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Islay
McLeod's
Scotland
Back to school
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A decade has passed and I'm back. Towering above me is Kilmarnock Academy. This is where I sat my first exam, delivered my first speech and played my first cello solo. So what's it like now?
Almost jumping out my skin I forget the shrillness of the bell – it certainly sounds the same. Empty corridors fill with a surge of pupils heading to their next subject. My first class of the day is fifth year modern studies, taught by Mr Cowan. Walls around me are plastered with colourful artwork, newspaper clippings and maps. Pupils are split into groups to investigate a theme, each given a related role. After short speeches, the session ends with a vote. Throughout the class the young teacher is animated and speaks with everyone amongst the usual teenage attitude. Having had geography lessons in this room, it's familiar – though I was often sent to sit outside for talking too much.
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After a short interval in the staff room where I meet a few familiar faces, I navigate my way through the throng of bodies to a second year English class. Another young teacher, Miss Templeton, manages to enlighten her pupils about 'persuasive writing' – particularly difficult during the last week of term when minds are occupied with holidays. I notice that the girls are more alert and willing to answer questions. Slouching on their desks or swinging on their chairs, the boys seem un-energised, with little interest. The teacher is on her feet the whole time, keeping discipline but adding a bit of humour.
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My memories of this school are of dull, grey classrooms and corridors. Teachers seemed old and tired, often sitting behind their desks for the duration, telling us to copy from the chalked blackboard. That was before our current age of technology. Now the school is crammed with up-to-date gadgetry and equipment. Even the dinner hall has been modernised, with music blaring out of speakers and a big screen showing up-to-the-minute school news. Vibrant and colourful: I wouldn't mind going back.
 The boss. Rector of Kilmarnock Academy, Mrs Carole Ford |
 Dinner ladies Karen and Lynda waiting for the hungry troops |
 Gordon, one of the three janitors |
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These doors won't open again until well into August. But Islay McLeod's Scotland – like the rest of the Scottish Review – will be back a lot earlier – on Friday 18 July.
Islay has been appointed Assistant Director of the Institute of Contemporary Scotland, publishers of the Scottish Review, from 1 July 2008.
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