'Record-breaking' exam results for East Renfrewshire high schools
Figures released today, as around 147,000 students across the country received their grades, revealed 82% of S4 pupils in the local authority area attained five or more passes at National 5 or better – the best ever performance and an increase of six percent from 2024.
Barrhead High and St Luke's High achieved their best ever S4 results, with an increase of 32% and 24% respectively from 2024.
At St Luke's High, Sofia Jackson, Yasmine Zourdani and Connor MacDonald were all delighted with their achievements.
St Luke's High pupils celebrate the school's best ever S4 results (Image: Jeff Holmes)
Yasmine, 15, secured seven As and two Bs at National 5.
She said: 'I was so worried that I couldn't sleep last night. When I opened my results and saw what I had I ran downstairs and my parents looked at them all – they're so proud of me.
'The support I got from school was brilliant.'
Sofia, 16, from Barrhead, who plans to pursue a degree in law and Italian, received eight As at National 5 and an A in Higher Art.
She said: 'The school really supported my preparations, and I would go along to the study hubs with my friends, which was helpful and we all supported each other.'
(Image: Jeff Holmes)
Connor, 16, secured National 5s in Practical Woodwork, Design and Manufacture, PE and Financial Services, as well as Level 5 Numeracy and National 4 Application of Maths and Computing.
He said: 'I thought I performed really well and was pleased with what I've achieved. I'm looking forward to doing the Highers I've picked for the year ahead.'
At Barrhead High, pupils Ben Murray, Aysha Syed, Jack Morrison, Zoe Bennie, Lana Anderson, Grace Hunter and Abbie Reid all secured excellent results.
Jack, who got six As and three Bs in his National 5s, said: 'I was so happy this morning. Some of the exams were really tough, so to have achieved what I'd hoped for is brilliant.'
The local authority area's seven high schools also recorded strong performances in Highers and Advanced Highers.
READ NEXT:
13 photos which tell story of Glasgow school and its starry ex-pupils
Glasgow parents put pressure on council over plans to cut school librarians
'Don't panic': Exam results helpline offers support to Glasgow pupils
A total of 68% of S5 pupils attained three or more passes at Higher; 46% of S5 pupils attained five or more passes at Higher; and 48% of S6 pupils achieved one or more passes at Advanced Higher.
Mearns Castle had their best results for one or more Highers, with a nine percent increase at 96%, while Williamwood and Woodfarm had their best ever results for the proportion of S6 pupils achieving one or more Advanced Highers, increasing by five percent and 17% respectively.
At Eastwood High, 62% of pupils achieved five or more Highers by the end of S6, an increase of 11% since 2019.
Mark Ratter, director of education at East Renfrewshire Council, said: 'These successes are a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our pupils, supported by the unwavering encouragement of their families and the tireless commitment of school staff.'
At Isobel Mair School, a range of qualifications from National 1 to National 4 were secured by senior pupils.
Jason Gray and Yahya Riaz both excelled and achieved National 3 passes in English.
Senior phase pupils attending the East [[Renfrew]]shire Communication Support Service have also achieved a range of SQA National Qualifications and Skills for Work courses.
East Renfrewshire also continues to offer more than 60 vocational options to S4, S5 and S6 pupils.
Each year almost 400 pupils take on these courses, providing the opportunity to study for a vocational qualification alongside other subjects, enabling them to gain skills that will help them enter the workplace or further education in the future.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Chef Ashley Flagg, a Little Donkey alum, blazes her own path in West Hartford, Conn.
