THE new Head Teacher of Irvine Royal Academy describes her role as “an honour and privilege.”

The former Dumfries High School Head Teacher – who was Depute Head Teacher at Ardrossan Academy between 2011 – 2015 – is determined to take the school from good to great over the coming weeks, months and years.

She said: “Irvine Royal was THE school – remember this is the school Edgar Allan Poe studied at, which, as an English Literature graduate, is pretty special.

“That was obviously a long time ago but quite simply, we are the school who can (and did) produce great poets, renowned authors, spectacular sportsmen and women and upstanding folk in the local community.

"My vision for Irvine Royal Academy is quite clear: We want to be THE school to come to; THE school where students have an excellent educational experience and THE school at the heart of the community.

“The pupils have been fantastic; well behaved and are hardworking, and everyone has been very welcoming since I arrived.

“I believe our school has capacity to improve and be a centre of excellence. We can do it but only in partnership with each other.”

Alison is delighted to be working again in North Ayrshire and says the vision and values of North Ayrshire match her own.

Alison said: “It’s great to be working again in North Ayrshire.”

“I wanted to come back here as the education team are always extremely passionate and supportive and we share the same vision about achieving excellence and equity for all.

“I believe that every young person can achieve through hard work and perseverance. There should be equity for all and somebody’s postcode shouldn’t determine their destiny - there should be no poverty of ambition.

“We need to challenge ourselves and we need to challenge the young people every single day. I am convinced that every young person can achieve, whether it’s academically or vocationally, and staff at the school have a responsibility to offer the very best to our pupils.”

Alison completed her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership in 2015 having previously completed a degree in English Literature and Scottish History, a postgraduate diploma in Leadership at Stirling University and achieved the Scottish Qualification for Headship in 2013.

She is always looking at ways she can better herself and believes that staff working in collaboration and in a collegiate way will be key to getting the best out of the pupils.

She added: “There is a lot of great work going on in North Ayrshire and the Professional Learning Academy is a super facility. As teachers it’s important to learn from our peers and discover new, different and better methods of teaching: we need to have a growth mindset. I firmly believe that getting it right in the classroom, synonymous with motivated pupils and supportive parents, will absolutely raise the attainment and achievement of our students.

“Developing pedagogy (theory and practice of education) and collaborative approaches to teaching and learning will be a focus here. However, most importantly, the key focus will be on building relationships with students, staff, parents and partners of our school.

“With all stakeholders, we are determined to make a difference. And we will.”