Firstly, I said:
This report is an important report which I welcome. I am pleased that we have an opportunity to talk at the Education Committee about core issues such as the attainment of our pupils in examinations in S4-6.
There are some promising trends. I particularly appreciate the hard work of teachers and pupils to improve the proportion of pupils gaining a minimum of Standard Grade in English and Maths. The increase in passes from a level that was beneath the national average to level that is above the national average and our comparator authorities is a real achievement.
I think that we all appreciate that improvements like this are unlikely to come from a wee sprint in S3 and S4 but build on incremental changes in Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools over a number of years. After all, the results referred to in this report come after a pupil will have spent up to two years full or part time in a Nursery School, seven years in Primary School and between four and six years in one of our secondary schools.
Convener I would therefore like to recommend to you that we ask the Director in subsequent reports to include facts and figures we already collect about the performance of our pupils at earlier points than the end of secondary school. For example, for more than five years our primary pupils have been linked to the Durham University's Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPs) tests on reading and writing in early, middle and upper primary.
Now I note that in the equivalent reports in other authorities in North East Scotland for example, Perth and Kinross and Angus, there are references to these wider measures which I would argue are milestones on the route to attainment at the end of our pupils' school days.
Convener, I have a motion on this but would hope you would agree that this is a constructive suggestion and one that we shouldn't need to divide about?
So shall we agree to take this forward for the Standards and Quality Report in 2014?"
The Convener accepted my proposal.
Secondly, I asked:
"Convener in the SNP manifesto you campaigned on in the local government elections last May your party wrote:
'Under the SNP, Dundee City Council will continue to deliver new schools, smaller class sizes, breakfast clubs in every school and after school clubs in every area of Dundee.' ....
'As every parent knows, smaller class sizes means more teacher time and better learning.' (Extracted from Re-Elect an SNP Council, Moving Dundee Forward)
Convener, will the improvements in attainment, that the Standards and Quality Report promises be helped or hindered by increases in class sizes in S1 and S2 Maths and English in five of the nine secondary schools in Dundee?"
The Convener did not address his answer to my question.
