Headteachers Fear Pupils Are Being Held Back by Lack of Resources

According to evidence in the international PISA survey:

"Scotland’s headteachers fear pupils are being held back by a lack of resources. Almost half (45%) believe they do not have enough teachers, and a third say there are not enough support staff and materials."

The Scotsman 6 February 2017

The shortage of teachers in Dundee schools won't be eased just by providing more cash to our Headteachers. Too many of our schools in Dundee report difficulties attracting suitably qualified teachers to fill their current vacancies. This is chiefly because there are not enough training places for teachers in our Universities. 

The responsibility for this Teacher shortage, lies with the Scottish Government. Cabinet Secretary for Education, John Swinney MSP, and his predecessor SNP colleagues have failed in their workforce planning. It's not good when the political leadership of Education in Scotland are clearly so poor at maths.

School Placing Requests - What you Can do if Your Choice of School is Refused

A parent or carer has the right to make a placing request to send their child to a particular school other than the one in whose catchment area they reside. The local education authority can refuse to accept a parent or carer's choice. If this happens, the parent or carer can take informal action by talking to the local education authority or formal action by appealing against the decision.

These resources may help inform pursuing either of these options:

Link to Citizens Advice Bureaux notes on Education choices for children 5 to 16 in Scotland

The 'Placing Request Appeal Toolkit' written by Iain Nisbet and Sarah-Jane Kissock - Education Law Solicitors at Govan Law Centre is also a useful resource
Click on this link to read the appeal toolkit or print out a copy - 12 pages.

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.

Declining Teacher Numbers and Increasing Pupil - Teacher Ratios in Dundee

On Tuesday 7 December, the Scottish Government published their Statistical Bulletin: 

Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No 2 2011 Edition 7 December 2011

The Bulletin shows the number of primary school teachers in Dundee is now at its lowest level since 2005. The numbers fell again in the last year to 639 at the census point.

In secondary schools, the number of teachers in Dundee is also at its lowest level since 2005. The numbers decreased over the last year to 716 at the census point.

The tables showing Pupil/Teacher ratios also show a noticeable adverse increase from 11.7 pupils to 1 teacher in 2009 to 12.1 pupils to 1 teacher in 2011.

Having promised the earth four and a half years ago, the SNP Government in Holyrood still refuses to face up to the truth that they have not reduced average class sizes.

They, and their SNP controlled Council in Dundee, are responsible for the decline in teacher numbers and an adverse rise in the pupil/teacher ratios in our City.

The SNP made unprecedented promises about improvements in education, none of which have ever been properly or fully funded.

In Dundee the Education Convener, Councillor Liz Fordyce, claims her cuts haven't removed teachers from the classroom but the growth in the number of pupils to each teacher (the Pupil / Teacher ratio)  paints a different picture.

We can't go on reducing the number of teachers in our schools in Dundee without having a negative effect on the attainment and achievement of our pupils. Dundee deserves better.

The Pupil - Teacher ratios have been extracted from from Table 2.2 on page 9 of the Statistical Bulletin

The comparative information on teacher numbers is taken from tables in the supplementary datasets which were also released on Wednesday 7 December 2011 by the Scottish Government.

Commenting on the Proposed Thirty Three Period Week in Secondary Schools in Dundee

Commenting on the item before the Education Committee of the City Council on Monday 26 September 2011, Consultation on the Implementation of the Thirty Three Period Week in Secondary School


I think a proposal that would lead to a change in the the start and finish time of the school day in all nine of our Secondary Schools will be of great interest to pupils and their teachers as well parents and carers.


In fact parents' and carers' first thoughts may be about the potential inconvenience of juggling working hours and out of school care and getting used to earlier finish times on two afternoons a week. 


I think we will all want to be convinced that the disruption from this change will have a worthwhile educational benefit. I met the Director of Education on Tuesday morning and gave him notice that at the Education Committee on Monday night I will have some questions for him about identifying the benefits and potential drawbacks of the proposed new timetable and its possible effect for good or bad on teaching and learning in our secondary schools.

I note that this is a proposal at this stage. The Director of Education is asking approval to go out for consultation throughout the Autumn with a report coming back to the Education Committee early next year. 

On Monday night, I shall also be proposing that we widen the consultation net. While I welcome the planned involvement of the City Wide Pupil Council, I think it would be unduly restrictive to exclude the voices of our 6000+ Secondary School pupils as well. I shall also propose the addition of a online survey for parents and carers.

Commenting on SQA Examination Results in Dundee

I congratulate our pupils on their attainment, as measured by SQA passes, in the examinations they undertook in May/June this year.  Parents and carers and of course teachers also deserve credit for their contribution to these successes.

In the Director of Education's report to the Education Committee on Monday 22 August, we have the first snapshot of the SQA examination results for this year. This compares passes as a whole in Dundee in 2011 with results in the city in earlier years.  I am sure it is not just Councillors, but parents and carers too, who will want to see the figures for each secondary school and for each subject. We have also yet to see the results in Dundee in a wider context, so we need to know how they compare with those in other Council areas and how they measure up with the national average.

On the basis of the provisional and partial figures available to me, I welcome the cautious tone in this report, especially its warning against complacency. I also endorse the ongoing emphasis on raising attainment in our schools and the reiteration of the route map to further improvement.

At this stage however, I do want to pick out the further rise in the percentage of our pupils who passed a minimum of Mathematics and English at Foundation level in Standard Grade – up from 88% to 90%. This is an important milestone.

PE Shortfall in Dundee Secondary Schools

Last week I publicly queried why two of our Dundee Secondary Schools were not providing the government recommended two hours of quality Physical Education per week for all their pupils in S1- 4 classes.

This week, I have been surprised to learn that St John's Roman Catholic High School and Craigie High School are the two secondary schools in the city that were apparently not meeting this standard. This is puzzling because both these schools have excellent indoor and outdoor facilities for physical education.

I am pleased that my questions have led to the Education Department committing to undertaking to 'audit the provision of PE in all our schools' again. I hope that the Education Convener, Councillor Liz Fordyce, has appointed sufficient qualified PE staff to ensure that this standard can be achieved in all nine of our Secondary Schools.