Arriving at Islay High School early last Friday morning in the glorious sunshine, it was easy to forget the 0400hrs start from Glasgow. Some great company and conversation in the car with David Noble, Maureen Park and driven by Katie Barrowman and so the journey up to Kennacraig passed by through some amazing scenery in a relative flash. Gorgeous sunshine for the sea crossing as well as whale spotting and we were soon there.

The morning’s activities started with coffee in the school library. It was great to catch up with some familiar faces and to finally meet, face to face, some others. It’s amazing how well you feel you know someone even though all contact has been online through blogs and twitter. Twitter, in particular has a been a boon to those of us who make connections all over the world with educationalists who we would otherwise rarely, if ever, get the chance to meet. All those who decry social networking really need to get off their clouds and give it a go. They’d be amazed at the level of informality which exists between folk at all different levels in education as well as the depth of these on-line friendships and the ease in which they translate into face to face relationships, certainly for the forty or so folk who had journeyed to Islay last week.

Presentations followed on the curriculum and leadership structures at IHS as well as their use of technology. Some of the senior students spoke to us about their experiences of the curriculum, which had a blend of academic and vocational courses. The other notable characteristic was the removal of age-stages, with the S3-6 years being treated as one stage with all these students opting for 5 courses per year. All the young people who spoke were articulate, confident and able to vocalise their opinions and feelings about their high school experience. Indeed the confident aplomb with which they explained their choices and experiences spoke volumes about the success of this particular curriculum model as well as the ownership of learning by the students and commitment and willingness of the staff to go the extra mile on behalf of their youngsters.

It was a similar story from the students (about confidence and success) with whom we spoke whilst on the school tour, visiting classrooms, workshops, hospitality suites and the hairdressing and beauty salons. The walls of the school were covered with examples of young people’s learning, and it was absolutely clear just what this school is about: celebrating its young people’s success and declaring a vision of just where the school wants to be.

The morning was rounded of with an excellent lunch, produced and served by the hospitality students. A break of a couple of hours followed to give us time to check into accommodation before the afternoon and evening activities (distillery tour and Education 2020 unconference). More on these later…