by Catriona Stewart

THE new Clyde Campus in Yoker can help north-west Glasgow’s schools match the quality of private schools. That’s the message from council leader Frank McAveety.

Mr McAveety spoke during a tour of Clyde Campus as he surveyed the progress of the latest work of the city’s 4Rs programme.

January marks the start of the final year of the five-year project to rebuild or refurbish every C or D grade primary and nursery school in Glasgow.

When it concludes at the end of this year, £256 million will have been spent.

The latest build is Clyde Campus, which will see Garscadden and Yoker primaries merge to become Clyde Primary.

Thirlestane and Kelso nurseries will join to become Yoker Burn Nursery. And St Brendan’s Primary will complete the multi-faith new campus, which will cost nearly £22m.

Mr McAveety said: “If you’re building something as good as we’re seeing here today, you’re sending a strong message that you value education, you value that children should have the best conditions available to make the best of themselves.

“I’m a great believer that our schools should be in as good a condition as those who are purchasing their education.

“They spend a lot of money to get their kids a school experience that is top notch. Why can’t we have the best for Glasgow kids as well?”

Mr McAveety said his hope is that parents will continue to choose schools in Glasgow rather than going over the border.

He added: “We have demonstrated that when we have invested in the schools and get the schools in the best places that make sure they are attractive, families will make the choice positively for education in Glasgow.

“And we have already demonstrated that in parts of the city that border on other local authorities.

“That will always be a challenge for Glasgow but I think if we’re saying: ‘Look, we’re putting money into our primary and secondary schools, we are also going to work with teaching staff to improve the quality of education’, that will make a difference.”

During the tour of the two-storey St Brendan’s and three-storey Clyde Primary, Mr McAveety stopped to chat to workers, telling one he was an electrician working in Shettleston Borough Hall in 1978.

Martin Bredin, project manager at Clyde Campus, and Michael Cunningham, construction manager, showed Mr McAveety around.

Mr Cunningham said: “I have been involved in a few of these new builds and they just get bigger and better as they go on.”

At Clyde Campus, as with other new builds, much of the fitted furniture, such as kitchen units, has been made by members of the Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries (RSBi).

The site also attracted outside attention with the BBC filming scenes for new drama The Replacement - featuring Dougray Scott - in the buildings last year.

Mr McAveety said: “What we are doing in Glasgow is having a combination of good investment in schools and making sure we have effective leadership in schools.“We have a good primary sector and have made improvements in the secondary sector.“In my experience when I was a teacher, if you had a good school building and good school leadership, teachers respond to that and kids benefit from that.“It used to annoy me as a teacher that people would make assumptions about the quality of teaching in Glasgow and the fact of what the schools were like.”

“Having taught in some of the most challenging parts of Glasgow, there are great teachers in Glasgow who want to make sure these kids get the best chance.”