Judith Gillespie, the Scottish Parent Teacher Council's development manager, appeared on the Reporting Scotland programme last Tuesday to defend the use of reports by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in ensuring the quality of education in Scotland's schools.

Ms Gillespie cited the Academy as an example of a failing school in which a HMIE report brought about an improvement in standards.

Her interview was part of a report on the outcome of a fatal accident inquiry into the 2008 death of Irene Hogg, headmistress of Glendinning Primary in Galashiels, who took her own life just days after a critical inspection visit to her school.

But her abrupt mention of the Academy upset some staff members at the school - and angered local councillor Isobel Strong, who is a former teacher at the Academy, and is now Argyll and Bute Council's spokesperson on education.

"I was surprised and extremely disappointed," Councillor Strong said.

"To describe Rothesay Academy as a failing school - more than five years after a poor inspection triggered significant and highly successful changes there – is not just misleading but very damaging.

"An enormous amount of work has gone into improving Rothesay Academy since its original inspection in 2004.

"By the time the follow through report was published in August 2006, the school was well on the way to completely turning itself around, as the inspectors themselves indicated.

"I would like to congratulate head teacher Wendy Brownlie and all her staff on the fantastic work they do at Rothesay Academy to ensure its pupils have every chance to achieve their full potential."

Ms Gillespie told us the Academy was a prime example of a school in which a critical HMIE report brought about a major improvement in standards.

"At the time the Academy's initial report was very welcome, because parents had major concerns about the school," she said.

"I meant merely to illustrate the point that HMIE reports were valuable, and it was a pity that time constraints did not allow me to explain the point more fully. I never intended to cause the upset I clearly have in Rothesay, and I apologise for that.

"The fact that everyone has forgotten about the initial report just demonstrates what a fantastic school Rothesay Academy has become, and how it has completely turned round a particularly disastrous situation."