On Friday, I received an email from a headteacher which started: "Once again my heart is in my boots – the annual public humiliation season – league tables." I couldn’t agree more.
Each year I get upset about them on behalf of all the headteachers and teachers across the city who work so hard to ensure that Glasgow’s young people achieve regardless of their background.
As a maths teacher and former HM Inspector, I understand fully the limitations of drawing conclusions from just one statistic. It is too easy for the media to say that this is what parents want – where the "good schools" are – and creating a league table is the simplest way to do it.
Read more: Schools in deprived areas the real winners in league tables
Don’t get me wrong, I agree attainment is really important – the more qualifications a young person has the more choices they will have – but this is just the start of their journey.
In Glasgow we have been incredibly successful in our efforts to raise attainment – we have more young people achieving more Highers than ever before. More of them are leaving school to go to university or college. But I want our young people to have more than just a set of qualifications when they leave school. I want them to be confident, resilient young people able to talk confidently to future employers.
However, the vast majority of our young people don’t come from privileged backgrounds. Their parents or carers cannot afford tutors, they are not able to give them a rich range of experiences. That's where we come in – from nursery to secondary, our staff working with a wide range of partners enrich the lives and experiences of Glasgow’s children.
As a result of the extraordinary efforts of nursery and school staff, often working way beyond their contracted hours, our children and young people are increasingly successful – they are proud of themselves and their schools, which is why the media needs to find a better way to show how much we value them and their achievements.
Finally, the last word is from the headteacher’s email:
"How can it be fair or equitable to continue to batter certain communities with such negativity?"
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