‘Twinverclyde’: 17 sets of twins to start school in one Scottish authority | Scotland

Seventeen sets of twins will start primary school in one Scottish local authority next week, the second largest number on record.

Schools in Inverclyde will welcome the twins for the first time on Friday 18 August, in an area that has colloquially become known as “Twinverclyde”.

In 2015, a record 19 sets of twins started primary education in the region.

The class of 2023 will take the Inverclyde twin count to 147 sets since 2013, an average of 13 each year.

On Friday, most of the 2023 class gathered at St Patrick’s primary school, in Greenock, for a dress rehearsal before their first day next week, with 15 of the 17 sets of twins in attendance.

Graeme Brooks, the deputy provost of Inverclyde council, said: “It has become an annual tradition in Inverclyde, or Twinverclyde as we’ve become known, to welcome our twins into primary one.

“Excitement is definitely building for the start of the new term next week and what better way to look forward to that than seeing the pupils here looking resplendent in their uniforms.

“It’s also a good bit of fun for parents too – and a handy dress rehearsal ahead of the real thing next Friday.”

St Patrick’s and Ardgowan primary school are the two schools in Inverclyde taking in the most pairs of twins, with three sets each joining their respective primary one classes.

Primary schools in Inverclyde welcomed 15 sets of twins in 2021 and then 12 the following year.

Brooks said: “We’re lucky to have so many incredible schools here in Inverclyde, with every one renewed or extensively refurbished, including St Patrick’s, which was rebuilt and opened in 2016, thanks to the council’s unprecedented quarter billion (£250m) investment in our schools estate.”

Last year, six sets of twins joined the year 8 group at St Mary’s college in Northern Ireland.

In 2017, five sets of twins started at Hillcrest primary school in Bristol.