Comments Page

Reading all the stories of Airdrie Academy reminds me of my time there and it is very interesting and it's good that it has a place online to archive and look back. I have to say, and I must be honest, otherwise my story would not be true, I never liked the school at first. I found myself bullied in first year by a music teacher, who I believe now has an extremely bad record (outwith Airdrie Academy) to the point where I 'dogged' to be away from him. He would bully and intimidate me whenever he could corner me and would have me crying in class (2 periods every week) and scared to go into school. He told me he woudd ensure I could not take part in any school activities on his watch (this was a tumultious time for an 11 year old). This all resulted from me dropping a brass instrument tuition. It was very traumatic at the time and it set me back a whole year and scarred me at the time. I was put into the infamous 2L4 (essentially the lowest class) in second year as a result of it. At that point, I decided I would work hard and with excellent marks, being top of the school in a few subjects, I progressed to 3M1 (We called it the high-flyer in the good old days). My good old mum had to convince the deputy head (I forget his name but the kids referred to him as 'Jam Jars' ) that my exam results were good enough to do the three sciences. I remember Mr Dickson of Geography being stunned and extremely happy at my 96% in Geography. I heard him oversay that that's the kid in 2L4 I was telling you about (he was fairly chuffed for me). I eventually left school with all 6 Highers and three of them in the sciencesI and have since progressed to University, became a chartered engineer and found my niche, founding two successful company turning over in excess of £14m between them. Like all things, we need to look back and reflect, and learn. For the one bad teacher I had, I had several extremely helpful teachers (im sure they all had nicknames) ... Jimmy Rogers (Maths), Mrs Watson (Maths), Mr Rawlinson (P.E), Mrs Barrie (Geography), Mr Dickson (Geography), Mrs Mowatt (Art), Charlie Smith (Rector), and several others, who did believe in me, who nurtured me and convinced a scrawny scared teenage kid that he could pick himself up off the floor from a lowpoint and do well. A good school is only a good school when its teachers have the freedom to nurture and encourage. I had good and bad experiences but it's the good experiences that prevailed in the end. It's good to see the youngsters of today taking part in many activities. Heres to another 175 years of encouraging and learning.

Fabulous website for many former pupils. Like so many of the stories, I really enjoyed my time at the Academy (1971_76). I played football, badminton, volleyball and even rugby. Was also in "The Pirates of Penzance" in 1976. Mrs Pearson told me to mime as my singing was so bad. Suffice to say, I could go on for hours. Loved going back as a student teacher and was the link officer for a time. Three generations of Dazells have attended the Academy.