A UNIQUE city secondary school has been praised for bringing together diverse cultures.

Education Scotland inspectors were impressed with how Bellahouston Academy promoted an inclusive ethos while also developing sporting stars of the future.

The Glasgow School of Sport (GSOS) excellence centre is linked to the south side school and one of its most well-known former pupils is 2012 Olympic silver medal swimmer Michael Jamieson.

Inspectors visited the school earlier this year and improvements in performance, learners' experiences and meeting learning needs were graded "very good". The curriculum was graded "good".

Inspectors said young people learned and achieved very well, within an inclusive and caring school community.

Among the key strengths were:

l The ethos of the school as a multicultural community with mutually supportive relationships.

l Young people who enjoyed their learning and took pride in their school and community.

l Staff who supported young people to learn and achieve very well.

l The arrangements to support young people attending GSOS to combine sporting and academic achievements.

Head teacher Ian Anderson said: "We are a community within a school and have a robust system for pupil support and an atmosphere of inclusion. Staff, pupils and parents have worked together and this has paid off.

"This latest report has given us a platform to work on. We want to concentrate on tracking pupils' progress and focusing on their development needs.

"With the School of Sport it is an exciting time for us. The Commonwealth Games are on our doorstep in 2014 and we may have pupils competing."

It was agreed the school would further develop the curriculum to ensure the needs of all young people were met and ensure everyone received their entitlement to a broad general education.

The report highlighted how many pupils from the School of Sport had been successful in reaching national training squads for their age group and that other young people from across the school were involved in work to support the local community.

This includes recycling work, voluntary work in community placements, community regeneration work, fundraising activities and "Bella's Garden" in Bellahouston Park.

deborah.anderson@ eveningtimes.co.uk