Meeting of the Parliament 06 February 2024
I am delighted to bring this debate to the chamber to highlight to the Scottish Parliament the fantastic work of Dunoon grammar school. I thank Gillian Hunt, who is in the public gallery, for all her encouragement to me in lodging the motion and for her enthusiasm. I also thank David Mitchell, the headteacher of Dunoon grammar school, who I will mention a few times during my speech. He, too, is in the gallery, or is making his way there—the early decision time might have caught him on the hop. A group of young people from Dunoon grammar who have been in the Parliament this afternoon are also in the gallery.
Dunoon grammar has achieved so much under the leadership of David Mitchell and his staff. Such is the sheer number of achievements of the staff and pupils of the school over the years that, in my time as an MSP, I have submitted eight motions recognising various successes. The school is at the heart of its community. It is also very open and welcoming to politicians. In fact, my first experience of the school was at a hustings there during the 2016 election campaign. I have also spoken alongside Mike Russell, the former cabinet secretary and MSP for Argyll and Bute, at a class for modern studies pupils in the school.
Such are the successes of Dunoon grammar that, in 2019, it was the first-ever Scottish school to be named in the European entrepreneurial school of the year awards for its work in promoting entrepreneurial initiatives. Teams of pupils have won awards at the Apps for Good UK showcase over the years, with two teams from Dunoon grammar winning prizes in 2023. Dunoon grammar is a regular entrant in the Scottish education awards, for which David Mitchell was nominated last year, and the school won the Gaelic education award in 2022. However, perhaps most notably, in 2022, Dunoon grammar was named the world’s best school for community collaboration by the global teaching platform T4 Education.
None of those achievements has been accidental, and all have happened because of the school’s relentless focus on being an institution that actively collaborates with the community that it serves. There have been a number of such collaborations.