St Mungo’s Academy, Glasgow City Council

The community that St Mungo’s Academy serves is one of the most deprived in Scotland. The GTCS team who visited the school felt that teachers and young people were empowered through strong professional values and that these were demonstrated in action. Leadership of and for learning which establishes the teacher-as-learner was evident through the energy and strategic vision of the school leadership.

There is a genuine sense of a strong moral imperative from teachers about their own learning and the importance of the impact of this on pupil learning and achievement. Teachers described how they have the power to actively respond to the needs of each and every young person in the school because the young people need them to reach their full potential through learning. Coaching conversations formally and informally challenge teachers to really examine their professional identity though the values. They are able to critically reflect on their regularly because of the daily challenges that the young people face, and are able to use these reflections as a catalyst for their professional learning.

There is a real sense of collective responsibility from teaching staff and collaborative professionalism is nurtured through frequent and focussed professional dialogue across participants in the whole learning community. Pupils, teachers, university partners and college partners connect through different professional learning activities. It was clear that teachers seem to have such infectious enthusiasm as leaders of learning across the school.