DOLLAR ACADEMY

'Dollar Academy' is one of Scotland's leading public, or independent schools, set in the shadow of the Ochil Hills in the village of Dollar, Clackmannanshire. Founded in 1818 by Captain John McNabb, it is the oldest co-educational school in Britain, accepting both day pupils and boarders. It is also one of Britain's largest public schools.

Contents

Overview

History

Exam Results

Architecture

Boarding Houses

Male (Quints)

Female (Houses)

Traditions

Old Academicals

External links

References

Overview

There are over 1300 pupils at Dollar (making it the fourth largest private school in Scotland), divided into three separate schools: the Prep School (Preps I to V for ages 5-10), the Junior School (Juniors I and II for ages 11-13) and the Senior School (Forms I to VI for ages 13-18). About 90 pupils are boarders, the rest are day pupils, either from the village of Dollar itself or 'Travellers' from the surrounding counties of Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Perth and Kinross and Fife. Annual fees range from approximately £9,000 for day pupils to approximately £20,000 for boarders, who may board weekly or fully. The school also has a relatively high intake of international students.
The school follows the Scottish education system, with pupils sitting a mixture of Standard Grades and Intermediates at the end of FIV and Highers at the end of FV/VI. A mixture of Advanced Highers and A levels are offered in FVI.
The current Rector, John Robertson, was previously Deputy Rector at Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh.

History

Dollar was founded in 1818 at the behest of John McNabb, a slave trader who bequeathed part of his fortune - £60,000 - to provide "a charity or school for the poor of the parish of Dollar wheir I was born"^[1]. McNabb's ashes rest above the Bronze Doors of the Playfair Building. The school was originally known as 'The Dollar Institution' and until the introduction of compulsory primary education in 1887, provided free education for local children who could not afford to pay. Those who could afford it paid on a 'sliding scale'. The original campus was landscaped into several gardens including two ponds. Dollar's first Rector was The Revd Dr Andrew Mylne.
The school has a sound academic reputation, and is particularly known for its rugby team, considered the best in Scotland. They have won the Bell Lawrie Scottish Schools Under-18 cup three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2005. They were also finalists in 2007 but were defeated by Bell Baxter High School. The school also has a well-known pipe band, which is of an extremely high standard; they are unbeaten in competitions this millennium. Its CCF (Combined Cadet Force) is also very strong, having won the Scottish military skills competition for the last two years. The school is also the first Scottish school to win the Ashburton Shield at Bisley. Debating and music are also two of the school's strong points.
Despite its co-educational history, it was not until 2004 that gender segregation in Assembly officially came to an end, though broadly speaking it still exists even with the freedom to sit 'on either side'. There is also a boys' and girls' staircase leading up to the Assembly Hall.
Almost all of its pupils go on to university, with a small number winning places at Oxford, Cambridge and Sandhurst.

Exam Results

The Academy has consistently been ranked as one of the top schools in Scotland academically. It is consistently high in league tables of Scottish schools (out of over 400 schools coming 2nd place in 2001 for Highers, 4th place in 2005 for Highers and 4th place in 2006 for Advanced Highers), with 97% of FIV passing five or more Standard Grades at level 4 or better, and over 92% of FV passing 3 or more Highers.
In Music and Biotechnology, 100% of candidates achieved a grade A at Higher in 2006. 97% achieved grade A at Higher in Art. At Advanced Higher 100% of candidates achieved grade A in Music. There has been consistently 100% pass rate for Mathematics and English at Standard Grade.
In 2007, over a quarter of all FV pupils achieved 5 straight As at Higher. An award is made each year to those pupils who gain 5 As at band 1 at Higher. There was a 92% pass rate at Higher, 50% of which were A passes.

Architecture

The principal school building was designed by renowned Scottish architect William Henry Playfair with its characteristic 'bronze doors'. The interior of the Playfair building was gutted by a fire in 1961, but Playfair's Greek-style facade remained intact and the school was re-opened by former pupil Lord Heyworth and visited by Her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip.
There are numerous other buildings on the campus, including the Dewar Building for science, the Younger Building for mathematics and business studies, the Gibson Building for music, the Iona Building for home economics and the most recently built Maguire Building for sport, art and drama. There are also several rugby, hockey, cricket and football pitches, and tennis courts. Sport is particularly strong at Dollar, and is supported by the Boys' and Girls' pavilions, the Games Hall and the swimming pool in addition to the Maguire Building.

Boarding Houses

There is space for 90 boarders in the Academy's four boarding houses, all situated close to the school in Victorian houses in the village. Boarding at Dollar was highly commended by a recent HMIe inspection. Both weekly boarders (Monday - Friday) and full boarders are accepted.

★ Argyll House - Girls aged 8-18

★ Heyworth House - Girls aged 8-18

★ McNabb House - Senior Boys

★ Tait House - Junior Boys
Though the majority of pupils do not board, every pupil belongs to a House (girls) or corresponding Quint (boys). Originally there were five boys' houses, hence the Dollarism 'quint'. The Quint Cup and House Cup are awarded annually at Prize-Giving. Today there are four Houses/Quints:

Male (Quints)

★ 'Castle' (Red)

★ 'Devon' (Yellow)

★ 'Glen'(Royal Blue)

★ 'Hill' (Green)

Female (Houses)

★ 'Atholl' (Red)

★ 'Mar' (Yellow)

★ 'Stewart' (Royal Blue)

★ 'Argyll' (Green)
Old Academicals' children are traditionally put into the same house as their Father/Mother/Brother/Sister. The fifth Quint/House colour was orange, however no recent former pupils remember the name of the Quint/House that it corresponded to. In 2005 it was suggested the Houses and Quints be merged to strengthen the co-educational atmosphere.