Her new restaurant, Q: You were at , for five years. Why did you leave? Advertisement Flagg: I was always headed in this direction. While I will always hold fine dining close to my heart in terms of how to source our food and prepare it, our plates are different. I tell all my cooks that we want to be cooking like our grandmas. We don't want to put little dots on plates, we don't want to be participating in food waste by cutting things into cute little circles. We're use the best product we can and treat our customers like family. Advertisement I love Millwright's, and it was a great experience for the five years I was there and I became a better chef. But I wanted to cook world cuisine in a place that was more looking for a tasting menu vibe with meat and potatoes. To me, New England cuisine isn't just Boston baked beans. It's Spanish food, Italian food, and showcasing the generations of immigrants around here. A spread of plates at The Laurel, a tapas restaurant in West Hartford, Conn., by chef-owner Ashley Flagg. lisa nichols Why West Hartford? What drew you to open your first restaurant here? I grew up in West Hartford and used to go to the pub that was here as a kid. In high school, we moved to Burlington, Conn. My wife and I lived in Bloomfield and were trying to find a place there, but it didn't work out. But we wanted to be in Bloomfield for the same reason we ultimately wanted to be in West Hartford: it's diverse, and the building had existing features that I wanted, including exposed brick, tin ceilings, somewhat original wood floors, and other features that fit into what we were trying to do with our restaurant. What's the story behind the name? I was very close to my grandmother, Juana Maria Guruceta Flagg, who lived until she was 102. My parents divorced, and I spent a lot of time with her. She lived on Laurel Grove Road in Middletown, Conn., and we wanted this restaurant to be an homage to her. So much of the reason why I love to cook is because ofher. She wasn't a very expressive woman, but she expressed her love to all of us through food and shared her culture with us (her grandmother was born in Cuba and spent much of her childhood in Spain). My wife, Rebekah (who is also The Laurel's general manger), designed the restaurant herself, and it speaks to my grandmother's elegance. Advertisement Juana Maria Guruceta Flagg, center, with granddaughter chef Ashley Flagg, right, and her wife Rebekah Flagg, left, on their wedding day. Kortney Gloska If someone travels to West Hartford to try your food, what are your must-orders? We have a great pimento burger on the menu that's a nod to The burger at The Laurel in West Hartford, Conn., which is owned by chef Ashley Flagg. lisa nichols What other farms are you working with the most right now? We work with many, but have a strong partnership with Young Farms in East Granby, Conn. I've gone with my line cooks and picked corn, pumpkins, and potatoes. It's fun, and they get to have a better connection to the food we use and are more appreciative of the farmers who have been here for generations. Laurel is still very new. But how do you stay grounded when the restaurant world is full of hype cycles, lists, and the pressure to be 'new'? We're never going to be focused on awards. We're never gonna be focused on being TikTok famous, and I'll never go on a TV game show. My wife and I are just here to make a living for ourselves, and hope to earn enough pay back into our family system. Our goal will always be providing the best product we can, and making sure our staff is happy while progressing their careers forward. Advertisement You've publicly talked about how when you first started cooking, you thought you had to be 'this bully chef.' How has any of that changed for you? I've come from a lot of different restaurants, you know, more French style where it can be a really tough work environment, and I had a hard time thriving in those types of situations. And I just got sick of me participating in the negativity. I've spent a lot of time growing as a chef and as a person. Horrible chefs — that's how I was trained. I've been that chef. I reached a certain point [at my last job] where I was constantly replacing my staff. Well why? ... Once I made that mental shift away from being this bully chef, I became a happier person, and my staff was growing. What was it like to work for chef ? I just really hit it off with him. He was a super positive chef, and really into educating his staff. We also had a great front of house management team, and it was the first time I worked with such a powerful female management team. It really just made everything come together. I'm dying to go eat at The shrimp tostada at The Laurel in West Hartford, Conn., is refreshingly spicy Thai shrimp salad topped with charred jalapeño sauce, piled on a crunchy blue corn tortilla. Michael Chiovitti You're in charge now — not just of food, but of culture, money, people. Has that shifted your relationship with the kitchen? Advertisement I'm still the day-to-day executive chef, and I'm still in the kitchen cooking with the cooks every day. I take a lot of the managerial and ownership duties into my personal time. That's felt right for me at the moment. What's your take on the food scene? There's areas of Greater Hartford that have become oversaturated with big restaurant groups. Sometimes those groups stray away from participating in our local agriculture. There's a need to support farmers in the state, especially now. If these groups continue to be in the area and present themselves as fine dining, they really should be held accountable. Purchasing from broadline purveyors (like Sysco) instead of participating in our local agriculture, I think it's an abomination Where do you eat when you're not working? All the props in the world go to Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
New York Post
10 hours ago
- New York Post
Hiker stranded at ‘center of landslide' in Italian Dolomites rescued by helicopter — and hit with $16K bill after ignoring warnings
