackness Library located further west at the Sinderins : the area where Perth Road and the Hawkhill diverge once forming a major entry point to Dundee. Harris Academy , Dundee's oldest and largest secondary school

330-493: Is now a large West End Ward, which was created with the amalgamation of the Tay Bridges, Riverside, and Logie wards. The councillors for the area are currently Fraser Macpherson ( Liberal Democrat ), Bill Campbell, ( Scottish National Party ), Donald Hay ( Scottish Conservatives ) and Richard McCready ( Labour ). James Irvine (chemist) Sir James Colquhoun Irvine KBE FRS FRSE FEIS (9 May 1877 – 12 June 1952)

363-418: The 1960s extension from the former Perth Road building. The original Harris Academy facade was built at the front of the original Perth Road building in 1931. The facade was built as a main entrance to the building from the 1930s until the 1960s when an extension with other entrances were built. During the construction of the new Harris Academy, the facade was put in storage along with the clock tower and once

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396-899: The Franklin Institute, Longstaff Medallist of the Chemical Society of London. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1920 and knighted in 1925 and was awarded the Freedom of St Andrews. He received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Aberdeen , Cambridge , Columbia , Durham , Edinburgh , Glasgow , Liverpool , McGill , Oxford , Princeton , Toronto , Wales and Yale . He died at home in St Andrews on 12 June 1952 and

429-919: The Modern Languages department, the Social Subjects departments, the Science departments, The Religious Education department, the Craft and Design department, the Mathematics department, Assembly Hall, the Guidance base, Year-Heads' offices, and the Rector's office. The Crawford Lodge annex to the west of the main school was purchased by the Town Council in 1946 as an extension to the school. Classics and modern languages were taught there. It

462-570: The Music department with rooms for music tuition; and a substantial Games Hall building with a fitness room. These buildings were also demolished alongside the main school building in 2013. The school has access to a wrought-iron footbridge over the Dundee-Perth railway line to playing fields at the Riverside. Not far from the school are the school sports grounds at Elliot Road. These include

495-435: The fire, were of the opinion that the fire was started deliberately, probably by youths. The new Harris Academy building was a £31 million project. The new Harris Academy building was completed in early 2016, and the move from Menzieshill High School was completed by August 2016. The new building was officially opened by Deputy First Minister John Swinney on 7 December 2016. When Harris Academy moved to Perth Road in 1931,

528-740: The main campus of the University of Dundee . Since 1998, the city council has developed a "Cultural Quarter" at the boundary between the city centre and the West End which is now home to the Dundee Repertory Theatre , the Whitehall Theatre , the Dundee Science Centre and Dundee Contemporary Arts building as well as other commercial galleries and studios, and the university's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design . The University of Dundee

561-403: The new Perth Road building was completed. 18 councillors voted in favour for Menzieshill High School to close with 14 councillors against the closure. By the early 2020s, Harris Academy became the most populated secondary school in Dundee, with an intake of 1,345 pupils as of 2022, which by September 2023, had a capacity percentage of 103%. As a result, an extension to the 2016 Perth Road building

594-419: The new building was completed, the original facade was retained at the reception area of the new school. In 2021, an extension to the school was proposed which would be located at the rear of the main building which would have six extra classrooms, boosting the school's capacity from 1,300 to 1,500. The proposals for an extension to the school came as a result of concern that the school would be overcapacity at

627-527: The old Rockwell High School building on Lawton Road on 15 August 2013, remaining there until August 2016 while the new Harris Academy was being built at the Perth Road site. On the evening of 15 September 2013, a fire broke out at the vacant former Perth Road building while it awaited demolition. A few classrooms on the first and middle floor suffered. The fire was put out quickly by fire crews from three Dundee fire stations. The fire brigade, who investigated

660-405: The popularity of the school by more pupils joining Harris Academy, the Park Place building was too small for pupils to fit and therefore moved to Perth Road. The main building was built in 1931 after the school population outgrew the previous Park Place building and was officially opened by Sir James Irvine , principal of St. Andrews University on 1 May 1931. The former Perth Road building housed

693-535: The railway line, the A85 and Dundee Airport . The University of Dundee Botanic Garden is nearby to the west. Harris Academy has a house system that allocates each pupil to one of four houses, named Birnam , Cawdor , Forres and Kinloch . The former three come from houses in William Shakespeare's " Macbeth ". The latter comes from the name of George Kinloch , former MP and reformer in Dundee and from

