Douglas Academy

Douglas Academy is a non-denominational, co-educational, comprehensive secondary school in the town of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, serving the Milngavie, Craigton and Baldernock areas. Douglas Academy is one of Scotland's top performing state schools. In 2007, Douglas Academy was ranked as Scotland's top performing state school, and with every year the school continues to place among the highest in the country.[2][3]

Douglas Academy
Address
Mains Estate

Milngavie
,
East Dunbartonshire
,
G62 7HL

Scotland
Information
TypeState secondary school
MottoNeart Tre Eolas
(Strength Through Knowledge)
Established1967 (1967)
Chair of the School BoardRamsay Shields[1]
HeadteacherBarry Smedley (BEd)
Staffc. 100
GenderCo-educational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment993 (Session 2015–16)
Websitewww.douglas.e-dunbarton.sch.uk

History

The school is named after the Douglases of Mains, who were a branch family of the Clan Douglas. The Douglases are an ancient clan, and subsequent noble house from the Scottish Lowlands who held vast territories throughout the Scottish Borders; Angus, Lothian, Moray, and in France and Sweden. The Douglases of Mains were related to the main branch through their common ancestor Archibald I, Lord of Douglas, a Scottish medieval nobleman born in the 12th century.

The lands of the Mains, where the school is situated, were originally granted by the Earl of Lennox to Maurice Galbraith in the 13th century. The Galbraith Family held these lands until 1373, when a descendant of Lord Douglas's second son, Nicholas Douglas, married Janet Galbraith, the heiress of the Mains. Thus, the Douglas family inherited the extensive lands of the Mains, and were elevated to Lairds of the estate in the same year by King Robert II of Scotland.[4]

The title became extinct in the 20th century; the last 33.5 acres (13.6 ha) of the estate (including the house) was sold to Dunbartonshire county[5] and was subsequently used for the erection of the secondary school, Douglas Academy, in Milngavie prior to the death of the last heir, the 21st Lord of Mains, Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Vivian Campbell Douglas in 1977.[6]

The original school building served the site from 1967 until 2009, when it was demolished and replaced with a newer one.

New building

As part of an extensive PPP project (Public-Private Partnership) marshalled by the Scottish Government with £100 million funding, Douglas Academy has been rebuilt along with various other East Dunbartonshire schools. The new Douglas Academy building replaced the old school with a modern new look from the beginning of the 2009–2010 school year.

Surrounding area
Milngavie town centre

The school is flanked by the housing estate, aptly named "Mains" estate, after the aforementioned Lairds of the Mains. However, looking outwards, Douglas Academy is situated in the heart of the suburb of Milngavie, just north of its own village centre. Due to this, Douglas Academy continues to educate succeeding generations of Milngavie's family residents, whether they live in the Mains estate or outwith, and co-operation between the school and the town remains high. Indeed, this is directly achieved through the rich, shared history of Douglas Academy and Milngavie articulated in the fore article.

A poignant example of this shared history came in the wake of the First World War when the 20th Laird of Mains, Brigadier-General Campbell Douglas, father to the mentioned 21st and last, unveiled the Milngavie War Memorial in the village centre in 1922. The Laird proclaimed:

We are taking part today in a ceremony which surely will long remain in the annals of the burgh of Milngavie and district. It is of very great significance to all of us in our hearts that we are honouring the memory of the 110 brave men who left our midst and fell in the Great War.[4]

Associate schools
  • Baldernock Primary School, Baldernock
  • Clober Primary School, Milngavie
  • Craigdhu Primary School, Milngavie
  • Milngavie Primary School, Milngavie

These schools, as associate schools, are the main "feeder" schools for Douglas Academy.

School badge

The coat of arms on the school badge combines references to the school's geographical position and to the history of the grounds in which it is situated. It was designed by a student. The upper half, with its cross and roses, is part of the arms of the Burgh of Milngavie, while the lower half shows symbols associated with the Douglas family, owners for many generations of the Mains Estate on which the school stands. By tradition, the heart represents the heart of Bruce, taken by a member of the Douglas family on crusade against the Moors. The Gaelic motto "Neart-Tre-Eolas" means "Strength Through Knowledge".[7]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "School Board Members 2006/7" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2007.
  2. "Top Marks for Douglas Academy in Government League Tables". East Dunbartonshire LEA. Archived from " the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
  3. Denholm, Andrew (7 March 2017). "West coast schools are top of the class in latest Higher results". The Herald.
  4. "Douglas Academy banner about the Mains Estate". www.mera-milngavie.co.uk. Mains Estate Residents Association. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  5. East Dunbartonshire Archives
  6. A Short History of Mains. Bearsden & Milngavie District Libraries.
  7. "Douglas Academy – School Information". Douglas.e-dunbarton.sch.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  8. "Bearsden cycling ace Katie Archibald on track for 2014 Commonwealth Games". Milngavie Herald. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2018. The former Douglas Academy pupil, ...
  9. McGilvray, Andy (26 January 2018). "Rangers signing Greg Docherty pays tribute to friend who lost leukaemia battle". Daily Record. Retrieved 4 May 2018. ... Docherty representing Milngavie’s Douglas Academy ...
  10. "Robert Harley". Scottish Rugby. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2018. ... he was still a pupil at Douglas Academy, Milngavie.
  11. Millar, James (6 June 2017). "Can Jo Swinson win back East Dunbartonshire for the Lib Dems?". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 May 2018.

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