A primary school with an enterprise ethos
Introduction
Thornlie Primary School lies in the heart of a post-war council scheme in the area of Pather in Wishaw. It is a single stage school of around 140 pupils in an area of multiple deprivation. Out of 131 primaries in North Lanarkshire, Thornlie has the third highest FME and number of clothing grants. Prior to the introduction of this initiative there was an unacceptably high level of exclusion and a very low level of parental involvement.
The initiative
Taking North Lanarkshire Council's motto Aiming Higher as their watchwords, Thornlie Primary's initiative was ambitious - to make a positive difference to pupils by giving them real responsibilities in meaningful contexts. Enterprise at Thornlie was not just to be about single projects with a finite end. It was to be about the teaching of possibility, the development of relationships and the transformation of a culture.