A SHOAL of brightly-coloured fish, guided by a patient teacher, is weaving its merry way down the hallways of Thorntree Primary on its way to the summer show rehearsal room.

“We are singing the Little Mermaid song,” one of the ‘fish’ – also known as the school’s infant class – says by way of explanation as she strides importantly by.

In the playground, a bunch of slightly older children, not dressed as fish, are keeping an eye on recently planted flowers.

“We grow flowers that are especially liked by bees, because bees are important,” explains Kenzie Tweedie who, along with fellow primary five pupils Josh Bates and Kai Fraser, helped plant the display.

Elsewhere, a group of primary fives are packing up hi-vis vests and litter-pickers following a successful recent clean-up of the local park, and some primary six children are comparing notes about soups they have made from vegetables grown in their own grounds.

"We put in things like potatoes and carrots and it's called Thorntree Soup," explains Brandon Knight, who is in primary five.

Life at Thorntree is busy, but it’s not just the hustle and bustle of everyday life which earned this east end primary school our top award and the best school trophy at last night’s Streets Ahead Awards.

This is a school which is proud of its place at the heart of its community.

As well as the regular litter-picks, Thorntree plants bulbs at Shettleston Railway Station, takes its choir around nearby nursing homes and delivers food parcels to elderly residents who live across the road.

They have a defibrillator on the premises – the only primary school in Glasgow to have one – and staff, parents and children are trained in CPR.

Parents are involved in everything from reading groups to Zumba classes and even sing in the nativity at Christmas and the school works closely with a whole raft of community organisations, from Shettleston library and Fuse café to Greenfield Care Home and Shettleston Garden Growers.

“We are proud of everything we do in the community and it takes commitment and dedication from our staff and parents to make it work,” says Shona Heggie, who has been headteacher at Thorntree for 12 years.

“Because many of our staff live in the local community, and send their children here, we are in the fairly unusual position of having pupils whose mums teach them, or whose grans work in the office and it just seems to work extremely well."

Principal teacher Kath MacDonald adds: “We find it makes parents more comfortable about speaking to their children’s teachers, knowing they have that connection to the community and that they understand what it’s like to be a parent at the school as well as a member of staff.”

One of the school’s most successful community projects is its distribution of harvest food parcels to local elderly residents.

Primary seven pupil Chloe Donnelly explains: “Some people said they hadn’t spoken to anyone else that day and it made us realise some older people can be a bit lonely.

Abbie Henderson, who is also in primary seven, agrees: “It was a really good thing to do because we stood and chatted to them all on the doorstep and I think they had a better opinion of young people because of what we did.”

Support staff at the school are also part of the team, making a huge impact on the running of the school.

Margaret Kiddie, who is a clerical assistant, breakfast club organiser and cleaner, was recently awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to education.

Instead of ‘having a fuss’ made of her, Margaret asked the school instead to give something to the pupils and the Margaret Kiddie Community Award Shield was born.

It’s presented each year to someone who works tirelessly on behalf of the school and staff, parent helpers and pupils have all been recipients.

“Thorntree is a great school,” says Margaret, firmly. “I’ve been here in one form or another for almost 27 years and it is such a special place.

“The pupils here always give you back more than you give them.”

Parent and PTA member Kirsten Wilson agrees. “My daughter Sophie is just finishing high school and I have a new baby, 10-month-old Adam, so by the time Adam finishes primary school I’ll have been on the Thorntree school run for 21 years,” she laughs.

“It’s just as well I love the place.

“It’s a great school, not just in terms of how much encouragement they give the children to be the best they can be, but also through the ways they instill a community spirit in them.

“They understand the benefits of volunteering, of helping their neighbours and being part of their community and that’s just as important as learning maths and language.”

Kirsten adds: “The lovely thing about Thorntree is that when the kids go out and deliver their food parcels, or sing in the choir at the local care home, or clear up the park, you really get the feeling they’re not doing it because they have to, but because they want to.”

Ask the pupils if they are proud of their school and the answer is resounding.

"Yes," they chorus. "We love Thorntree Primary....."