Cathkin High opened in August 1970 and was Cambuslang's…read morefirst comprehensive school under the leadership of James Munn. Later to become Sir James Munn (http://www.rutherglenacademy.net/sir_james_munn_obituaries.html) , this man had been the head teacher of Rutherglen Academy before it closed for good at the end of the summer term in June 1970. For its first thirty-eight years Cathkin High was sited on Western Road Cambuslang in the sub-district of Whitlawburn. From the word go, and throughout most of its life, the school had a chequered reputation largely because of the problems its pupils caused to many local residents and their properties, through vandalism mainly. But from around 2006, about the same time as the appointment of the current head teacher, local residents began to note a significant improvement in the conduct of Cathkin High pupils an improvement that steadily 'improved' over the following years until the present time (June 2013) when I think most local people would agree that Cathkin High is virtually transparent to those not directly connected with it. In other words, the school is now the way it should have been from the beginning. Also, in October 2008 Cathkin High moved from Western Road to a new building on Langlea Road (just round the corner), which is part of a community education complex that includes Rutherglen High for children with special needs. The old Cathkin High on Western Road has been demolished and private houses now stand in its place. Meanwhile, official information about Cathkin High, including academic performance details, can be found at The Scottish Government (http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scottishschoolsonline/schools/cathkinhighschoolsouthlanarkshire.asp) web site.

better than the old cathkin thats for sure!read more

I have always wanted to try out a survival course. I figured it would be handy to know these things…read moreif Armageddon happens, or maybe if I'm just out camping :P. I did the Backwoodsman Course with Patrick (the founder and chief instructor of Backwoods Survival School). It went from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon and was an intensive course of learning about fire, food, shelter and water. It was £160 for the weekend but having looked at the prices of other courses this is great value for money taking everything into account. Patrick stayed with us the whole weekend, never clocking off. Himself and George, the other instructor, were always there to give us a helping hand and answer questions. You know straight off how passionate Patrick is about what he does and that it's not just a job, it's his life. He gives you straight up advice, he's not trying to sell you anything, he just wants you to appreciate and understand how you can live off the land and survive. I learnt so much over the weekend and it really made me realise how much skills we've lost living in cities and getting everything handed to us. You'll work hard over the weekend but you'll also have a laugh and enjoy the sense of achievement you get from doing everything from scratch. Even a cup of tea can take hours to make and I love my tea! I did things I never thought I'd do like cutting up dead animals for their meat but I got on with it, and we learnt so much about starting and building up fires. It's definitely a weekend of adventure and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Massive school. Came here for a non-educational event at a weekend. Worth remembering for such…read moreevents there is only access from the west of the school. This adds about 5 minutes to what you might think it takes to get there walking from the train station, so make sure you factor that in - or get off at Coatdyke instead.