Five years ago, Lochend Secondary was struggling to make a difference in Easterhouse, one of Glasgow's peripheral housing schemes, so pupils, parents and teachers voted for a name change. Now, Lochend Community High School has a new name and is revitalising the community by piloting a more joined-up approach to schooling.
"People did not have a lot of confidence in the area or the school," reveals 17-year-old Lynne, a sixth-year pupil on the school council. "But now there are more first years wanting to come to Lochend because it is improving."
Measuring success
Lochend was one of Scotland's first pilot community schools, an initiative by the then Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar in 1999 to tackle under-achievement and social exclusion. If there was any area in Scotland where such an initiative was needed, it was in Easterhouse where life expectancy was 11 years less than the UK average, half the households were dependent on benefit and almost a third of the pupils left school at 16 without a job.
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