Woodmill High School

Last updated

Woodmill High School is a local authority run high school in Dunfermline, Scotland. It is one of the city's four high schools.

Contents

Designs were proposed for the school in 1958 and construction finished in 1960. [1] It was built to serve the expanding estates of Abbeyview, Touch, Brucefield and Garvock. The name Woodmill comes from the former purpose of the land it was built on. It was initially a secondary school, but was upgraded to full high school status in 1968. The catchment area includes Duloch, Carnegie, Touch and Linburn. [ citation needed ]

Former pupils

Singer and actress Barbara Dickson attended the school in the early 1960s. She dedicated her debut album to Sandy Sadler, one of her music teachers at Woodmill. In her autobiography, she quotes Sadler as telling her "you may not be the best singer in the class, but you are certainly the loudest". [2]

Former pupil Murray McCallum has played international rugby union for Scotland. [3]

Replacement

Fife Council confirmed that they would be replacing the old school buildings. A March 2019 proposal suggested building a new campus, which would host Woodmill, St Columba's Roman Catholic High School, and Fife College. [4] . In 2024, the campus was completed and was ready to be used for the new school year starting in August.[ citation needed ]

2019 fire

The view of the fire at night Woodmill High School Fire at Night.jpg
The view of the fire at night
A view of inside the DAS building after the fire. Woodmill High School Aftermath.jpg
A view of inside the DAS building after the fire.

Woodmill was seriously damaged by a large fire which started on 25 August 2019 which was reported on 5:05 p.m. and continued to burn to the next day. The fire originally started in the school's Department of Additional Support (DAS) which was for people who needed additional support with learning difficulties. The fire completely destroyed everything in the DAS and had spread over other parts of the school including the E, F and G corridors, the cafeteria and the catwalk.

Over 80 firefighters fought the fire, many of those firefighters came from different parts of Scotland. During the fight with the fire, surrounding homes around the area had their water supply affected as the firefighters used many hydrants which affected the local water supply. [5]

Aftermath and local impact

The school was closed on 26 August 2019. Fife Council announced a plan to determine where pupils and staff would work and learn on 31 August. All 1400 pupils were back in full-time education at other schools and sites across West Fife just 5 days after the fire. [6]

Following the blaze, a 14-year-old boy was charged with wilful fire raising. The boy's father turned him in to the police. [7]

The local community provided additional support to pupils. [8] £9000 was raised in a crowdfunding campaign hosted on Just Giving by over 470 backers which has superseded the original £1000 goal. [9] [ better source needed ]

The school reopened in January 2020. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunfermline</span> City in Fife, Scotland

Dunfermline is a city, parish, former Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, 3 miles (5 km) from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkcaldy</span> Town and former royal burgh in Scotland

Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about 11.6 miles (19 km) north of Edinburgh and 27.6 miles (44 km) south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest settlement and the 11th most populous settlement in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Dickson</span> Scottish singer, actress (b. 1947)

Barbara Ruth Dickson is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include "I Know Him So Well", "Answer Me" and "January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a number of hit singles, including four which reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. The Scotsman newspaper has described her as Scotland's best-selling female singer in terms of the numbers of hit chart singles and albums she has achieved in the UK since 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies. The current MP is Douglas Chapman of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Carnegie College was a further education college based in Halbeath, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It was established in 1899, with financial support from George Lauder and Andrew Carnegie and named after their father and uncle, respectively, George Lauder, Sr. In 2007, it was renamed Carnegie College in honour of Andrew Carnegie, Lauder's cousin, the steel magnate and philanthropist born in Dunfermline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moira Shearer</span> Scottish ballerina and actress (1926–2006)

Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy was a Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffman (1951) and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Circle Line</span> Railway line in Eastern Scotland, UK

The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rather, a point to point service that reverses at the Edinburgh end, and has a large bi-directional balloon loop at the Fife end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverkeithing High School</span> Secondary school in Inverkeithing, Fife, Scotland

Inverkeithing High School is a secondary school located in Inverkeithing, a historic town on Fife's southern coast 3½ miles from Dunfermline city centre, 9½ miles from Edinburgh city centre, and in between the towns of Dalgety Bay, Rosyth and North Queensferry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Anne High School, Dunfermline</span> Non-denominational school in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Queen Anne High School is a large secondary school in the city of Dunfermline in Fife. It is named for Anne of Denmark, the queen of James VI, whose former home was the school's original location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell Baxter High School</span> Non-denominational comprehensive school for pupils aged 11 to 18 year old in Cupar, Fife, Scotland

Bell Baxter High School is a non-denominational comprehensive school for 11 to 18 year olds in Cupar, Fife, Scotland. Founded in 1889, it educates over 1,500 pupils mainly from the surrounding villages.

St Columba's RC High School is a six-year comprehensive Roman Catholic secondary school, located in Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunfermline High School</span> Non-denominational school in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Dunfermline High School is one of four main high schools located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The school also caters for pupils from Kincardine, Rosyth and surrounding villages. The school was founded in 1468. Today it has over 1,550 pupils. The current Rector is Iain Yuile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenwood High School, Glenrothes</span> High school in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland

Glenwood High School is a comprehensive, co-educational and non-denominational school serving the western part of the town of Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland together with communities to the north and west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellwood, Fife</span>

Wellwood is a small village to the north of Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It was named after the Wellwoods who used to own coalmines in the area. It has a leisure centre and a golf course (Canmore). It is nearby the Town Loch and also is partially bordered by Queen Anne High School. It was formerly known as Hawkiesfauld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbeyview</span>

Abbeyview is a housing estate in the city of Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland. It is situated in the east of the town, approximately 2 miles from the town centre. Most of the streets in the area are named after Scottish rivers and islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Chapman (politician)</span> Scottish SNP politician

Douglas Chapman is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife from the 2015 general election until he stood down at the 2024 general election. He served as the SNP's Small Business, Enterprise and Innovation spokesperson whilst in Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halbeath</span> Human settlement in Fife, Scotland, UK

Halbeath is a village northeast of Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It derives its name from the Gaelic choil beath, which means "wood of birches", and began as a colliery village. In the summer of 1789, a coal pit was sunk at Halbeath, two and a half miles northeast of Dunfermline, and by 1821, 841 people were reported to be living in the village.

Viewforth High School is a secondary school in East Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It opened in 1908 on Loughborough Road, but later moved to Windmill Road.

Callum Smith is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers. Smith has previously played for Alloa Athletic, Arbroath, Hamilton Academical, Dunfermline Athletic and Airdrieonians.

References

  1. ↑ "Woodmill High School". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  2. ↑ Barbara Dickson (2009). A Shirt Box Full of Songs: The Autobiography. Hachette Scotland. ISBN   978-0-7553-1865-0.
  3. ↑ "Murray McCallum : tighthead". Scottish Rugby . Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Craig Smith (20 March 2019). "'Super campus' to replace Dunfermline high schools still on the table". The Courier . Dundee.
  5. ↑ Warrender, Claire. "Woodmill High School fire: Homes left without water as a result of ongoing blaze". The Courier. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "Forty firefighters tackle blaze at high school". BBC News . 26 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "Dunfermline school fire: teenage boy charged over 'suspicious' blaze". The Guardian . Press Association. 26 August 2019.
  8. ↑ "Community rallies round after devastating fire". 27 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  9. ↑ "Help raise £1000 to fund new resources and equipment for Woodmill High School following the fire 25th August 2019". JustGiving. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Fire-ravaged school reopens to pupils". BBC News. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.

56°04′13″N3°25′34″W / 56.0704°N 3.4260°W / 56.0704; -3.4260

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.