St Gerard's Roman Catholic Secondary School, Govan facts for kids

St Gerard's RC Secondary was a secondary school located in Govan, a part of Glasgow, Scotland. It was also known as St Gerard's Senior Secondary School. This school was a Roman Catholic school, meaning it was connected to the Catholic Church.

The school welcomed students from areas that were considered to have more challenges, as decided by the local government at the time, Strathclyde Region. For example, in 1991, nearly half of the students were able to get free school meals. This showed that many families connected to the school needed extra support.

History of St Gerard's School

St Gerard's opened its doors in 1937. It served the community for many years, helping young people learn and grow.

Becoming a Comprehensive School

In the 1960s, St Gerard's changed to become a comprehensive school. This meant it welcomed students of all abilities, rather than just those who passed a specific test. This change aimed to give more young people a chance to get a good education.

Fighting to Stay Open

In 1993, the Glasgow District Council tried to close St Gerard's, along with several other schools. Parents from these schools teamed up to form a group to fight the closures. They asked for St Gerard's to become a "self-governing" school. This meant it would be managed by the school itself, rather than by the local council.

The disagreement about the closure and the idea of the school running itself even went to the House of Lords, which is a very important court in the UK. The court decided that the Strathclyde region council had acted against the law when they voted to close St Gerard's. This happened after the school had already started the process to become self-governing. Thanks to the parents' hard work, the school managed to stay open for a few more years.

The Final Closure

Sadly, St Gerard's was eventually closed in 1998. This was part of a bigger plan by Glasgow City Council to close seven secondary schools in the city. Five of these were Catholic schools. Students from St Gerard's moved to Lourdes Secondary School in Cardonald.

A very important leader in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Thomas Winning, spoke out against this decision. He believed that closing these schools was not good for the children in the Catholic community and was only done to save money quickly.

Famous Former Students

Many people who went to St Gerard's went on to do interesting things. Here are a few:

• George Rossi, a Scottish actor
• Billy Connolly, a famous comedian and actor
• Trish Godman, a politician
• Roderick Wright, a religious leader
• Joe McBride, a footballer
• Jim Craig, a footballer
• Johnny Quigley, a footballer
• Harry Haddock, a footballer
• Johnny Beattie, an actor and comedian
• Jimmy Dewar, a musician