Harlaw Academy is a six-year comprehensive

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

situated 200 yards from the junction of Union Street and Holburn Street in the centre of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

, Scotland. It is directly adjacent to

St Margaret's School for Girls St Margaret’s School for Girls is the oldest all-through girls’ school in Scotland and caters for pupils aged three to 18 in a nursery, junior school and senior school. St Margaret’s is an independent charitable trust that warmly welcomes gir ...

. The academy draws most of its pupils from its associated primary schools, namely, Broomhill Primary School, Ferryhill Primary School, Kaimhill Primary School and Hanover Street School. Ross McLaren has been headteacher since February 2020.

History

The school was established in Little Belmont Street as the Aberdeen High School for Girls in 1874. The school moved to 19 Albyn Place, where it amalgamated with Mrs. Elmslie's Institution which occupied a prominent building designed by

Archibald Simpson Archibald Simpson (4 May 1790 – 23 March 1847) was a Scottish architect, who along with his rival John Smith, is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as "The Granite City".Simpson, William Douglas, (1947) ''The Archibald S ...

, in 1891. The Former Pupils' Club established a fund for the acquisition of a playing field at Hazlehead, as well as the cost of building and equipping a pavilion there. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the building was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

to create the 1st Scottish General Hospital, a facility for the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

to treat military casualties. Subsequent changes included the abolition of fees in 1947, the phasing out of the primary department in 1971 and the introduction of the city's area comprehensive system which brought about the changing of the school's name to Harlaw Academy in 1970. Ruthrieston Secondary School was to become part of Harlaw Academy in 1972. In 2010, Harlaw Academy was threatened with closure, as part of the

Aberdeen City Council gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption ...

's programme of financial cutbacks. This created serious concerns in the feeder communities which launched a successful campaign to save the school.

Head teachers

Past and present head teachers include: * John McBain 1874-1913 * Lucy Ward 1913-1929 * Beatrice Rose 1929-1957 * Margaretta McNab 1957-1971 * Alexander Chalmers 1971-1985 * Norman Horne 1985-1993 * John Murray 1993– 2012(OCT) * David Innes (2012–2020) * Ross McLaren (2020–present)

Notable former pupils

Notable

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

include: *

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

, singer and member of the musical group

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Nan Shepherd Anna "Nan" Shepherd (11 February 1893 – 27 February 1981) was a Scottish Modernist writer and poet, best known for her seminal mountain memoir, ''The Living Mountain'', based on experiences of hill walking in the Cairngorms. This is noted as a ...

(1893–1981), modernist novelist and poet * Dr

Nanette Milne Nanette Lilian Margaret Milne (born 27 April 1942, in Aberdeen) is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland from 2003 to 2016. Early life and education ...

, former

Scottish Conservative The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

MSP for North East Scotland (1999-2016) * Elaine Thomson, former

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...

MSP for Aberdeen North (1999-2003) *

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Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

MSP for Angus South and Scottish Government Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans. * Ray Michie (1934–2008), Baroness Michie of Gallanach, former MP for

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Scotland * Sonia Dresdel, film and television actress between the 1940s and 70s. * David Robertson, former footballer for

, Rangers,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and current manager of Real Kashmir F.C. * Pauline Cook, former newsreader and journalist for STV North's nightly news programme, North Tonight. *

Lisa Milne Lisa Milne (born 22 April 1971 in Aberdeen) is a Scottish soprano described by the BBC as "one of RSAMD's best-known alumni", who was among the first artists to be invited to the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme in 1999-2001. Known for ...

, soprano. * Charlie Allan, sports journalist.

References

External links

Harlaw Academy's page on Parentzone
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1874 Secondary schools in Aberdeen 1874 establishments in Scotland