Williamwood High School is a non-denominational comprehensive secondary school in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, Scotland, with a roll of around 1800 pupils. It was originally opened in the 1930s as Eastwood Senior Secondary School, located on Seres Road in the Williamwood area of Clarkston. In 2006 the school relocated to a new site at Eaglesham Road on the outskirts of Clarkston surrounded by fields and farm roads, about 1.5 miles from the original site.
History
The school was originally opened as Eastwood Senior Secondary School in Seres Road, Williamwood in the 1930s, later being renamed Williamwood High School. It was announced in 2003/2004 that a new school would be built to replace the ageing facilities at Seres Road. It was funded under the PPP scheme by the private company HBG. Once built, they would take control of the school ensuring it was well maintained, replacing any broken fixtures, and ensuring the running of the school building. The school feeds from BusbyPrimary School, Carolside Primary School and Netherlee Primary School. In August 2006 the new £29 million school opened at the Eaglesham Road site. It features over 70 classrooms, each fitted with interactive whiteboards. The school has excellent sports facilities including astroturf pitches and running track, a video editing suite, and high standard drama studios. The new school was officially opened by the First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, on Monday 11 December 2006. Following an inspection in 2009, Williamwood became the first school in Scotland to be awarded a maximum of five "excellent" ratings by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education. The unoccupied former building was damaged by fire in February 2007. Former headteacher John Fitzpatrick was awarded the OBE in 2011 for services to education, whilst at Williamwood. In June 2015, following the retirement of John Fitzpatrick, Mr William Inglis became head teacher.
The student body takes an active role in school activities, most notably with those students who stay for a sixth year. A committee of management is formed as a result of elections in June; in which 6th year students and teachers vote for a number of "Pupil Deputes" and the Head Boy and Head Girl. The current Head Boy and Head Girl are Jack Addie and Grace Allan respectively as of 2019. Beneath the Head Boy are thirty two Depute Head Boy and Head Girls who must win a different election are assigned a specific area of responsibility, for example: school public relations; yearbook; graduation prom; Mental Health; et cetera. Meetings of the 6th year committee of management are chaired by the Head Boy and Girl. Selected sixth year pupils are responsible for managing the school's Twitter page, @WilliamwoodHS.
Associated Primary Schools and Nurseries
Primary Schools
is located in Netherlee, which is Clarkston's neighbour. Netherlee also has nursery facilities in buildings called the "Saplings" and "Acorns" buildings. The catchment for Netherlee Primary also includes the Stamperland area of Clarkston. Carolside Primary School is located in the Carolside area. It also has nursery facilities, some of which are currently being extended. Its catchment covers the large Carolside and South Williamwood areas, as well as the small area of Overlee, as well as most of Clarkston's town centre. Busby Primary School is located in the village of Busby, next to Clarkston. A nursery is also currently under construction at this location. The catchment mostly covers the village of Busby, however small parts of Clarkston, including the Williamwood High School itself, are in the catchment for Busby. St Joseph's Primary School, located in Busby, shares Williamwood's catchment area, but is a Catholic school, and students from this school normally attend St Ninian's High School.
Nurseries
Overlee Nursery is a nursery currently under construction in Overlee Park in the Stamperland area of Clarkston. The nursery is in the Netherlee Primary School catchment area. Cart Mill Family Centre is a nursery located in the Spider Park next to Williamwood High School, in the Busby catchment area. Happy Days Too is a private nursery located on Printers Land in the east half of Busby.
