Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Ms Janie O’Neill, who is the headteacher of Coatbridge high school.
Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to address you all today.
Coatbridge high has more than 1,100 pupils, and we are honoured to be an integral part of the local community. I have been the headteacher at Coatbridge high for four years, and I have a family connection with the school as my late grandfather Alec Struthers was principal teacher of modern languages there in the 1970s. He is still well remembered by relatives of current pupils for the copious notes that he issued on a relentless basis.
My grandfather would be interested to walk into today’s classroom to be met by interactive smart boards and pupils on smartphones and iPads. Yet is there really such a difference between the morning prayers that he delivered in French and German to help his pupils to prepare for their exams, and the active learning methodologies that we use today? I believe that, while our education system has changed in many ways, our core values and beliefs as educators remain the same.
I was reminded of that just before Easter, when I received a parcel from the daughter of a former school captain, John Brackenridge, who started at Coatbridge secondary school in 1934. Included in the parcel was the 1938 school magazine, with a front cover designed by John and costing 3d. The contents of the magazine reinforced to me how little the commitment and dedication of teachers in Scotland has changed. The pages have many stories of pupil achievements, with various similar clubs on offer, although I am not sure what the uptake would be now for bulb growing. Like our current newsletter, the foreword is by the headteacher, and a similar theme was relayed to the pupils in 1938, encouraging them to take a positive attitude to their schooling. The rector at that time wrote:
“Coatbridge Secondary School is providing you with the means by which interests can be aroused and conditions in which social as well as personal qualities can be developed. What are you going to do about it? It rests with you whether the school is merely going to be a place of stone and mortar or a living centre full of energy and hope to whose inspiration in years to come you will look back with affection and gratitude.”
As lifelong learners, we can all reflect on and consider what we will make of the opportunities that come our way. I am reassured to know that we maintain those values 80 years on.