Willowbank School celebrates tenth anniversary
Willowbank School celebrated their tenth anniversary in style recently when the whole school joined together with special invited guests including Provost Jim Todd, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Douglas Reid and parents and carers from the Friends of Willowbank.
Senior pupils, Matthew and Jay did a wonderful job welcoming guests to their school then Head Teacher Tracy Smallwood led the celebrations that included a bubble launch, where all the children and young people blew bubbles in the air before the youngest pupil Alba and the oldest pupil Lyle joined school captain Sean to lead three cheers for Willowbank and then cut a beautiful birthday cake. The whole school, with their guests, stood in the playground to spell out Happy Birthday before an enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday rang out. It was lots of fun.
Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of the Council, was joined at the celebrations by Councillors Elaine Cowan, Jim McMahon, Graham Barton, Neal Ingram, Barry Douglas and Chief Executive Eddie Fraser. He said: “It was a real honour to be invited back to Willowbank to help celebrate the school’s tenth anniversary. I officially opened the school back in 2013, and what a celebration that was. The new school merged Woodstock and Witchhill schools into one state-of-the-art facility and adopted the motto ‘Be the best you can be’. It was unrivalled at the time for its facilities and gave our children and young people the opportunity to reach their full potential.
“It really struck me how well the school have looked after and enhanced their facilities over the last ten years. And how everyone has embraced the motto – ‘Be the best you can be’ - from all the staff at the school to our children and young people to our parents and carers; they are wholly committed to the school and to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve.”
Head Teacher Tracy Smallwood said: “What a wonderful time we all had at our tenth birthday party. Our fabulous children and young people were central to the celebrations and I am so glad that we all managed to spell out Happy Birthday in the playground before the heavy rain started, because that had taken a lot of practice.
“The event was also the perfect opportunity to thank the wider school community and our partners who have shown such dedication to our school, and our children and young people over the last ten years. We couldn’t do what we do without their support.
“I set very high standards for our children and young people and make no apology for that. I believe that they can achieve so much and that we can help them be the best they can be. I am very proud to be their Head Teacher.”