Bo'ness Academy
Gauze Road
Bo'ness
EH51 9AS

Tel. 01506 822028
Fax 01506 778801

e mail

where to find us

Bo'ness Academy

Bo'ness Academy works within Falkirk Council's Education Service. We follow policies laid down by the Council which has a consultative framework in place to create policy.

Bo'ness Academy is a non-denominational school serving the town of Bo'ness, the village of Blackness and the surrounding area. We receive pupils from Blackness, Bo'ness Public, Deanburn, Grange and Kinneil Primary Schools.

The current building was officially opened on 25th October 2000 by Councillor William Anderson replacing the previous school which was housed in 2 buildings, separated by a road.

The first secondary school in Bo'ness was built in 1870 on Providence Brae overlooking the Forth. It was gifted to Bo'ness by its richest and most successful merchant, John Anderson and known as Anderson Academy.

The Academy later moved premises to Stewart Avenue

6 girls stand outside the Academy in 1906, wearing blouses and calf length skirts. The school leaving age in 1906 was 14 and very few girls stayed on past the leaving age. The Academy moved to a new building in Academy Road in 1931 and this building became a Primary School.

Thanks to "Falkirk Council Cultural Services" for allowing us to use this photograph

At the time the "new" Academy with its long corridors and "anchor" design was the latest in school layouts and for almost 30 years it catered well for all secondary non-denominational pupils, long before the term comprehensive had come into vogue.

Seven girl netball players pose for a group photograph wearing school uniform : blouses and pinafores.

Thanks to "Falkirk Council Cultural Services" for allowing us to use this photograph

All the time however the school roll was growing and so by the late 1950's extensions to the east and west wings and the addition of a large assembly hall cum gym were much welcomed.

As the years continued to pass the "Old Building" as it became known latterly was less able to cope with the increasing school roll and the need to introduce a wider range of subjects to the curriculum. Plans were drawn up to build an extension in 2 phases. Work on the first phase began in September 1971. This phase was completed by 1974 and opened officially on Friday 6th December 1974 by Mrs Christine Wallace Haggerty, County Council member for Stoneyburn and Chairperson of Further Education Sub-Committee. The ground floor had office accommodation, staffrooms, language classrooms and a modernly equipped language laboratory. The upper floor had 2 science rooms, a lecture theatre (seating 110), a domestic science room, a dressmaking room and a small flat to practice various domestic chores. It also had art rooms, geography and social study classrooms and an audio typing classroom with all the latest equipment

There were also music and technical rooms in a single storey building attached to the main building area. The contract was completed at a cost of £570,000

looking down towards the main entrance of the "new building"

Looking down on the music dept and the "new building"

Phase 2 would have included additional science and teaching rooms and such amenities as assembly hall, dining hall, kitchen and further administrative accommodation as well as increased car parking.

Both the "old building" and the "new building" have now been demolished and housing built on the site.

Did you know that some 10 years ago 2 cleaners in the old school had a brush with a "ghost". Their supervisor also felt a presence in the deserted corridors. The close encounters happened in the cookery department of the old building and the gents toilet of the new building. The eerie encounters began just after the Christmas holidays and both ladies claimed to have seen a young woman with fair hair dressed in modern clothes.