A Short History of Portobello High School

Portobello High School has served the communities of Portobello, Joppa and beyond for nearly 150 years.

Our story stretches from a Victorian burgh school to a modern, purpose-built campus on Milton Road—shaped throughout by local ambition and changing educational needs.

Victorian Beginnings (1876–1900s)

The school opened on 26 April 1876 as Portobello Burgh Public School, purpose-built for a growing seaside town. An additional annexe followed in 1901 as enrolment swelled, reflecting the rapid expansion of Portobello at the turn of the century.

Service and Remembrance – Portobello High School and the Great War

Following the outbreak of war in 1914 a number of staff and former pupils enlisted and the impact of this can be seen immediately upon entering the current building (now on a different site to the original school) with a memorial tablet to the 74 former pupils who died in the conflict.  This Roll of Honour formed the starting point for the research into local soldiers who went to war.

The full story behind Portobello and the First World War might have remained shrouded in history, had it not been for the School Librarian in the 2000s, Lauren Thow.  She began to look into the school records and engaged students in researching individuals using census returns and military archives.  This led to a series of BBC radio programmes called ‘The school that went to war’, broadcast in 2014.  A further programme invited local primary pupils to visit Portobello High School and find out how the students went about their research. You can listen to this here.

Five of the soldiers on the Roll of Honour were killed at Gallipoli – tragically four of them on the same day. During the visit to Gallipoli in October 2015, three students from Portobello High School carried out short commemoration ceremonies for each of these five soldiers. One has a grave at Skew Bridge Cemetery and the other four are recorded on the Helles Memorial, in modern day Turkey, as their bodies remained on the battlefield and were not recovered until after the war, when they could no longer be identified.  You can watch these commemorations here.

A New Site

By the mid-20th century, the original buildings could no longer meet the needs of a much larger secondary roll.

In 1963, the school moved to this Treverlen site at Duddingston Road, pictured in 2012.  ‘The Tower’ is well remembered by former pupils, staff members and members of the community.

A Modern Home

In the 2000s, the City of Edinburgh Council began formal consultations to replace the aging Duddingston Road buildings. After site studies and extensive community debate, the City of Edinburgh Council (Portobello Park) Act 2014 enabled the use of Portobello Park for a new school. Construction began later that year, and in October 2016 pupils moved into our Milton Road campus; an official opening ceremony followed in December 2016.

Today

Designed as a community hub for learning, sport and culture, the current school accommodates around 1,400 learners and includes a 25-metre swimming pool and two full-size artificial football pitches – used by both pupils and local groups. The building’s light, flexible spaces and emphasis on natural ventilation reflect modern educational and environmental priorities.

Thanks to Murray Swan for his contributions to this page.