Every week for the past year or so, I’ve spent an hour at one of my local secondary schools as a volunteer for the brilliant Glasgow-based charity, MCR Pathways.
The idea behind the organisation is simple: you are twinned with a pupil who needs some support and are asked to act as their ‘mentor’.
I’ve found it a challenging but rewarding experience (though whether my mentee has found my ‘advice’ helpful is something I’ll leave for him to say).
Impressions from an hour a week spent fighting my way through the school’s packed corridors are fleeting, but I’ve seen enough to take away an obvious lesson around our tortured national debate on Scottish education.
What makes a great school? What delivers top quality education? Good teachers, duh.
