Haining
The House System at Dumfries Academy was re-launched in 2012 and three new Houses created: Barrie, Haining and Laurie.
HOUSE CAPTAINS
S1 Hannah Torrance
Ellie McConachie
S2 Ryan White
Tabitha Wallace
S3 Corey Brown
Emma McDonald
S4 Greg Weir
Katie Reading
S5 Ross Thompson
S6 Ross Hair
Megan McIsaac
Jane Haining is one of our school's heroes. She was born at Lochenhead Farm in Dunscore, eight miles north west of Dumfries. In 1909, she won a scholarship to Dumfries Academy and went on to college in Glasgow. However, it isn't for her career as a secretary that she is famous.
Jane Haining was from a religious background, and while attending church near her home in Pollockshields, she heard a talk about missionary work in eastern Europe. Jane decided to volunteer there and then.
In 1932, Jane became the matron of the girls' home at the Jewish Mission School in Budapest, Hungary. Jane was on holiday in the UK when WW2 was declared, and travelled straight back to Budapest to be with her students. She was ordered to return to the UK in 1940 but refused.
When the Nazis invaded in 1944, Jane was arrested by the Gestapo for working amongst Jews. She was sent to Auschwitz in 1944 and died there later that year.
Jane Haining was and is a hero. The way she lived her life is inspirational and her sense of responsibility, compassion and fairness are all values that Dumfries Academy hopes to nurture. Jane Haining could have left Budapest in 1940 when she was told to, but she didn't. She felt responsible for the Jewish girls in her care and didn't want to leave them behind. Her act of compassion ultimately led to her death, but the memory of her life is still celebrated today. Her name stands alongside that of J.M. Barrie and John Laurie on the plaque outside the school.
