Commenting on Serious Lapse in Council's Duty of Care When Nursery School Pupil Was Left Stranded on School Bus

I was very concerned by the news that last week a three year old nursery pupil with additional support needs, who attends the Francis Wright Nursery, had been left unattended on their school bus. Apparently this young boy was left alone on a minibus which had delivered the other children to the nursery and then was returned to the contractor's garage. The wee lad apparently remained strapped into his seat and undetected for a number of hours until a driver returned to take the bus back to the nursery for the return journeys.

This was a very serious lapse in the Council's duty of care to one of our youngest children at nursery.

I have been in immediate contact with, Michael Wood, The Director of Children and Families' Service, who has assured me that an inquiry has already been launched. I made it clear that we need to know how it was that this child was left on the bus and how he was not missed when he did not turn up at the nursery. Clearly parents and carers and Councillors, who are corporate parents, need to be reassured that such a serious lapse in child protection procedures will be avoided in the future.

Hasty Planning for Additional Nursery Places in Dundee

On Monday evening 19 May 2014, the Education Committee considered a report on the introduction of additional nursery places in Dundee for two year old children where both parents and carers are unemployed.

While welcoming this enhancement to access to nursery education in the City, I had some reservations about the lack of details in the written proposal. When this new development had first been inroduced at the meeting of the City Development Committee on 21 April, I made it clear that I thought that that proposal had got the cart before the horse. That report baldly proposed spending money on the conversion of school buildings to create the appropriate facilities for the extra under three year old nursery places. But that investment in buildings had been brought forward for approval three weeks before the policy paper apppeared at the Education Committee. When that paper eventually came to the May meeting of the Education Committthee, the report was short on crucial detail.

In Paragraph 4.4 of the report the list of proposed locations to focus the additional places was different from the list of premises approved by the Development Committee Meeting of 21 April 2014. Why had Longhaugh Primary School been dropped off the list of schools?  At both meetings when the Council had considered this matter a school has been dropped off the list. At the City Development Committee in April it was Park Place Primary School which was excluded from teh already circulated list. At the Education Committee, it was Longhaugh Primary School. The short timescale for implementation has meant that the preparations have cleary been rather makeshift, based on assumptions about parents and carers who are unemployed and who have children aged two and the optimum locations for the early learning centres in our city where extra nursery places should be best located.

As a result, I brought forward a motion to the Education Committee that did not obstruct the extra places being available in August this year but which callled for a report back in 2015 when the Education Committee could review what had happened in our nurseries during the 2014/15 and how the Council might need to adapt its policy and practice  for nursery care and learning in order to enhance the impact of this service. For example, the geography of the premises selected have we got that right? Additionally, is the offer of a nursery place for a rigid schedule of three and a bit hours for five days a week the most approriate for the young child and their parent/carer?

I was pleased the Education Convener accepted my ammendment without a vote.

Internet Safety Briefing for Parents and Carers Monday 19 May 2014 Repeated Wednesday 21 May 2014

An Internet Safety Briefing for Parents and Carers with nursery and primary school age children will be held on Monday 19 May at Claypotts Castle Primary School and Wednesday 21 May at St Andrew;s Primary School with both beginning at 6:30.

These briefings have been arranged by the Community Safety Team in Dundee for parents and carers throughout the city.

There is no charge for taking part.

Internet Safety Briefing Monday 19th May
beginning at 6.30pm
Claypotts Castle Primary School
9 Balloch Place Dundee DD4 8TB

Internet Safety Briefing Wednesday 21st May
beginning at 6.30pm
St. Andrew's Primary School
45 St Leonard Pl, Dundee, DD3 9HD

Need for Additional Report Before Approving Nearly £0.5m on Nursery Places for Under 3s

Click on image to enlarge

On Monday night at the City Development Committee, on the basis of a flimsy report, Councillors are being asked to approve borrowing of £464,659.00 to pay for:

13-6033 – Various Primary SchoolsProvision for Under 3 year olds

The works comprise alteration works to provide provision for under 3 year olds at Ardler, Ballumbie, Dens Road, Longhaugh, Mill O’Mains, Park Place and St Ninians Primary Schools.

There are no background papers just the contract costs.

Significantly there is no mention of this project on the agenda of the Education Committee which meets before the City Development Committee on Monday night. Apparently it will be on the agenda of the next Education Committee in May. This will be locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I appreciate that the pace of change is dictated by the Scottish Parliament's requirement that the Council make provision for 600 hours of nursery provision for 2 year old children where both parents are unemployed in August 2014. But this decision is being presented with inadequate information for Councillors to make up their minds and that can't be right. I have already been advised that the inclusion of Park Place Primary School in the list is wrong; it closed it as a Primary School in 2012. 

Here is my list of the things I think Councillors reasonably need to know now:

1. How many children are we planning to provide places for?
2. How robust are these numbers of 'qualifying' two year old children?
3. Why have the named schools been chosen for these developments?
4. Are there any other schools not needing major building alterations that will be involved in providing places for this additional group of younger children?
5. What is the basis for calculating that qualifying children will live closest to the schools that have been identified?
6. What pattern of nursery hours will be offered to help unemployed parents and carers back to work? What job can you do if your child's nursery place runs for just over three hours a day five days a week? Has any other configuration of hours been considered?
7. What steps are we taking to recruit additional Early Years Practitioners to provide the extra places?
8. Will there be time to do all the building work before mid August as well as obtain the Care Commission approvals?
9. What consultation has taken place with parents and carers?
10. Has an Equality Impact Assessment been completed?

