The Vice President of the Law Society of Scotland, Eilidh Wiseman, recently returned to her former primary school for the first time in more years than she cares to remember.
Eilidh is Convenor of the Society’s Education and Training Committee and a keen a supporter of legal education in schools.
She clearly practices what she preaches having also visited her former secondary, Stranraer Academy, where she worked with senior students before presenting prizes at the school’s annual awards ceremony.
When she returned to Stranraer’s Rephad Primary, Eilidh received a very warm welcome from the young people following in her footsteps.
Two P6 classes provided a large audience of excited youngsters who kept the Vice President on her toes with a stream of challenging questions on matters such as Stop & Search, whether today’s young people show enough respect for the law, and what laws she would introduce if she had the power.
Speaking afterwards, Eilidh confessed she had “loved every minute of her time in the school”.
She continued: “It was a real joy to work with a group of friendly, confident youngsters who asked such intelligent questions and then listened thoughtfully to the answers. I was greatly impressed and suspect that today I may have met a few talented lawyers of the future. The staff deserve great credit for the work they are doing with their young people.”
The Law Society of Scotland works hard to promote such classroom visits by solicitors with the aim of introducing young people of all abilities and backgrounds, to the legal system and those who work within it. In many cases, pupils will be meeting a lawyer for the first time in their life.
The programme also aims to help young people appreciate that laws bring responsibilities as well as rights.
Speaking on behalf of the school, Head Teacher Alistair Young said, “Our young people really enjoyed meeting Eilidh and were delighted to hear about what things were like when she was a pupil at the school. They also learned a lot about the Law and why it is so important.
“Eilidh seemed entirely at home with the classes and she is obviously a great role model. She shows our pupils what can be achieved through talent, hard work and treating others with respect.
“We want our young people to feel confident and have high aspirations, and Eilidh’s visit was very, very helpful in getting this message across.”
Mr Young also thanked Patrick Gaffney, Director of the education charity, Impressive People, who organised the visit.
Mr Gaffney, a secondary school teacher, has previously received an award from the Law Society of Scotland for his ground-breaking work on legal education in schools.