For the first time in the memory of most, no serving school figures were represented in the upper ranks of the New Year Honours for services to education. There were no knighthoods or dames, and no CBEs. Only three gongs were handed to teachers still employed in schools.
The sole OBE for an existing school staffer went to Jessie Wojciechowski, head of Borestone Primary in Stirling. There was also an OBE for Norma Anne Watson, former convener of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, but she has retired from her day job as a nursery head. Two others were honoured with the OBE for their contributions to education and they are in the tertiary sector - Tony Jakimciw, principal of Dumfries and Galloway College, and Margaret Reid, professor of women’s health at Glasgow University, who was recognised for services to healthcare as well as to higher education.
By contrast, MBEs were awarded to 11 people for their work in education, although only two are still employed in schools - Anne Allan, deputy head of Inverclyde Academy, Greenock, and Geraldine MacPhee, principal home economics teacher in Clyde Valley High, Wishaw.
The other MBEs were: Mary George, catering supervisor at Crossroads Primary, Keith; James Jack, Kibble Education and Care Centre; Peter McFall, janitor at St Peter’s Primary, Dumbarton; Margaret Paisley, manager at Elmwood College; Iain Prain, vice-principal of the Royal Blind School, Edinburgh; Norman Robertson, former curriculum leader in hospitality at Ayr College; Marion Roy, former head of Auchenback Primary, East Renfrewshire; James Weir, lecturer in Forth Valley College; and Mavis Yuill, classroom assistant in Kilmartin Primary, Argyll.