Wine & Dine break
Buy one get one FREE
I’m delighted that when I’ve picked up my copy of the Reformer in recent weeks I have seen this newspaper focusing on the achievements of local school pupils.
Quite right too – our young people continue to make their families proud by working hard to get good results.
Just last week, the Reformer carried a report following the awards ceremony which was held at the end of last term to mark the prizes won by Stonelaw High School pupils.
In the weeks before that it was the turn of the young folk of Trinity and Cathkin High - and this newspaper frequently features pupils at these and our other local schools who have done well academically or in some other notable way.
And I’m pleased to say that there is lots to celebrate across South Lanarkshire after this year’s exam results were posted, with the number of Higher exam passes at a record high.
An overall pass rate of 77 per cent was achieved across South Lanarkshire for the first time, while at National 4 and National 5 level, the respective pass rates were 88.4 per cent and 83.2 per cent.
This was the first year of those new exams under changes to the national curriculum, and it’s worth noting how much effort teachers have put in to make these changes work locally.
The good exam results reflect really well on our local teachers.
Of course, first and foremost, these results are terrific for the pupils themselves. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get good grades, and the better our kids do at school the better their prospects will be when they enter the job market.
It goes without saying, too, that the support of parents and carers is invaluable to young people as they approach their exams - from offering words of encouragement to putting up with the occasional teenage tantrum! Well done parents too, for that!
In fact, I’d say this year’s exam results should bring a sense of pride to all of us in South Lanarkshire, where we can justifiably claim we have created the best schools estate in Scotland, if not the best in Britain.
Reformer readers already know how proud I am of the way your council administration is fulfilling its pledge to rebuild and refurbish South Lanarkshire’s schools.
Every secondary school has already been modernised, creating a first-class learning environment for almost 19,000 pupils. I firmly believe that nurturing young people in fit-for-purpose classrooms is being rewarded with exam results like those obtained this year.
The benefits will only grow, year after year as more pupils enjoy more of their time in our modern schools. We’re currently about 80 per cent through our primary school modernisation programme, with 18,600 younger pupils already in the best, modern classrooms. We will soon open our 100th new or refurbished primary school.
Our school improvements benefit everyone. They are placing attractive new buildings in neighbourhoods across South Lanarkshire, and they are helping create generations who are geared up for academic success and who have real reasons to be proud of where they come from.