School terms are entering their last few weeks before the summer break.
I was so pleased to see two amazing schools i n my constituency being recognised at the Scottish Education Awards.
St Albert’s Primary, in Glasgow’s Pollokshields, picked up the Curriculum Innovation Award, and Nancy Clunie, headteacher at Dalmarnock Primary, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know both schools and their headteachers over my time as the elected member for Glasgow Central and have never failed to be impressed with the support given to their pupils and the wider school community.
Nancy has always gone above and beyond to find ways to support the young people in the east end, widening horizons for children and their families, ensuring they get access to experiences which will set them up for the future.
Dalmarnock Primary is warm and nurturing – any time I pop in, there’s always pupils coming by to speak to Nancy to share their news and work they’re proud of. It takes a lot of work to foster such a supportive environment – that tone is set by their headteacher, and I’m sure they are as delighted as I am to see Nancy’s efforts recognised.
I visited St Albert’s Primary on Friday to celebrate the launch of their new school library, as well as to congratulate them on their award.
The school was brimming with chatter and joy as young people talked proudly of the new books they have access to – a selection now as diverse as the school, where the characters look like them and have names like theirs.
St Albert’s Primary has also been working with a range of authors and illustrators to turn the lives and imaginations of the pupils into a series of beautiful books under the banner of “We Can Be Heroes”.
Headteacher Clare Harker and her dedicated team work closely with the local community in Pollokshields, ensuring their curriculum fits with the lives of young people and their families.
Their recent work with the organisation Unity Sisters to create a school resource for teaching of issues facing asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland ensures that everyone can be represented and understood. This isn’t easy work, but it is important.
There are challenges in Scottish education but the work going on in schools like Dalmarnock Primary and St Albert’s Primary show the life-changing difference dedicated school staff can make.
They aren’t the exception – every time I visit a school in Glasgow, I leave inspired by the pupils, their teachers and support staff.
Young people are getting access to a variety of experiences, and this is succeeding in building confident young people who are engaged with their education and understand their place in the world. That’s definitely worth celebrating.
Westminster undermining COP26 goals
After finally caving in to opposition demands for a windfall tax on oil and gas superprofits, the Tories are turning to electricity generators for a tax raid.
This has consequences for Scottish renewables as well as for our bills.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak believes that these companies had also been making “extraordinary profits” and he would be looking to bring forward some kind of tax.
The problem is that when he appeared at Treasury Select Committee, he refused to define what these profits were, if they even exist and how a windfall tax would work.
Now, the share price of renewable energy producers has plummeted and investors have taken fright. Sunak, pictured left, also refused to confirm if he had even spoken to the Scottish Government about the impact such a tax could have on renewables – a key sector for delivering Scotland’s Net Zero ambitions.
If feels like the UK Government has forgotten COP26 – giving a tax break for more oil and gas exploration while undermining the development of renewables and leaving carbon capture and storage plans in Peterhead on the waiting list.
By committing the UK further to oil and gas, rather than investing in transition and renewables, the Tories are tying us in to more expensive bills in the future.
Yet another reason energy-rich Scotland should have this power in our own hands.
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