A hiker who wound up stranded at the 'center of a landslide' in the Italian Dolomites after ignoring warning signs was rescued by a helicopter crew who saved his life, but cost him more than $16,000. The 60-year-old hiker from England, who was not identified, was rescued via helicopter last week after he notified emergency services that he was 'on the Berti via ferrata and that rocks were falling from above,' Veneto Alpine and Speleological Rescue, or CNSAS, wrote on Facebook. 4 A 60-year-old English hiker was charged more than $16,000 for his helicopter rescue from a closed trail in Italy. CNSAS Facebook The man had brushed aside signs that the treacherous trails were closed due to falling rocks and was trekking through without proper equipment. Without an emergency GPS or similar device, he was unable to give the search crew proper coordinates, which only prolonged his rescue, according to CNSAS. 'Once he had reconstructed his theoretical position, he was told not to move from his sheltered spot and to wait for help to arrive, as the mountain was currently hidden by clouds. To decide on the recovery strategy, the hiker's exact position was needed, so they had to wait for the clouds to clear. 4 The hiker ignored at least four signs telling him to turn around. CNSAS Facebook 'When the clouds cleared, the San Vito di Cadore Alpine Rescue team unfortunately discovered that the hiker was right in the center of the landslide, at an altitude of 2,400 meters (nearly 7,900 feet),' CNSAS wrote. The adventurer had ignored four signs, at minimum, posted in Italian and English telling hikers to turn back. As if those weren't enough, he also had to leg it over a steep barrier, CNSAS officials added. 4 The hiker also apparently scaled a barrier that would've otherwise prevented him from trekking onward. CNSAS Facebook Additional trails were forced to close along the range after the man's painstaking rescue which involved two helicopters, according to CNSAS. After the neglectful Englishman was safely removed from the mountainside last Thursday, he was asked to pony up €14,225 — or roughly $16,400 — to compensate the two rescue helicopters and more than a dozen other support personnel who helped retrieve him. If the hiker had been from the European Union, he would've been fined just a couple hundred euros — but he lost that privilege after the United Kingdom's rocky withdrawal in 2020. 4 Officials said 80 people died along the Italian Alps and Dolomites mountain range in the last month. CNSAS Facebook This summer has been Italy's most deadly hiking season of the last century, with casualties cropping up left and right and rescue calls spiking by up to 20% compared to last year. Between June 21 and July 23 alone, 80 people died along the Italian Alps and the Dolomites mountain ranges, according to CNSAS. Five others are still missing.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
'Record-breaking' exam results for East Renfrewshire high schools
PUPILS in fourth year across East Renfrewshire are celebrating a record-breaking performance in National 5 exams. Figures released today, as around 147,000 students across the country received their grades, revealed 82% of S4 pupils in the local authority area attained five or more passes at National 5 or better – the best ever performance and an increase of six percent from 2024. Barrhead High and St Luke's High achieved their best ever S4 results, with an increase of 32% and 24% respectively from 2024. At St Luke's High, Sofia Jackson, Yasmine Zourdani and Connor MacDonald were all delighted with their achievements. St Luke's High pupils celebrate the school's best ever S4 results (Image: Jeff Holmes) Yasmine, 15, secured seven As and two Bs at National 5. She said: 'I was so worried that I couldn't sleep last night. When I opened my results and saw what I had I ran downstairs and my parents looked at them all – they're so proud of me. 'The support I got from school was brilliant.' Sofia, 16, from Barrhead, who plans to pursue a degree in law and Italian, received eight As at National 5 and an A in Higher Art. She said: 'The school really supported my preparations, and I would go along to the study hubs with my friends, which was helpful and we all supported each other.' (Image: Jeff Holmes) Connor, 16, secured National 5s in Practical Woodwork, Design and Manufacture, PE and Financial Services, as well as Level 5 Numeracy and National 4 Application of Maths and Computing. He said: 'I thought I performed really well and was pleased with what I've achieved. I'm looking forward to doing the Highers I've picked for the year ahead.' At Barrhead High, pupils Ben Murray, Aysha Syed, Jack Morrison, Zoe Bennie, Lana Anderson, Grace Hunter and Abbie Reid all secured excellent results. Jack, who got six As and three Bs in his National 5s, said: 'I was so happy this morning. Some of the exams were really tough, so to have achieved what I'd hoped for is brilliant.' The local authority area's seven high schools also recorded strong performances in Highers and Advanced Highers. READ NEXT: 13 photos which tell story of Glasgow school and its starry ex-pupils Glasgow parents put pressure on council over plans to cut school librarians 'Don't panic': Exam results helpline offers support to Glasgow pupils A total of 68% of S5 pupils attained three or more passes at Higher; 46% of S5 pupils attained five or more passes at Higher; and 48% of S6 pupils achieved one or more passes at Advanced Higher. Mearns Castle had their best results for one or more Highers, with a nine percent increase at 96%, while Williamwood and Woodfarm had their best ever results for the proportion of S6 pupils achieving one or more Advanced Highers, increasing by five percent and 17% respectively. At Eastwood High, 62% of pupils achieved five or more Highers by the end of S6, an increase of 11% since 2019. Mark Ratter, director of education at East Renfrewshire Council, said: 'These successes are a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our pupils, supported by the unwavering encouragement of their families and the tireless commitment of school staff.' At Isobel Mair School, a range of qualifications from National 1 to National 4 were secured by senior pupils. Jason Gray and Yahya Riaz both excelled and achieved National 3 passes in English. Senior phase pupils attending the East [[Renfrew]]shire Communication Support Service have also achieved a range of SQA National Qualifications and Skills for Work courses. East Renfrewshire also continues to offer more than 60 vocational options to S4, S5 and S6 pupils. Each year almost 400 pupils take on these courses, providing the opportunity to study for a vocational qualification alongside other subjects, enabling them to gain skills that will help them enter the workplace or further education in the future.
