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The headteacher of a Paisley school has been hailed as “outstanding and visionary” by education inspectors.

Lynne McGinn, who is in charge of Todholm Primary and Nursery, was given the brilliant recognition by Education Scotland, which visited the school last month.

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The new report by the education watchdog says she has led the school through a period of significant change and has improved outcomes for children and their families.

“She pursues opportunities for children to showcase their learning in creative and interesting contexts, such as the annual Book Festival and the Todholm Tearooms,” the report says.

A humble Mrs McGinn put the school’s success down to its staff, pupils and families.

“It’s absolutely wonderful, but what I would say is it’s down to the team.

“The report is an endorsement of the fabulous work that’s happening at Todholm.

“It’s not just me — it’s all the teaching staff, the support staff, the office staff and our wonderful children and families.

“It’s an endorsement of everybody,” she said.

Mrs McGinn, who has been headmistress at Todholm for six years, said everybody is committed to making life better for children and families.

She added: “We work very closely with our families.

“The report absolutely highlights the very strong relationships we have with our parents and the community, and that’s what it’s all about.

“We can’t do this on our own.

“Todholm is very much the hub of the community here and we’re really, really proud of that, and we’ve worked hard to achieve that.”

The watchdog’s report described Mrs McGinn as a “highly effective headteacher”.

The inspectors found that the school values are an important part of day-to-day practice, and that all staff provide a range of “motivating opportunities” to enable children to learn and succeed.

It says: “There is a strong focus on helping children gain recognition and accreditation for their achievements.

“The school has participated and achieved success in many award schemes, such as the Renfrewshire Summer Reading Challenge, Scottish Education Awards and Renfrewshire’s Fairtrade School of the Year.

“Children are very proud of their successes in achieving these awards.”

Other schools are benefitting from the creative approaches to learning at Todholm, the watchdog states.

“The headteacher has a very good understanding of the local community and the social, economic and cultural context of the area,” the report says.

“She takes very good account of this when tracking children’s progress and attainment and she is highly responsive to the needs of children and families.

“The headteacher is very well supported by the effective senior leadership team.

“The depute headteachers are highly committed to leading and improving change across the school.

“They lead very well on specific areas of their work and they support staff across the school to develop leadership skills.

“They model high standards of professionalism in their teaching and interactions with children and their families.

“Parents and carers are very positive about the work of the school,” the report adds.

The inspectors say Mrs McGinn and staff have created an ethos in which families are encouraged and supported to learn alongside their children.

“Wider family members, such as grandparents, are recognised as important partners in children’s learning and are involved in activities such as Reading Grans,” the report says.

“Staff create a range of activities for parents to learn alongside their children, such as the Mini Mathematicians and the Reading Café.”

The school was rated over four areas, receiving ‘very good’ in learning, teaching and assessment; raising attainment and achievement; and, ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion, with an ‘excellent’ in leadership of change.

The nursery was also rated over four areas, earning a ‘very good’ for leadership of change; securing children’s progress and, ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion. Learning, teaching and assessment was given a ‘good’ rating.