Drummond School, Inverness celebrates 50th anniversary

A ceremony is being held on Friday 15 November to mark the 50th anniversary of Drummond School, Inverness.

Parents and staff associated with the school, which cares for 89 children with additional needs, are invited to attend a reunion which begins at 2 pm.
Acting Head Teacher, Clare Whiteford, will welcome everyone and will invite former Head Teachers to say a few words about their time leading Drummond.  These are Dan McDiarmid, Donnie McLeod, Eileen MacPherson (Acting Head) and Linda Schubert.

The school was reminded of the anniversary very recently when pupils were carrying out research at the Highland Archive Centre, Bught Park, Inverness, and agreed  this was such a significant anniversary that it  should be celebrated by the current Drummond community and also by those who came before and helped to develop the school.

Ms Whiteford said: “Drummond continues to build on the foundations established by Matt Campbell, the Head Teacher in 1963. Matt worked tirelessly to promote independence for the young people at Drummond and to break down barriers to community involvement. His wife Nancy could not believe it was 50 years since Lady Tweedsmuir MP opened the school and has sent her congratulations.  Many things have changed since 1963 but Mr Campbell’s ethos continues.

“The new Drummond School, opened in June 2008,  provides excellent facilities for our pupils and I am delighted to have this opportunity to celebrate and showcase these facilities with former colleagues and pupils.”

The school will announce on Friday that a small fruit orchard will be created as a memorial garden for those pupils who passed away during their time at Drummond or after leaving school. A bench will be placed within the orchard. Dobbies Garden Centre is  donating £500 towards the cost of this.
She  thanked the local business community, including Dobbies, Tesco, Co-op,  Harry Gow and Alpha Schools, for their support.