It's still not too late to put his right and introduce a late item at the Education Committee on Monday night. I have written to the Education Convener and Director of Education to propose that.

Link to City Development Committee Agenda Monday 20 April 2014

Link to Education Committee Agenda Monday 20 April 2014

Early Years Collaborative Workshop Was Thought Provoking

Yesterday I attended the Early Year Collaborative workshop held in the Marryat Hall in Dundee. This brought together over 120 folk from agencies and projects in Dundee which are concerned with services to support children through their early years. Our shared concern was joining up services and making these more effective.

I found the presentation by Educational Psychologist Chris Scott especially thought provoking as he focused on the first 1000 days of life . It is during our very earliest years and even pre-birth - the first thousand days - that a large part of the pattern for our future adult life is set. The early years are therefore a key opportunity to shape a positive future for children in Dundee. 

I thought Chris's plea for 'five a day' parental/carer activities with our children (eg read a bedtime story, give a hug) was particularly sparky and worth promoting. 

Consultation on New Schools in Strathmartine, Menzieshill and Coldside - Have Your Say

At its meeting on 26 November 2012, Dundee City Education Committee made and agreed to publish and consult on proposals for new schools in three areas in Dundee:

Strahmartine,
Menzieshill and
Coldside.

These three proposals include:

1. the permanent relocation of Sidlaw View Primary School and Jessie Porter Nursery School to a new shared campus site;
2. to discontinue Hillside and Gowriehill Primary Schools and build a new 3 stream primary school incorporating a nursery provision to replace Menzieshill Nursery School;
3. the permanent relocation of Our Lady's RC Primary School, Rosebank Primary School and Frances Wright Pre-School Centre to a new shared campus site.

Read or download the proposals:

• Strathmartine Proposal (88KB PDF)
• Menzieshill Proposal (126KB PDF)
• Coldside Proposal (270KB PDF)

Written representations on the proposals may be submitted to Mr Michael Wood, Director of Education, Floor 2, Dundee House, 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee, DD1 1NL Email michael.wood@dundeecity.gov.uk


The last day of the consultation period is Monday 11 March 2013. This is the last day by which representations must be received for the Council to take them into account.

Five and Ten Percent Savings Sought from Each Council Department Confirmed by Chief Executive

On Thursday evening I attended the quarterly meeting of the Local Community Planning Partnership (LCPP) for The Ferry. 

The Chief Executive of the Council, David Dorward, attended and gave an overview about Council's priorities and plans. He also emphasised the challenge of continuing to provide quality services whist also finding significant reductions in budgets. This was in the context of reductions in the grant from the Scottish Government and the Council Tax freeze amounting to a £18 million black hole. To meet this £18 million shortfall by the end of March 2015, he revealed that each council department had been asked to identify potential savings of 5% and 10%. 

I have calculated from figures provided in this year's budget that this would amount in Education to about £6.5 for a 5% saving and £13 million for a 10% saving. But the funding gap is really bigger in Education as SNP Councillors are committed to increasing nursery hours at an annual cost of £1.6  million. Potentially therefore savings in existing services in our schools will be cuts by up to £15 million spread over the next couple of years. 

This confirms the concerns that I have previously voiced about the impossible challenge of maintaining excellence in our schools while seeking even more significant cuts in budgets.

Commenting on Proposals for Additional Pupil and Parent Members of the Education Committee

At the Full Council Meeting on Monday 20 August 2012, there is a proposal to extend the membership of the Education Committee by adding three further members; two parent council members and one senior pupil. 

One of the parents, would be nominated from the members of Nursery and Primary School Parent Councils while the other would be chosen from the ranks of the members of the Secondary School Parent Councils. The senior pupil member would be nominated from the members of the City Wide Pupil Council.

I think it is a sound idea to provide a pupil voice and more parental voices on the Education Committee. Our pupils are at the sharp end of many profound changes as a result of introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence so it is a good idea to make a clear link between the City Wide Pupil Council and the Education Committee. While some Councillors are also parents of children currently in our schools, I think it is right to enhance the voices of parents at the Education Committee and make a link through them with multiple viewpoints from our network of parent councils. 

Of course, I could not but welcome this extension to the membership of the Education Committee, because a very similar proposal was contained in the Dundee Labour Manifesto which we put before the voters in May 2012 elections in Dundee. I am glad that the SNP administration have been prepared to seek out good ideas, wherever these reside.

I do however have a question about the way the proposal has been framed. I wonder for example what these three additional members will think about their status as the only non voting members of the Committee unlike the two trade union and three religious representatives on the Committee?

  

I also think that to make a success of this development, we will need to think more about the agendas and the formality of the meetings. 

Often the Education Committee agendas are very thin and avoid matters that are really crucial. For example, the Agenda of the Education Committee on Monday night contains only two items; the approval of a £10,00 grant to the Prince's Trust Fairbridge Programme in Dundee and the reporting of contracts for school taxis which has already been approved during the recess. Important as these are, it's not very compelling stuff to come in for or what parents and pupils might most aspire to influence. Why isn't there a report on Monday about the SQA examination results in our schools? The pre-appeal statistics are apparently available and were quoted in the press by the Education Convener more than two weeks ago but are not being presented to the Education Committee on Monday. Now items like that might really interest and engage the parental and pupil member of the Committee.

I think the Council should also give consideration to relaxing the formality and procedures in our meetings if we want to really involve the new additional members. The way standing orders are rigidly enforced by Conveners often seems to be designed to stifle rather than facilitate a rigorous examination of proposals and a lively debate.