Paisley Grammar School | |
---|---|
Address | |
Glasgow Road , , PA1 3RP Scotland | |
Coordinates | 55°50′47″N4°24′41″W / 55.8463°N 4.4115°W |
Information | |
Established | 1576 |
Local authority | Renfrewshire Council |
Head teacher | Janice Levens [1] |
Staff | 100 staff |
Gender | Coeducational |
Enrolment | 1,400 |
Houses | Mull, Skye, Iona, Lewis |
Colour(s) | |
Publication | The Grammarian |
Website | http://www.paisleygrammarschool.com |
Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in Renfrewshire, Scotland. [2] The school was founded in 1576 by royal charter of King James VI and is situated on Glasgow Road. [3] The school is recognised as one of Scotland's oldest schools with an established history. [3]
The present school building (which was called the 'Paisley Grammar School and William B. Barbour Academy' due to a bequest by the former member of parliament for Paisley, William B. Barbour, and until recently was the school's proper title) was opened in 1898 by Lord Balfour of Burleigh, then Secretary of State for Scotland. [4]
The school was fee paying until the mid-1960s and in 1986, when threatened with imminent closure by Strathclyde Regional Council, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher intervened personally to ensure the survival of the school. The law was changed so that local councils could no longer close schools which were more than 80% full without approval by the Secretary of State for Scotland. [4]
Following a consultation, in January 2021, Renfrewshire Council approved plans for the school to be moved to a new site, approving construction of a Paisley Grammar School Community Campus at the old site of the Chivas Brothers Whiskey Distillery. The new community campus will move pupils and staff to a modern facility with outdoor areas, state-of-the-art technology, and high-quality media, drama and sports facilities not possible on the current site. [5] The new school will neighbour West College Scotland’s Paisley Campus on Renfrew Road.
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(September 2021) |
Notable former pupils include:
The Old Grammarians Club is a society formed by and for former pupils and staff of Paisley Grammar School. The club has been running in some form since 1928 and was founded with a need to 'keep in touch' after school years following world war I. [10]
Ross Brisco is the current president who was elected to office in 2018. [11]
The club are committed to organising social gatherings throughout the year including a yearly ball [12] and a golf club with yearly tournament. [13] The Old Grammarians Club also contributes to the school's annual prize-giving; giving the Old Grammarians Prize to one pupil in the sixth year.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Paisley is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Water, a tributary of the River Clyde.
Dr William Laurence Wilson is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was a regional list Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West of Scotland region from 2007 to 2011. He left the SNP in 2017 and now serves as co-convener of the Edinburgh Branch of the Scottish Green Party.
Ralston is a small, middle-class, suburban settlement in Renfrewshire, Scotland, being part of the greater town of Paisley. The district straddles the A761, the main dual-carriageway between Renfrewshire and the City of Glasgow.
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Giffnock is a town and the administrative centre of East Renfrewshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland.
Paisley and Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in Renfrewshire, Scotland to the southwest of Glasgow. It elects one member of Parliament at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
East Renfrewshire is a constituency of the UK House of Commons, to the south of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, 7+1⁄2 miles southeast of Greenock and around 15 miles (24 km) west of the city of Glasgow. The village has a population of around 4,000 and is part of a wider civil parish which covers a large rural hinterland of 15,000 hectares containing within it the smaller settlement of Quarrier's Village, originally established as a 19th-century residential orphans' home.
Neilston is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, two miles southwest of Barrhead, the last remaining town in greater Glasgow to operate trams, 3+3⁄4 miles south of Paisley, and 5+3⁄4 miles south-southwest of Renfrew, at the southwestern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Neilston is a dormitory village with a resident population of just over 5,000 people.
The High School of Glasgow is a private, co-educational day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the choir school of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, and is the oldest school in Scotland, and the twelfth oldest in the United Kingdom. On its closure as a selective grammar school by Glasgow City Corporation in 1976, it immediately continued as a co-educational independent school as a result of fundraising activity by its Former Pupil Club and via a merge by the Club with Drewsteignton School. The school maintains a relationship with the Cathedral, where it holds an annual service of commemoration and thanksgiving in September. It counts two British Prime Ministers, two Lords President and the founder of the University of Aberdeen among its alumni.
Colin McIver Campbell is a Scottish politician and military historian. He was a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for West of Scotland region from 1999 to 2003. Campbell is a former history teacher and secondary school headmaster.
The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
Clarkston is a suburban town in East Renfrewshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. A dormitory town with a population of around 10,000, Clarkston is on the southern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation and directly adjoins the neighbouring suburban villages of Busby and Netherlee, as well as the towns of Newton Mearns and Giffnock.
Renfrew is a town 6 miles (10 km) west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gained royal burgh status in 1397.
Derek Mackay is a former Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work from 2016 to 2020. A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Renfrewshire North and West from 2011 to 2021. Mackay served as a government minister from 2011 to 2020 under the administrations of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
Mhairi Black is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons from 2022 to 2024, and as a Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South from 2015 to 2024.
Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands is a Scottish National Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley and Renfrewshire North between 2015 and 2024. He served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from 2020 to 2024.
The 2017 Renfrewshire Council election took place on 4 May 2017 to elect members of Renfrewshire Council. The election was first to use the twelve wards created as a result of the 2015-16 Boundary Commission review, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation, with 43 Councillors being elected, a net increase of 3 members compared to the 2012 Council.
Millhall is a hamlet in East Renfrewshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies 0.8 miles (1.3 km) southeast of Eaglesham, 8.3 miles (13.4 km) northwest of Strathaven and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) southwest of East Kilbride.