When the exam results were released, I was absolutely delighted to once again see our pupils breaking records across the board.

Our schools have been amongst the best in Scotland for a number of years, which doesn’t happen by accident.

It takes hard work and dedication from the pupils themselves and, in no small measure, the support they are given by our excellent teachers and their parents.

Credit is also due to the wider education staff, who play a massive part in ensuring the right structures and facilities are in place to allow our pupils to flourish, so well done to everyone who has played a part in these successes.

We have seen fantastic results across all of our secondary schools and I was particularly delighted to see the phenomenal performance of Barrhead High at National 5 and Higher.

St Luke’s also excelled once again at all levels but particularly hit the heights at Advanced Higher, where the pupils delivered the school’s best ever performance.

The feel-good factor for East Renfrewshire has continued with two new state-of-the-art schools opening.

Our world-first faith schools’ joint campus, bringing together St Clare’s Primary and Calderwood Lodge is now open.

This wonderful £18.2 million facility will allow both schools to retain their own unique identities, whilst also providing fabulous spaces for shared learning.

The new Barrhead High, which has cost £30m to build, has opened and I know that, once the pupils get settled in, it will become a hive of activity which will spur everyone on to even greater achievements.

Clearly, we are continuing to raise the bar in attainment levels across education but it is also important to reflect on what has been achieved across the wide spectrum of services provided by the council.

Our annual performance report, which was released recently, highlighted that the services being provided to East Renfrewshire residents are improving year on year.

The highest percentage ever of residents told us that they were satisfied with East Renfrewshire as a place to live – which shows we are getting it right in the areas which matter most to people.

We are not complacent though and recognise that improvements can always be made. So, over the coming years, we will continue to work hard to make the council more efficient in delivering the services which really matter to you.

We know there will be challenges ahead but we are ready to face them head on and work to consider our next budget setting process will be getting under way soon.