A Little Bit of History
The school has been in the present building since 1876. Prior to this date the school was located nearby in what is now a dentist's surgery adjacent to the Isle of Skye Hotel.
The school was built on the site of the old Witch Hill quarry from where much of the stone for local houses was extracted during the 19th century. A track now shown on maps as "School Brae",which runs beside the south -eastern boundary of the school was originally called "Witch Hill Brae". An old local legend says that long ago women who were suspected of being witches were rolled down the hill into the River Tay.( "Brae" is an old Scottish word for hill and is probably a legacy of our Viking invasions).
Parish records show that the old school was built in 1804 at a cost of £221. At this time pupils paid for their lessons. English lessons cost two shillings per quarter year, writing two shillings and six pence, arithmetic three shillings and Latin five shillings.
Just before the new school opened the Headmaster, Mr James Thompson ( shown in the photograph ) recorded in the school log book that there were 287 pupils attending the school . This was in a building that was probably less than a quarter of the size of the present school where today we feel quite crowded with 210 pupils.
James Thompson was Headmaster of Kinnoull School from 1857 to 1899.
This was taken in about 1890
The school log books which have been kept from 1873 to the present day give an interesting picture of social change over the years. There are many references to poor attendance due to epidemics of diseases such as whooping cough, measles, scarletina amd mumps. Bad weather too affected pupil attendance as pupils sometimes lacked good footwear or clothing.
The impact of two World Wars on the school can also be seen in the log book. There are references to teachers leaving to serve in the armed forces, children preparing gifts for soldiers, sailors and airmen, and during the Second World War references to evacuees from other parts of Scotland attending the school in order to escape bombing raids on their home towns.
We often receive visitors who have attended the school in the past or who have had parents, grandparents or great grandparents who have attended Kinnoull. Our most notable former pupil is probably David Douglas who became a famous botanist and gave his name to the Douglas Fir tree.
This was taken in 1920 or 1921. It is a composite P7 class and the teacher is believed to be a Mr McDowal.
The picture was recently given to the school by Jessie Sharp from South Australia. Jessie is seventh from left in the back row.