Traditions

Each year Full Colours and Half Colours are awarded to senior pupils for achievement in sporting or cultural pursuits. These awards merit piping on the school blazer (blue for cultural, white for sporting) and/or a distinctive blazer badge. Those awarded Full Colours for both sport and culture may wear 'the white blazer'. Sixth year pupils are also given a distinctive silver tie, and prefects wear white and blue bands round the blazer sleeves.
The Senior Six (or 'Top Six') are the most senior prefects in the school, elected by ballot of Forms IV, V and VI. A number of those with the highest numbers of votes go through to the 'College of Cardinals', in which they elect a Head Boy, Head Girl and two deputies for each amongst themselves.
The most common type of punishment, usually given by prefects, is known as '5/10/20 of the first', to have to write out the first sentence of the Information for Pupils Booklet repeatedly a set number of times. It reads:

"In your life and work at Dollar Academy we ask you, at all times, to consider the feelings and interests of other people. Good relationships are based on courtesy, on respect and on thoughtfulness."

The Academy Hymn, sung at Prize-Giving each year, is "O God of Bethel!" The Commemoration of the Founder is said by the Head Boy and Head Girl at the ceremony:

"Let us now, in pious duty, remember thankfully all those who by their noble generosity have founded this school, and bestowed upon it great and notable benefactions...

Let us now remember all these benefactors in simple gratitude. We enjoy a great heritage. But privilege carries with it a call to responsibility. What was nobly begun must be nobly continued, in the spirit of the Elizabethan mariners who prayed in the words of Sir Francis Drake:

O Lord,
When thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same until it be thouroughly finished,
which yieldeth the true glory.

Amen."

Old Academicals

★ Michael Adamson, Scottish International 7s rugby player

★ Herbert Beresford, Canadian politician

★ Lord Brodie, judge

★ Hamish Brown MBE DUniv, mountaineer and writer

★ John Cameron of Balbuthie, landowner and agribusinessman

★ The Master of Bruce (future 13th Earl of Elgin)

★ Duncan Carman, Chess player

★ Alfred Gardyne de Chastelain, secret agent

★ Lord Constable CBE, KC, Conservative politician and judge

★ Sara Mendes da Costa, voice-over artist and voice of the speaking clock

★ Dr Andrew Cubie CBE, chaired Scotland's independent inquiry into Tuition Fees in 2000

★ Sir James Dewar, inventor of the vacuum flask

★ Iain Dickie, High Commissioner for Australia in Nigeria

★ Thomas Dun OBE, Chairman of the Board of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland

★ Various members of the Ethiopian Imperial Family

★ HIM Emperor Amha Selassie I, last Emperor of Ethiopia

★ David Fell, Australian Liberal politician and businessman

★ William Scott Fell, Australian Liberal politician and businessman

★ Caroline Flanagan, President of the Law Society of Scotland 2005

★ Dr AK Fulton, Scottish International rugby player

★ Kris Gilmartin, journalist at The Sunday Post

★ Cameron Glasgow, Scottish International rugby player

★ Sir Hector J.M. Hetherington, social philosopher

★ Lord Heyworth of Oxton, Chairman of Unilever and ICI

★ Molly Izzard, adventurer and writer

★ Tom Kitchin - Michelin starred Chef and the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Scottish Chef of the Year Award.

★ Alan Johnston, BBC Gaza correspondent taken hostage in 2007

★ Rory Lawson, Scottish International rugby player

★ Malcolm Lyon, author

★ James E. M. MacArthur of Milton, Chief of Clan Arthur

★ The Master of Moncreiff (future 7th Baron Moncreiff)

★ Graeme Morrison, Scottish International rugby player

★ Sir Ian Morrow, Businessman

★ Neil Munro, Olympic skier

★ Fraser Nelson, Political Editor of The Spectator and journalist at The Scotsman newspaper

★ George Henry Paulin, sculptor

★ George Reid, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

★ Future Nigerian Chief Sergeant Awuse

★ Gordon Sked, car designer, Austin-Rover Group and others

★ Nigel Smith, broadcaster and Chairman of Scotland FORWard, a devolution campaign group

★ Sir William M. Sneddon Bt, Conservative politician

★ Euphemia Somerville, social reformer

★ Souter children (heirs of Brian Souter, founder of Stagecoach)

★ One of the students who stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey and brought it back to Scotland

★ Mandy Telford, President of the National Union of Students

★ Adam Tinworth, journalist and writer^[2]

★ Niall Archibald, British Army Officer, last officer to be commissioned into The 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) before amalgamation in March 2006. [1]

External links

★ Dollar Academy official website

★ Exam Results 2006

References

1. History of Dollar Academy
2. Reject the First