DISTINGUISHED guests joined pupils, staff and parents at St Columba’s High school in Gourock for a ceremony to celebrate the school achieving a prestigious award.

Excitement spread through the assembly hall on Thursday as pupils and staff celebrated becoming the first secondary school in Scotland to achieve UNICEF UK’s prestigious Level 2 Rights Respecting Schools Award.

Morag Goodfellow, a modern languages teacher who is also the school co-ordinator for the Rights Respecting initiative, says it was a momentous day.

She said: “It is quite an achievement – everyone is absolutely delighted.

“Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Frances Bestley, the programme director for Rights Respecting Schools and Patricia Cassidy, the director of education, spoke to the young people and explained how we now must support other schools to follow in our footsteps.” Other guests who attended included Provost Robert Moran, councillor Terry Loughran and Gerry McMurtrie, the council children’s rights officer.