A Trust set up by a businessman from Greenock is donating £100,000 so that people in Inverclyde can go on life-changing courses with pioneering organization Columba 1400.
07 December 2007

Nine out of 10 pupils who took part in a leadership programme on the Isle of Skye said it had a positive impact on their attitude to school and school work.

Columba 1400’s Ambassadors’ Leadership Academies bring together pupils and staff in a six-day leadership development experience, focused on the future of their school.

For one charity, striking buildings and stunning locations are as important in leadership training as the contents of courses.

COLUMBA 1400, the charity which offers specialist leadership training to pupils and headteachers, is to undergo a massive expansion, thanks to two donors.

They are the people Gordon Brown describes as the true celebrities of Britain; unsung heroes whose pioneering work in communities could and should become a benchmark for others to follow.
25 July 2007

The kind of world young people will inherit from their parents makes it foolish to focus our view of education on curriculum content anymore. We need a shift of focus from learning to learning to learn. This means helping pupils to navigate their own way through a vast maze of knowledge and help them understand how to make sense of it.
17 July 2007

Pride and energy permeate the corridors. Colourful displays of photographs show costumed troupes taking part in dance competitions, successful sports teams and ambitious drama work. Personal statements from staff and pupils in the reception lobby testify to the sense of achievement derived from energetic-sound-ing activities at Columba 1400.
04 May 2007

At least 60 per cent of care leavers who participated in a Columba 1400 programme for young people from “tough realities” went into education, employment or training, a new report has found.

For youngsters coming out of care, the future is bleak. For many, ambition doesn't extend beyond getting their own tenancy, claiming benefit and getting drunk with their mates.

As First Minister Jack McConnell said three years ago: "it's extremely hard to mature into an ambitious, confident adult when no-one seems to care whether you live or die."

The nine young people had been "looked after" in a variety of ways. Some in residential schools, some in local authority homes, some fostered. They were aged from just 13 to 27. But they were all experts. Experts in what happens to children in care; what goes wrong, what they need and what could make the experience more positive. And, at Robert Gordon University (RGV) in Aberdeen, they became tutors to a fresh intake of social-work undergraduates.
19 September 2006

The beginning of a new school year is an appropriate time to reflect on the possibilities and purpose of education.  Norman Drummond, former headmaster and Founder and Chairman of Columba 1400, shares his thoughts on the potential within the Scottish educational system.

A version of this article appeared in the Sunday Herald, 20th August 2006

Drumchapel High School is not top of any exam league tables, but it is on a roll of success. The percentage of pupils gaining five or more standard grades has improved every year for the past five years. Attendance has improved for the past six years in a row. Ten years ago, only 72% of children from the feeder primaries chose to go to Drumchapel High. Now 93% make it their first choice.
27 February 2006

Our system – in health, education and social services – serves 80 percent of our young people well. However, not the bottom 20 percent. Many of these children can be predicted, from the tender age of five, to be NEET (not in education, employment or training) by the time they leave the system at 16. Often, they leave well before, destined for a lifetime of misery, unemployment, often ill-health and sometimes crime.
21 February 2006