Gowriehill Primary School

Located at Menzieshill area of Dundee, Scotland, Gowriehill Primary School is a Scottish primary school that was established in August 1963.

The Pupils

The school caters for around three hundred children aged between four-and-a-half to twelve in Primary One to Seven, and admits those in the Gowrie Park and Menzieshill catchment areas of Dundee (with a few exceptions). This area consists of a mixture of privately owned and council housing. Many Primary Seven pupils from Gowriehill go on to attend Menzieshill High School.

The Uniform

The Gowriehill Primary school uniform, which all pupils are expected to wear, consists of:

• a tie in the school colours;
• a grey self-coloured sweatshirt or pullover or the official red school sweater;
• a grey or black skirt (or trousers) for girls, or a checked summer dress in warmer months;
• grey or black trousers for boys, or grey shorts in warmer months;
• white or blue blouse or, if wearing the school sweater, a white polo shirt, for girls;
• white, blue or grey shirt or, if wearing the school sweater, a white polo shirt, for boys;
• an optional choice of a grey or black blazer displaying the school crest.

School Houses

The pupils at the school are split into three Houses: Lomond, Ochil and Sidlaw. The first is named for a loch in Scotland and the latter two are named for Scottish hills. Pupils sent into a House randomly upon admission to Primary Three, or depending on previous or current family alliegiances. Points can be won for the Houses by achieving a high level of school work, winning sporting events or being involved in extra-curricular clubs. The three Houses compete for the House trophy. For every House, there is a male and female captain and vice captain, who are usually pupils in Primary Seven.

The School Day

A normal day at Gowriehill Primary begins at 9.00am and ends at 3.15pm, with a fifteen-minute morning break (outdoors playtime) and an hour for lunch. The 3.15pm finish was implement in August 2006 in response to parents' input. Previously, the school day ended at 3.00pm for children in Primary One and Two and 3.30pm for Primary Three to Seven pupils, with a second ten-minute playtime in the afternoon but many parents complained at having to wait fifteen minutes at the schoolgates if they had a young child finishing early and an older child finishing later.