THE Alloa Academy head teacher has praised the school's pupils and parents for their help in developing the current curriculum.

Students and parents have been heavily involved in supporting the improvement of the curriculum to best meet the needs of the young people in the community.

Curricular developments have been a priority of recently-appointed head teacher Colin Bruce, who took up the post in August 2017.

Speaking to the Advertiser after his first six months, Mr Bruce explained: "I have been very impressed with the behaviour and effort of the young people in Alloa Academy.

"It is a great place to work and learn. We have fantastic facilities and very committed staff, who are determined to ensure positive outcomes for every young person."

On curricular developments, he added: "I have been delighted with the amount of community engagement from families, sharing their thoughts on how we can enhance and develop our curriculum.

"From information evenings, to course choice meetings, we have had excellent communication and engagement with parents and carers."

Alloa Academy has been busy consulting with the school community and as a result has introduced Pupil Choice in S3.

This aims to ensure young people have more time studying subjects that they value. Staff feel that this will make for better preparation for the demands of national qualifications in S4-6.

Mr Bruce went on to explain further improvements to the senior school: "We have improved options in S4, S5 and S6 with the addition of Foundation Apprenticeships being delivered in partnership with Forth Valley College.

"We hope that this variety of options like apprenticeships, ASDAN and Duke of Edinburgh will make young people want to stay on and achieve up to S6."

Mr Bruce said that his staff have also been aiming to improve service delivery of pupil support, health and wellbeing.

He said: "Curriculum developments go hand-in-hand with improving our support of health and wellbeing. Working in partnership with Wellbeing Scotland, Respect Me and Unicef Rights Respecting Schools, we aim to ensure that our young people and staff work in a welcoming and supportive environment."