Highland Council appoints Nicky Grant to top education role
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Highland Council has appointed Nicky Grant as the executive chief officer (ECO) for education and learning.
She joins the five other ECO's running the council departments for the chief executive, with three other top ranked positions either unfilled or with interim appointments.
Ms Grant takes on the £93,932.00 a year role permanently having been working on an interim basis since September 2020.
Prior to that she was the head teacher of Alness Academy for a short time and her other experience includes previously being deputy head at Elgin High School and before that was deputy head at Kemnay Academy in Aberdeenshire.
Her principal subject was physical education which she previously taught at schools in West Lothian, having played professional football for Arsenal and Frankfurt and was capped 99 times for Scotland.
Ms Grant said: “It is a privilege to be offered the opportunity to continue to improve our education and learning experience for the current and future children and young people in Highland.
“I am passionate about improving outcomes for all of our pupils and supporting our young people to progress to a positive post-school destination.
“Effective partnership working is essential to helping us reach our goals within the service and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our stakeholders and partners for their engagement with our council.
“I look forward to continuing this partnership working so we can remain connected to our communities.
"This summer, I shall spend time listening to our children and young people during our planned Summer of Hope programme of events.
“I am excited for the future of education and learning in the Highlands."
Education committee chairman Councillor John Finlayson said: “I am delighted to announce that Nicky Grant will be continuing in her role of ECO for Education and the post will now be her substantive post.
“This has been a challenging year for everyone in our schools as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic, including the difficult task of seeing the safe return to in-school learning for all pupils and Nicky along with all school staff has been a key part of this challenging process.
“The education committee and I look forward to continuing our work with her in transforming and consolidating the service to ensure continued improvements to our large school estate and further enhancing the learning journey for all pupils in Highland.”
Lead education spokesman for the opposition Cllr Graham Mackenzie said: “I would like to congratulate Nicky on her appointment and wish her every success in her future career.
“The council remains committed to raising attainment, especially for our most vulnerable pupils and also maximising the health and wellbeing for all pupils and staff members in our schools.”
