School's pupils award top marks to headteacher

Published on Monday 29 June 2009 09:59

PUPILS, parents and teachers have paid tribute to Hugh McAleese, who has retired as a headteacher after more than two-and-a-half decades.

Mr McAleese was given a standing ovation at the end of the school play last week, when he was presented with gifts from the community council, parents, staff and pupils.

After 26 years as the headteacher at Cockburnspath Primary School, east of Dunbar, he said he was "a teacher who ran a school, not the other way round", and decided to retire when his role was due to become a joint headship with a second school, which involved no teaching.

As well as his teaching and headship duties, Mr McAleese ran after-school activities including concerts and plays.

Under his leadership, the school also renovated a mile-and-a-half woodland walkway, earning it a Forest Education Initiative Award and John Muir Awards for many pupils. The school also has two Green Flags.

Mr McAleese, 57, grew up in Fife and attended Kirkcaldy High School, where he was a contemporary of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, although he confessed: "I certainly remember him, but I can't remember if I was in the same class at all. I don't remember anything particular, except that he was quite tall!"

He studied for a year at St Andrews University before beginning teacher training at Hilton College, Aberdeen.

He said his desire to become a teacher had been long-lasting: "It started at primary school. Teachers for me were demigods. I didn't even realise they went to the toilet until I was in my teens!"

He taught for seven years at Easter Langlee Primary in Galashiels before applying for his first and only headship, at Cockburnspath.

"There was something special about this one and I've never regretted it," he said.

Among the highlights of his time at the school was a collaboration with folk singer Karine Polwart.

He said: "I heard one of her songs on an album and asked her if we could make it our school anthem, expecting a simple yes or no." In fact she was so enthusiastic that she worked with pupils at the school, culminating in a joint performance on BBC Scotland for Children in Need.

At a leavers' assembly on Thursday morning, he gave his popular rendition of Streets of London and was presented with a certificate by pupils, in honour of the hand-written certificates of merit that he has always produced for school-leavers. He then banished the teachers to their classrooms and held a buffet just for himself and the children.

Sue MacGregor, parent of a pupil at the school, said: "He treats each child as if they're his own – he respects the children and the children respect him. He was always encouraging the children and filling them with confidence."

Her daughter, Emily MacGregor, seven, added: "He's a very nice teacher, he's very funny. He's the best teacher I would say I've had."

Mr McAleese is married to Johanna and has four children. He said he would use his retirement to enjoy hobbies such as painting and walking, which had taken a back seat during his career.

He was clear on what he would miss the most: "The children here for 26 years have basically made me a really happy and very satisfied man."