Ernie’s introduction to Granton schools

Granton came into being as a community in the late 1830s, built around Granton Square and the harbour.

From that time, there was a need for a school to provide education to the children whose fathers were employed at Granton Harbour and by the businesses connected with it.

By the 1850s a school had been built at the East Terrace, now part of Lower Granton Road, possibly paid for or assisted by the Duke of Buccleuch.

The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 made school education compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 13, and in 1882 it was noted that a ‘public school’ existed (in other words a school paid for from public funds).

In 1885 a new school – Granton School – was built at West Granton Road, near Granton Square. At the time, that area was outside both Edinburgh and Leith, and was in the county of Midlothian. The school was constructed and run by Cramond Parish. The parish covered most of the Granton area and was the education authority – the religious parishes operated separately and the main part of Granton had its own parish church by then.

The eastern part of our area (Granton Road and eastwards) was part of the burgh of Leith until 1920 and was served by Trinity Academy, with both primary and secondary departments, at Craighall Road. This school was built by Leith School Board in the early 1890s. Victoria School in Newhaven was also run by Leith School Board, and was built in the 1840s but considerably extended later.

In the early 1930s the area was becoming more populated as new houses were built, mainly by the local authority, Edinburgh Corporation. With this growth in population there was a need for new schools. A new building was constructed on Boswall Parkway for Granton (Primary) School, who moved there from West Granton Road, and Wardie School (just off Granton Road) and Royston School on Boswall Parkway) were built.

Roman Catholics were catered for by St David’s School and Holy Cross School. St David’s at first used the former Granton School building at West Granton Road before relocating to a purpose-built school at West Pilton Place. Holy Cross was located near the junction of Ferry Road and Craighall Road. At first an old building was used, but this was replaced by a new building on the same site in the late 1930s. This school had a secondary department as well as a primary.

By the late 1930s there was a need for a further non-denominational secondary school, and work started on Ainslie Park Secondary at Crewe Road North. It was delayed by World War II and the school did not come into full use until after the war.

The 1950s and 1960s saw further schools being built as more houses were constructed in Muirhouse and Silverknowes. In the early 1970s a new secondary school, Craigroyston, was built on Pennywell Road.

By the 1990s some of the existing schools needed replacement and changing patterns of population meant that some schools could be amalgamated. Recent years have seen replacement schools built under the Public Private Partnership (PPP). These have included Oaklands School, for pupils with special needs, on the Craigroyston Learning Campus, adjacent to Craigroyston Community High School, the new Craigroyston Primary School and Forthview Primary School.