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726-399: The school population increased to 1,500 and continued to grow which breached the original building's capacity. With Morgan Academy opening in 1888, pressure on the school population eased. A fire broke out in the school in 1912 and damaged several classrooms and questions were raised on whether the school was suitable enough to continue operating and whether a new school should be replaced but

759-551: The start of the 2023-24 school term. In August 2022, the proposals were approved and the extension is due to be built by the 2023-24 school term. The new extension opened on 20 November 2023. West End, Dundee The West End is an area of Dundee , Scotland . Bordered to the south by the River Tay , to the north by Blackness and to the east by the city centre, the West End is primarily an affluent residential area surrounding its main commercial thoroughfare, Perth Road, and

792-472: The village of Kinloch. Each of the houses has an associated colour, Birnam - Red, Cawdor - Yellow, Forres - Green, Kinloch - Blue. Each house competes against each other in Interhouse competitions; both sporting and academic. They receive points for their success, and at the end of the year, the points are totalled to declare the winner of the house championship. No house was awarded in the 2020–21 session as

825-489: Was a British organic chemist and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1921 until his death. As a research chemist, Irvine worked on the application of methylation techniques to carbohydrates , and isolated the first methylated sugars, trimethyl and tetramethyl glucose. Irvine was born in Glasgow to factory owner John Irvine (a manufacturer of light-castings) and Mary Paton Colquhoun. He

858-420: Was a selective secondary school until it became a comprehensive in 1973. The last intake to its Primary Department was in August 1955. Harris Academy moved to Lawton Road in 2013 as its former Perth Road building was revamped. On 22 June 2015, Dundee City Council voted to close Menzieshill High School and amalgamate the two schools. Pupils from Menzieshill High School transferred to Harris Academy in 2016 when

891-689: Was appointed Principal. His tenure saw the renovation and restoration of both buildings and traditions, and his works are still talked of today. His commitments spanned further than the University, into higher education in Britain and the colonies. He also served as acting Principal of University College Dundee . He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1917. His proposers were Sir James Walker, John Edwin Mackenzie , Cargill Gilston Knott , and Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson . He

924-432: Was approved to be built at the southern end of the school campus, and is scheduled to be built by the 2023-24 term. This new extension will increase Harris Academy's capacity number to 1,500, cementing its position as the largest public school in Dundee. Harris Academy's original building was located at Park Place in Dundee which opened on 31 August 1885. The Park Place building officially opened on 2 September 1885. Due to

957-688: Was burnt down in 1958 and remained a shell until it was replaced by the new buildings in the late 1960s. This housed the Computing and Business Studies departments, the Home Economics department, the English department, the Art department, the school library, the careers base, the Dining hall, two of the three gyms, and the school's swimming pool. In addition to these there was also a Music Block housing

990-617: Was educated at Allan Glen's School . He then studied at the Royal Technical College , Glasgow, before taking a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews . From there, he went to the University of Leipzig , where he studied for a PhD under Ostwald and Wislicenus . Returning to St Andrews, he was awarded a Doctor of Science degree, and taught Chemistry there. He was appointed Professor of Chemistry in 1909 and Dean of Science in 1912. In 1921, he

1023-606: Was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of London in 1918 also being awarded its Davy Medal. He served as Vice-President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1922 to 1925. He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1933. He won the society's Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize for 1936–1940. Irvine was also Willard Gibbs Medallist of the American Chemical Society, Elliot Cressan Medallist of

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1056-405: Was initially rejected. Plans for an extension to the Park Place building was considered but a replacement school building was later granted and it would be built on a new site rather than the existing site at Park Place. A replacement school was designed by Patrick Thoms in 1926, taking several years to complete: the school moved to its present site on Perth Road on 21 April 1931. Harris Academy

1089-501: Was split with 1st and 2nd years attending Harris Academy in the Blackness annexe, 3rd to 6th Years continued at the Perth Road building. Mini-buses provided transport for staff between the two locations by Red Line Coaches. Use of the annexe ceased in 1998, and following a fire that caused extensive damage to the now-vacant school in 2001, the former Logie/Annexe building was demolished. Harris Academy moved to new temporary premises, at

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