St David's Roman Catholic High School is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary

state school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

located at Cousland Road in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, Scotland. It has shared the same campus with

Dalkeith High School Dalkeith High School is a secondary state school located in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. History Dalkeith High School was previously the historic Dalkeith Grammar School. A list of masters of the Grammar School at Dalkeith (located on the Hi ...

since 2003.

Pupils

The school had a roll of almost 800 pupils in 2012. 75% of St David's pupils come from associated Catholic primary schools in Midlothian and

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

History

A Roman Catholic School was founded in Dalkeith in 1854, following the establishment of St David's Church by the Marchioness of Lothian earlier that year."Church History"
. ''St David's, Dalkeith''. Retrieved 21 October 2024. In 1876, the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

came from St Catharine's Convent in Edinburgh to take over teaching responsibilities at the school, an arrangement that continued until around 1940. By 1880, the school had grown to accommodate some 135 pupils, with space for 100 more. The primary and secondary divisions of the school were separated in 1948, and St David's Junior Secondary School was opened that year in a building behind the church on Eskbank Road. This site, which did not have electricity, was closed in 1959, and the school was re-established as a six-year comprehensive secondary school in 1960, housed in locations at Croft Street and at Ironmills. In August 1966, the school moved to Abbey Road in what were originally the grounds of

Newbattle Abbey Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercians, Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently became a stately home and then an educational institution. Monastery It was founded in 1140 by monks from Melrose ...

, accommodated in several new buildings that were formally opened by the

Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The archdiocese covers an area of 5,504 km2. The metropolitan see is in the City of Edinburgh where the archbishop's seat (''cathe ...

, Gordon Gray. In November 2003, St David's was integrated into the Dalkeith Schools Community Campus along with Dalkeith High and Saltersgate School, a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

facility, making it the first such joint secondary school campus in Scotland. After the move, teachers kept students separated from each other in the dining hall and on the playground, citing concern that younger pupils might become disoriented by the sudden transformation of their small school into a large, integrated organisation with 2,200 youths. They initially predicted that the regime of segregation could be relaxed within a few weeks, and that religious factors played no role in their decision; by January 2004, teachers at Dalkeith and St. David's still told their pupils not to talk to pupils from the other school, and students were kept segregated due to threats of violence directed at one another and teachers of different religious backgrounds in addition to assaults.

School of Football

St David's High School are currently in their second year of delivering the School of Football program and are intending to introduce a new S1 group each year for the foreseeable future.

Notable former students

Kevin Milne Kevin John Milne (born 18 March 1949) is a New Zealand television presenter, best known for hosting the show '' Fair Go'' from 1983 to 2010. Fair Go Milne has been part of Fair Go since 1983, the show first starting in 1977. He is known f ...

(b. 1981) - footballer *

Darren Fletcher Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is currently serving as a first-team coach at Manchester United, where he spent the majority of his playing career and won 13 trophies i ...

(b. 1984) - footballer,

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...

, Scotland national team; was inducted into Midlothian Council's Hall of Fame in 2009. * Keith Jack (b. 1988) - actor and singer.

References

External links