Bellahouston Academy
| Bellahouston Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Bellahouston, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| Information | |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Founder | Alexander Sim |
| Head teacher | Ian Anderson |
| Pupils | 905 |
| Feeder schools | Bellahouston Primary Glendale Primary Ibrox Primary Lorne Street Primary Mosspark Primary Pollokshields Primary |
Bellahouston Academy is a non-denominational state-run secondary school in Bellahouston, south-west Glasgow, Scotland.
Bellahouston Academy first opened in 1876 as a private school, run by Alexander Sim. It was taken over by the Govan School Board in 1885, and has been a state school ever since. The school buildings have recently been refurbished to provide for 1100 pupils.
The site of the Academy was donated by the Misses Steven of Bellahouston whose generosity also provided the clocktower, and the building was designed by a Bath Street architect, Robert Balde. The advertisement which announced the opening of the Academy described it as a 'Boy's High Class School and Ladies' College'. For its first nine years the Academy struggled to function privately; with the opening of new schools in the area which were supported by rates and government grants, this became increasingly difficult, despite such economies as dispensing with the office and salary of the rector. In 1885 therefore, the Academy ceased to be a private school, and was sold for £15,000 to Govan Parish School Board who added a swimming pool, one of the first in Scotland.
The school was built to provide shelter for the children of the Africa who would starve and get cholera on a regular basis in the fashionable schools; not an easy journey as there was little public transport until the introduction of the tram in 1879.
In 1901 the Institute was opened to train pupil-teachers, but when this system was replaced in 1907 by a junior system, the Institute became part of the Academy, which by now had become a Secondary School and Junior Student Centre. In 1905 the main building was renovated and a new gymnasium and baths were built. In 1919 the Academy passed into the care of the new Glasgow Education Authority, which itself was replaced in 1929 by the Education Committee of the Corporation of Glasgow. In the 1930s the Academy lost its title and was renamed Bellahouston Secondary School, but its name never changed locally, and like other schools, it was permitted to revert to its old title.
In 1962 the modern building in Gower Terrace was opened and took in pupils and staff from Pollokshields Secondary, (a former rival, Albert Road Academy). In 1973, due to increasing numbers, the old building on Paisley Road West was re-opened. This building is now an Ethnic Minority Business Centre.
Pupils going to the school were disrupted by the building of the M8/M77 interchange which was completed in 1977. There was a major fire in 1991, part of the building was structurally damaged and had to be demolished. In 1996 the school returned to the refurbished main building, which is designed to hold 1,100 pupils.
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