AS HEAD boy at Lourdes Secondary on the Southside of Glasgow, Jamie Breen is delighted, both about landing the coveted role and his recent exam success.

“I got 5 As, so I was really pleased,” explains the 16-year-old, smiling. “I know that I wouldn’t have got those results, or achieved things like being head boy, without all the support I got from my school.

“I’m really happy to be a pupil here.”

The Southside school found itself at the centre of a social media storm over the weekend when it was wrongly accused of making pupils scan QR codes before leaving class for toilet breaks.

A raft of commentators, including a Glasgow councillor, waded in, and things quickly spiralled into outrage.

Headteacher Paul Monaghan with pupils Aleeza, Jamie and MiaHeadteacher Paul Monaghan with pupils Aleeza, Jamie and Mia (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Baffled headteacher Paul Monaghan said the furore had taken staff at the school by surprise.

“I was a little surprised at comments made on social media given that, in reality, nothing has changed for our pupils – they have full access to toilets as required and they do not need to scan a QR code,” he said.

“Teachers note when pupils are out-of-class to allow pastoral care and senior staff to have an overview and, where patterns emerge, we will work closely with parents and carers to provide any support which may be necessary.”

Pupil Mia Watson, 13, said: “We were a bit surprised by what people were saying because it really wasn’t anything to do with toilets, it was about the teachers knowing when we are out of class, and making sure no-one was missing. It was actually about caring about us.”

Fellow third year pupil Aleeza Shahzada agreed.

“Our school values are Love Teach Care - we know that the teachers care about us the same way as our parents and carers do, and the school is really supportive of us,” she added.

Head boy Jamie, who plans to study law and Spanish when he leaves school next year, added: “The whole thing has been misinterpreted. Any system that is brought in is for us, to help us prepare for the future.”

READ NEXT: Glasgow school celebrates after qualifications rate more than doubles in a year

Monitoring class absences, as happens in most schools, is part of the over-arching nurture policy at Lourdes, which also includes a holiday activities programme, safe areas across the school for young people to use when required, regular training to ensure all staff are trauma-informed and the introduction of wellbeing coaches, who work with individuals and groups.

Mr Monaghan explained: “Some pupils continue to experience some challenges linked to lockdowns during the pandemic and we can see this in a range of ways, including pupils being out of class for longer than necessary and some pupils struggling to focus on their learning.”

He added: “This can lead to interruptions to lessons and to underachievement due to learning time being lost.

“All the research shows that pupils thrive when they work in a calm, consistent, predictable and well-ordered environment, where expectations are clear and standards are high. We create this environment at Lourdes and our pupils feel safe and supported.

“As a result, our pupils perform incredibly well both in terms of examination results and in terms of personal development too.”

READ NEXT: Double take for Glasgow schools as 49 sets of twins start the new term

Mr Monaghan added that Lourdes is also taking a “targeted approach” to improving attendance and timekeeping.

“We only allow pupils to use their mobile phones at morning interval and at lunchtime,” he said. “We are highly ambitious for all of our pupils and, in raising the bar, we are confident that our pupils, our school and our school community will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Parent Council chairperson Mandie Running described the outrage displayed on social media as “a storm in a teacup.”

“It was just keyboard warriors commenting, lots of whom are not even parents at the school,” she said.

“It was encouraging to see how many people did actually say, 'this is ridiculous', and shut it down, but it was still very disappointing to see how quickly some people just jumped on the bandwagon and repeated things without checking what was really happening.”

Mandie, who has been a parent at the school for 18 years, and currently has a son in sixth year, added: “The Parent Council works closely with the headteacher at Lourdes and the school is always very upfront and open.

“We don’t always agree with them and we do challenge and question things, but they never try to hide things from us.

“This was just a storm in a teacup.”