Features – Education Summit | Craigroyston Community High School

Education Summit 2016

Craigroyston is honoured to have hosted this event – and also very pleased to have been given the opportunity to share with the delegates some of our approaches that have proven successful over the last few years.
During this visit to Craigroyston Community High School, where Ministers met pupils from the school, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney outlined plans to build on existing qualifications by providing additional training for both new and experienced headteachers.

The aim of the summit was to discuss how we will, together, support education to move forward in Scotland.

As the day started, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister met with 2 groups (18 pupils) in the Geography classroom who have successfully completed the first year of the schools pre-apprenticeship programme. The pupils represent the schools approaches to Developing Young Workforce (DYW) and Widening Access. The First Minister was then escorted to the technologies classroom for media interviews whilst the Deputy First Minister remained with the pupils to continue the session. After this both the First Minister and Deputy First Minister met with other politicians, teachers, specialists and many other representatives of the education sector in the library where the summit was being held.

Miss S. McLaren, Curricular Leader of English & Literacy wrote:
“This year I have worked with our highly able pupils to ensure that they have been given the support, opportunities and motivation to enable them to reach their full potential. For me, intelligence is not a postcode lottery and it is essential that our young people are given the same access to higher education regardless of the face that they live in an area of extreme deprivation. Passionate belief in our young people is crucial – and that is a shared ethos by all the staff in our school – but it must be balanced with structures that work.
One of these support structures is the highly able tutor group, made up of our most gifted and talented pupils. This group meets every morning for fifteen minutes and focuses on ensuring that our young people are supported en every aspect of their school life so that university is a tangable option once they leave. Higher education doesn’t have to be the ultimate goal for our highly able pupils but our approach is to ensure that there is support in place to widen the access to university if this is the most appropriate option for them.
Our young people in Muirhouse and Pilton have the ability to go to university, like many young people in deprived areas across the country. Change was possible, and we have started to make that change happen in our school.”

Here, the Deputy First Minister welcomed and introduced Stephen Ross, Head Teacher at Craigroyston Community High School.

Mikhaella Colquhoun (Depute Head Girl), James Hay (Head boy) both first in their families to attend university and Ewa Jacon (Head girl) gave presentations on Widening Access at Craigroyston. Robert Allan (APEX Hotels), Elaine Gray (Development Officer DYW) and Darren Sheriff (S6 Pupil) who has recently completed the pre-apprenticeship programme with APEX Hotels then gave a presentation on Developing Young Workforce.

James is going to Napier University to study English and Acting – something he feels wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the school and writes: “This year I have been part of Miss McLaren’s highly able tutor group where I have been supported, challenged and motivated each day to achieve to the best of my ability. This support has allowed me to build on my dreams and aspirations and recognise that they can become a reality. I can also see now that no matter where we live we can be as successful as people from more affluent areas.”

Mikhaella is also headed for Napier Universtiy to study English and writes: “When I started at Craigroyston, pupils rarely achieved highers let alone advanced highers but the teachers and pupils together have worked tremendously hard to change this. The support I have received in class from teachers and especially in the highly able tutor group has been overwhelming, it has encouraged me and given me the drive and confidence to believe that I can use my academic ability to go on to higher education.”

Eva will be studying Law at the University of Edinburgh and she writes: “I’ve always known I wanted to go to university – both my parents had gone and it was expected that I would follow in their footsteps. Having their unquestionable faith in my abilities really challenged me to do my best in school. However, the opportunities given to me at Craigroyston and the encouragement of the teachers also played a monumental role, influencing the choice of my degree and supporting me throughout my senior phase. The teachers at Craigroyston always go the extra mile – they know all of the students, their strengths and aspirations, encouraging us to reach our fullest potential.”