Published: Thursday, 5th June, 2008 8:05am

In charge of the largest primary

THE acting headteacher of one of the county"s smallest primaries has been elevated to the £57,000-a-year top job at the largest primary school in Scotland.

Helen Gillanders will bid farewell to Stenton Primary School"s 35 pupils at the end of the month and prepare for her first term in charge of the 690-strong primary school in Dunbar this September.

Of her promotion to the country"s biggest primary school she said: 'There is a difference between the schools in terms of scale but as a head teacher you still deal with the same issues in a small school as you would in a larger one.'

Her selection comes six months after the shock resignation of David Scott, who said the decision to have a combined upper and lower school spread over two campuses, rather than two separate primary schools, conflicted with his 'professional beliefs'.

Acting headteacher, Penny Rounce, who took up the reins following Mr Scott"s departure in January, will step down from the post.

Mrs Gillanders, who describes herself as 'approachable, fair and consistent', said she was not focusing on the school"s recent instability but preferred to concentrate on the future and her aim to create 'one of the most outstanding schools in the UK'.

'I see this as a fantastic opportunity,' she said. 'Although the school will eventually split into two separate campuses, I intend to build an ethos of high expectation and high attainment so that when we split we still feel like one high-achieving school. It"s important that the pupils do not see themselves as separate and I will look for opportunities whereby we can still work together as one school.'

The new head refused to be drawn on the 1.5 per cent cut in the county"s education budget but said she didn"t believe composite classes impacted negatively on teaching standards.

'We are committed to providing every child with high quality education,' she said.

'Often parents get worried about the size of the class but what matters is that teaching and learning that goes on inside the class. When I was at school there were 33 pupils in a class but if the teacher is enthusiastic and attentive it shouldn"t affect children"s education.'

Mrs Gillanders, 46, was made acting headteacher of Stenton Primary last November, having spent the previous 10 years at Longniddry Primary School - latterly as depute head.

For eight years, she also managed a £1,000,000 budget and countless staff at Edinburgh University"s halls of residence and is a graduate of the Scottish Qualification for Headship course.

She was selected unanimously by a panel of two parent council representatives, Councillor Paul McLennan and acting director for education and children"s services, Don Ledingham.

Mr Ledingham said: 'We are delighted to have been able to appoint someone of such a unique background, with considerable management experience, and who has such a passion for learning and teaching.

'Mrs Gillanders has made it clear that her commitment is to develop a long-term collective vision for the school involving all stakeholders including parents, teachers, pupils and members of the community.'

Meanwhile, the new upper school is expected to be completed by 2011.