West Dunbartonshire Council
West Dunbartonshire Council is an award winning sector leading authority that is recognised as one of Scotland’s Top 10 Flexible Employers.
We’re committed to ensuring that our children and young people get the best start, led by motivated, inspirational leaders who can offer our children and young people the opportunities they deserve. We aim to deliver a transformational educational experience that has a legacy of achievement, attainment and increased life chances for all our young people.
How do we know we are succeeding? West Dunbartonshire Council was one of the first authorities to fully implement the 1140 hours of free early learning in Scotland and our recent Care Inspectorate reports graded our centres as very good with improved learning, raised attainment and narrowing of the poverty-related attainment gap.
We have invested £9.7m in our early years workforce and £5.8m in our Early Learning Centres. To accommodate the expansion, we have opened 10 new centres, completely refurbishing 15 existing centres and built four new centres offering high quality early learning and childcare and the best start for our children.
We are continuing to see steady progress when it comes to exam results with our schools outperforming the national average in all levels from N3 to Higher, and all of our pupils achieving qualifications.
We are committed to supporting the professional development of our staff.
We believe that high-quality teaching is central to raising the attainment of our young people, and we are committed to helping all our teachers develop as “leaders of learning”.
Our professional learning programme helps employees to work collaboratively to enhance their practice and succeed as a teacher, working within the unique context of West Dunbartonshire Council - no matter what stage their teacher journey.
We’re investing in our schools and local area
Our school population is increasing and we have continually invested in our learning estate to meet our future needs. In 2017 we launched the new £25m Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School while in 2018 the £16m Balloch Education Campus opened its doors.
Our new £15.1m Renton Primary School, Language and Communication Base and Early Learning and Childcare Centre opened in 2022 and plans are progressing well on the £28.86m Faifley Campus which is due to open in 2025.
A £100m capital investment programme is underway to regenerate our town centres, develop new public buildings, construct hundreds of affordable new homes and attract businesses to improve our economy. With excellent transport links, Glasgow is within easy reach but our homes don’t come at city prices.
The area has a rich heritage, shaped by its world-famous shipyards along the Clyde, and boasts many attractions ranging from the iconic Titan Crane and Dumbarton Rock, to the stunning natural scenery of Loch Lomond.