MUSSELBURGH Grammar School’s headteacher Ronnie Summers is moving to a new post after 11 years in charge of the county’s largest secondary school.

Mr Summers, who arrived at Musselburgh in 2003, is taking up a two-year secondment at the Scottish Qualifications Authority as Head of Qualifications Development.

He will be responsible for overseeing the introduction of the new Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications.

And while he was looking forward to his new role, he admitted he would be sad to say goodbye to the grammar school, where he has spent nearly a third of his teaching career.

He told the Courier: “I fully expected to be here until I retired. I am very proud of the work our staff do here and the achievements of our pupils.

“This role came up and I see it as an exciting opportunity. When the two-year secondment finishes I will be retiring so I finish as headteacher this week.” When Mr Summers arrived at Musselburgh Grammar, the school was effectively a building site due to a Public-Private Partnership(PPP)-funded major refurbishment.

He recalled: “There were temporary classrooms and work going on so straight away I had to deal with staff concerns, parental concerns about safety – it was challenging.” Over his 11 years at the helm, Mr Summers has seen many changes; and although the school has had some challenges to address and has been pushed hard by national education inspectors, he believes it continues to move in the right direction.

He said: “I have a lot of admiration for marathon runners. Pupils’ experience of school is like a marathon. It is about working steadily towards a goal and committing to it.

“Over the years you remember the big events, like our recent concert, the baton relay, but the important stuff is all the training and work that is done behind the scenes.

“Our pupils leave with the skills for learning, life and work. We do, of course, work hard to ensure they leave with qualifications; but for me, it is also about them having a confidence and readiness to do well, whatever their next step.” Musselburgh Grammar is East Lothian’s biggest secondary school, with 1,206 pupils.

In the last decade the school, like society, has had to adapt to the world of social media and internet access.

Mr Summers said: “I think, overall, social media is a good thing – it gives young people access to another group of friends. The danger is it becomes obsessive.

“I tell pupils they have to learn to compartmentalise it as part of their life – that is a life skill in itself.” And the headteacher said he will miss the day to day business of the school.

He said: “I love the creativity of children. I love to see the way you can given them an idea and they will run with it. It’s that sort of thing that makes my job worthwhile.” Depute headteacher Stewart MacKinnon will take over as acting head until a permanent replacement is found.

Musselburgh councillor John McNeil paid tribute to Mr Summers, saying: “He is well respected by parents and his colleagues. He will be missed by the town.” And fellow Musselburgh councillor Stuart Currie added: “I’ve known Ronnie for a number of years and throughout that time he has rightly earned the respect of councillors, parents and students for his leadership and innovation at East Lothian’s largest school.

“His abilities have also been recognised in his national work on Education. The SQA’s gain is our loss but I want to wish Ronnie well for the years ahead.”