Cumbernauld High School

Cumbernauld Academy (formerly Cumbernauld High School) was the first comprehensive secondary school in the then 'New Town' of Cumbernauld. It was designed by Scottish architects Gratton & McLean and it opened in 1964 and is a non-denominational, co-educational, secondary school. In 2013, North Lanarkshire Council announced amalgamation of Cumbernauld High with Abronhill High to become Cumbernauld Academy in a new building to be built on existing CHS grounds.

Overview

Cumbernauld Academy covers the Scottish education system's stages S1 to S6 and has the capacity for 1100 pupils. It reached about 1600 pupils in 1972 and the current roll is around 600. The school draws students from Cumbernauld and the surrounding area and includes Cumbernauld Village, Kildrum, Abronhill, Carbrain, Seafar, Castlecary, Westerwood, Dullatur, Craigmarloch, Carrickstone Vale and Airdrie. Its associated feeder primary schools are Carbrain primary, Cumbernauld primary, Kildrum primary and Ravenswood primary.

Cumbernauld

Coordinates: 55°56′42″N 3°59′38″W / 55.945°N 3.994°W / 55.945; -3.994

Cumbernauld (/ˌkʌmbərˈnɔːld/; Scots: Cummernaud;Scottish Gaelic: Comar nan Allt) is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire, historically in Dunbartonshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for the city of Glasgow. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire. The name comes from the Gaelic comar nan allt, meaning "meeting of the waters" as, geographically, from its high point in the Central Belt streams flow west to the River Clyde and east to the River Forth. A two-time winner of the Carbuncle Awards, the town has since received the award of 'Best Town' at the Scottish Design Awards 2012.

History

Cumbernauld's history stretches to Roman times, with a settlement near the Antonine Wall, the furthest and most northerly boundary of the Roman Empire. The security that the wall gave from possibly hostile tribes to the north probably allowed the foundation of a settlement. A rural population grew in the area where Cumbernauld's housing estates now stand, with the centrepoints being the 18th century Cumbernauld House, built close to the site of the medieval Cumbernauld Castle, and Cumbernauld Village nearby.

High school

A high school (also secondary school, senior school, secondary college) is a school that provides adolescents with part or all of their secondary education. It may come after primary school or middle school and be followed by higher education or vocational training.

Terminology

The term "high school" originated in Scotland, with the world's oldest high school being Edinburgh's Royal High School from 1505. The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the United States, Boston Latin School founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

The precise stage of schooling provided by a high school differs from country to country, and may vary within the same jurisdiction. In all of New Zealand and Malaysia, along with most of Britain and parts of Australia, Bangladesh and Canada, high school means the same thing as secondary school, but instead of starting in 9th grade, these "secondary schools" begin at ages 11 or 12.

Country by country

Australia

In Australia, high school is a secondary school, from Year 7 or Year 8 through to Year 12, varying from state to state. High school immediately follows primary (elementary) school; therefore, a Year-7 Australian high-school student is sometimes as young as 12. In Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, the term "high school" generally refers to Years 7–10, whereas the term "College" is used for Years 11–12. In Victoria the term "secondary college" has largely replaced the term "high school" following the reforms of the Labor Government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some schools have retained the name "high school" (such as Melbourne High School) and many have now dropped the "secondary" and are simply known as "college".

Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, producer and voice artist. He was the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2005 to 2014. Ferguson began hosting the syndicated Celebrity Name Game in September 2014, and in February 2016 will host Join or Die with Craig Ferguson on History.

After starting his career in Britain with music, comedy and theatre, Ferguson moved to the United States where he found success in the role of Nigel Wick on The Drew Carey Show. He has written and starred in three films, directing one of them, and has appeared in several others, including several voice-over roles for animations. Ferguson has also written two books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel, and American on Purpose, a memoir.

Early life and education

Ferguson was born in Stobhill Hospital, in the Springburn district of Glasgow to Robert and Janet Ferguson, on 17 May 1962, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld, growing up "chubby and bullied". He was raised Presbyterian. When he was six months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn apartment to a council house in Cumbernauld. They lived there as Glasgow was re-housing many people following damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age sixteen, Ferguson left Cumbernauld High School and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.