Established 1855 Founded 1855 | Ages 11–18 Gender Mixed-sex education | |
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Type Secondary School (1855–2011)Secondary and Primary School (1855–1976) Headteacher Moira McColl (2001-2011) Location Madeira StreetGreenock WestRenfrewshirePA16 7XEScotland Motto 'Hinc Vera Virtus'; ('From This Place Comes True Worth') | ||
The Greenock Academy was a mixed non-denominational school in the west end of Greenock, Scotland, founded in 1855, originally independent, later a grammar school with a primary department, and finally a Comprehensive school only for ages eleven to eighteen. On 24 June 2011, Greenock Academy closed after a history spanning 156 years. In 2012 the school became the former home of BBC One school drama Waterloo Road.
Contents
- History
- Comprehensive
- Waterloo Road
- Rectors of the Greenock Academy
- Notable teachers
- Notable alumni
- Grammar school
- References
History
The Greenock Academy was opened as a fee paying secondary and primary establishment in September 1855 in Nelson Street, Greenock. The school lay at this central Greenock location for almost a century of its lifetime before the building was demolished and moved to a modern building in Madeira Street of Greenock's west end, on the site of the old Balclutha mansion. The Nelson Street site is now occupied by the Finnart Campus of James Watt College.
The new Academy featured both a secondary and primary school with the later named 'south wing' area being the primary school. On 29 December 1968 BBC Scotland's version of Songs of Praise came from the school; the rest of the UK saw it from Holy Trinity Platt Church in Rusholme, Manchester.
The school had a yacht club, and competed in the Clark Cup of Mudhook Yacht Club at Helensburgh. Another similar school with a yacht club was Rothesay Academy on the Isle of Bute.
Comprehensive
The primary department was abolished in 1976 and the lower door handles and alphabet tiles still remained into the years as a secondary school.
The Madeira Street campus remained open through into the new millennium as Greenock Academy clocked up its 150th year in 2005. Three years later, the school was named as the best non-denominational school in Scotland and still remained within the top 10% of Scottish secondary schools long after the announcement. The disrepair of the ageing building overthrew the academic performance of the academy and in 2011 the school prepared to shut its doors after 156 years in service.
The Greenock Academy and Gourock High School merged into a new school in the Bayhill area of Gourock. The new school, on the site previously occupied by St Columba's High School, Gourock, is known as Clydeview Academy and opened in 2011.
Waterloo Road
On 27 October 2011, the BBC announced that they had selected the Madeira Street building of Greenock Academy to film a new series of the TV drama Waterloo Road, following the production's move up north to nearby Glasgow. The site was leased from Inverclyde Council
On 2 April 2014, it was announced that Waterloo Road was to be cancelled to "make room for new dramas" Filming concluded on the set in August 2014.
On 4 April 2014, the final stage in the school's history was brought forth as the demolition of the Madeira Street building was announced as being scheduled in September 2015, at an estimated cost of £164,000, following the end of filming use in the then anticipated date of May 2014. Plans for demolition appeared to be brought forward, however, as work began on flattening the former school in February 2015. Future potential use of the Greenock Academy site is currently unknown, but it will be sold off by the council for redevelopment.
Rectors of the Greenock Academy
The principals of the Greenock Academy always had the title of 'Rector'. As of 2008, Alan McDougall and Moira McColl are the only two surviving individuals to have held the post. Upon the merger of Greenock Academy and Gourock High School, a new principal was appointed, Mr William Todd, who remains the incumbent Rector of Clydeview Academy.