The Opening Of The New School

In spite of the extra accommodation afforded by the old primary classrooms and the construction of temporary classrooms in the girls’ playground, in a year or two the School was again bursting at the seams. In 1961 the replacement of the old “Lowers” by the Ordinary Grade Examinations, which were taken at the end of the fourth year, encouraged more pupils to stay on at school beyond the age of fifteen and so the School Roll continued to mount. Edinburgh Education Committee had a plan to enlarge the School by building a new, two-storey block in the boys’ playground, but the Scottish Education Department refused to accept this plan and instead a new school was built on the North side of Duddingston Road on the site occupied by the playing fields.

Staff and pupils moved into the new building in August, 1964, and the School was officially opened by Princess Alexandra on 1st December. A ceremony was held in the School Hall with the Princess, the Lord Provost and the Chairman of the Education Committee attending. Afterwards the Princess toured the School talking to teachers and pupils and unveiled a plaque outside the main entrance to commemorate the occasion.

1964 – Opening Ceremony

1964 – Opening Ceremony Princess Alexandra Speech Only

Some Characteristics of the New School

Portobello Secondary School provides a variety of specialised teaching accommodation and was built to hold 1,550 pupils. The school consists of a nine-storey, 120 feet high teaching block, a three-storey administration wing, a two-storey house block, a workshop wing and a single storey building containing the assembly hall, gymnasia, swimming pool and the music department. The school contains a total of sixty-five rooms and laboratories and also a spacious library. The rooms in the nine-storey block are served by four lifts. The Assembly hall contains a stage which is fully curtained, so that a proscenium opening can be formed when required.

The two gymnasia are separated by a sixteen feet high moveable partition and can be opened up into one large area sixty feet by eighty feet wide.

The technical block is housed in a separate building and in its nine rooms, facilities are provided for technical drawing, woodwork and motor vehicle engineering.

Life in the new school

The new school was very large, being built for a roll of 1550, and was organized on a house basis, like some of the large comprehensive schools in the London area. There were house-rooms where the pupils met first thing in the morning and again at the end of the school day for registration and other administrative purposes and where school lunches were served. Portobello was more fortunate than many Edinburgh schools, in that proper house accommodation was provided before a fully-fledged house system was introduced, and also in that our house-staff were learning about “guidance” in a practical way, before it was imposed on all schools in the early 1970’s.

The new School had many admirable features. It possessed a fine hall, a library, a large gymnasium and a swimming pool, a lecture theatre, a language laboratory and purpose built rooms for Geography, Domestic Subjects, Art, Science, Business Studies and Technical Subjects. A wide variety of courses was offered to senior pupils, many sports were played in addition to normal team games and there were numerous clubs and societies catering for a wide variety of interests which the pupils could join.

Within a year or two of the opening of the new building, the number of pupils rose over the 1550 mark and it was found necessary to use the Old School as an annexe for the first year classes and later for senior pupils as well. In the early 1970’s the roll topped 2,200 and the School achieved the distinction of being the largest in Great Britain. At present (1976) the roll is just under 2,100 and the staff total 140. In 1973 the school leaving age was raised to sixteen, which necessitated the devising of new courses for fourth year pupils who were not studying for ‘0’ grades. In 1975 the School was re-named “Portobello High School” and with regionalization came under the administration of the new Lothian Region Education Committee.

The old school becomes an annexe of the old school

The New School had been built to accommodate 1,550 pupils, but within a few years of its being opened, the roll was rising beyond that figure and the Old School building, which had been used for various educational purposes since 1964, became an Annexe to the main building. At the present time all the first year pupils are accommodated in the Old School and many teachers commute between the two buildings. The present school roll is about 2000 pupils.