A delegation from the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee visited Buchanan High School, Coatbridge on Monday 6 February.
The school was chosen by the committee thanks to their positive inspection report in 2019.
Michael McGinley, Head Teacher of Buchanan High School, said: “It was great to welcome representatives of the committee and share with them some of the positive areas that were highlighted in the report.
“For example, we were able to showcase our success with pupil transition, which is a primary focus of the school and develops positive pathways for our pupils once they leave school.”
The committee met with six senior school pupils to talk about their thoughts and experiences of the proposed Disabled Children & Young People (Transition to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill.
And the young students were able to share their career plans which they are already embarking on including a plumber, construction worker, and retail worker with others preferring to attend college next year for gaming and the link course.
The committee also received a tour of the facilities and learned about the curriculum offer within Buchanan High School which promotes the council’s “Developing the Young Workforce” programme from S1.
They heard about the opportunities for skill development available to young people within the joint campus facility.
Councillor Angela Campbell, Convener of Education, Children and families, said: “We are always proud to welcome delegates to North Lanarkshire to share some of the examples of best practice in our schools and centres.
“I’d like to congratulate everyone at Buchanan for making the visit such a great success; the children and young people are a credit to their school community.”
During the visit, head teacher Michael McGinley, Catriona Gibbons (DHT) and Alan Cocker (PT) shared details of the community and business partnerships established by the school and some of the achievements and success stories of the school’s young people.
In addition, the delegation heard from colleagues from NLC Community Learning and Development and Transition Social Work teams about their collaborative work with the school, young people, and their families to support post-school transition planning.
The following people formed the delegation of members of the Disabled Children and Young People committee:
- Kaukab Stewart MSP (Deputy Convener)
- Stephanie Callaghan MSP
- Stephen Kerr MSP
- Gemma Cheek (Assistant Clerk)