Perhaps the Scottish Government could use Castlebrae as an example of best practice for the rest of Scotland - Susan Dalgety

Perhaps the Scottish Government could use Castlebrae as an example of best practice for the rest of Scotland

It is great news that Edinburgh is making progress in closing the poverty-related attainment gap in the city’s schools.

This year’s exam results show that while the gap between the performance of the city’s most affluent pupils and those from less well-off backgrounds is still far too wide, at least it is narrowing.

The number of S5 students in Edinburgh’s poorest areas getting one or more Highers this year has jumped from 42 per cent last year to 57 per cent – a remarkable increase. And, crucially, the proportion of the poorest youngsters in S4 passing five or more National 5s has stabilised at around a quarter for the past three years, compared to 17 per cent before the pandemic.

Castlebrae High School, which serves the Craigmillar area, has perhaps had the most dramatic turnaround in its fortunes, going from a failing school in 2013 with only 165 pupils to a thriving comprehensive with hundreds of proud students.

One of the initiatives that the school has introduced is the role of “attainment development officer” who is on the lookout for students who are at risking of failing to meet their potential. He then works with those pupils and staff to help them through their exam years.

It is all too easy to grasp onto ideas like this and suggest that they are the answer to all our educational problems. Life is much more complicated than that, and students struggle at school for many complex reasons, some of which even the best schools in the richest areas could not fix.

But the idea of a small team of “attainment development officers” in each school is attractive. Many students struggle in the move from primary to secondary, others live in households where education is not valued, some are simply out of their depth and too shy, or scared, to seek help.

A team of teachers whose only job it is to keep an eye out for such students and intervene before it’s too late is an appealing proposition. Perhaps the Scottish Government could look at Castlebrae as an example of best practice for the rest of Scotland?

But just as schools start to settle down after the pandemic, there is another upheaval on the way. The Hayward report, which was published in June, suggested long-reaching changes in secondary education – including ditching exams in S4 and the creation of a Scottish Diploma of Education for school leavers.

Sensibly, the education secretary, Jenny Gilruth, has put the report on hold for a year while there are further discussions and has promised that an Education Reform Bill will not be introduced until autumn 2024 at the earliest.

She said, when announcing the delay, that she was “not sure how many teachers have engaged in the national discussion,” and would like to see them more involved.

Education is, at its core, about learning and teaching, as Colin Meikle, headteacher of Craigmount, told this newspaper last week. “We love making classroom practice the very best it can be.”

If Scotland’s teachers get the right support to be the very best they can be, then as Castlebrae has shown, even our most marginalised young people have a chance of success.