Renfrewshire announces new director of children’s services

Former chief education officer Steven Quinn has been appointed as Renfrewshire Council’s new director of children’s services.

Quinn will be responsible for education services from early years through to secondary, children’s social work and the criminal justice service, with the main priorities being to raise educational attainment, tackle child poverty and address social and health inequalities in Renfrewshire.

Renfrewshire Council has recently achieved the first ‘excellent’ rating in Scotland as part of the Scottish Government’s Attainment Challenge.

The inspection identified significant year-on-year improvements in listening, talking, reading, writing and numeracy, with the poverty-related attainment gap closing across all measures.

Councillor Jim Paterson, convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services Policy Board, said: “We’re delighted to appoint Steven to the role of director of children’s services, where he will work to ensure all children and young people reach their full potential, regardless of their background.

“Steven has been a driving force for embedding improvements that support children and young people into positive and sustained destinations, and our recent ‘excellent’ rating in raising attainment from Education Scotland was recognition of his and our education teams work in this area.

“I look forward to working closely with him as we work to make opportunities for all our young people to succeed in Renfrewshire.”

A maths teacher by profession, Quinn joined Renfrewshire Council as chief education officer in 2016, before becoming interim director earlier this year.

Quinn said: “I’m delighted to take up the role of director on a permanent basis at what is an exciting time to be involved in education and social work in Renfrewshire.

“I have a fantastic team throughout the council to lead and we’re passionate about putting the needs of our young people at the forefront of everything we do.

“It’s so important that every young person has the opportunity to achieve the best possible outcomes through the care and education we can deliver, and we recognise this means more than purely qualifications when they leave the school system.

“We’re working hard to put the appropriate support and processes in place to ensure we provide a safe and nurturing environment for all our young people to succeed and I’m excited to be at the forefront of this in Renfrewshire.”