Lack of Parity in Dundee Schools Compared with Other Councils

Dundee Does not Measure Up
Over the last fortnight, a number of press articles have revealed that schooling in Dundee does not measure up very well compared with other councils in Scotland. 

Unfilled Teaching Posts
One week before the beginning of the new school year, is was revealed that Dundee City Council still has 28 teaching posts to fill – 13 in primary schools and 15 in secondary schools.

I was informed that last August some newly qualified teachers, who had agreed to take a teaching post with the Council, failed to turn up at the beginning of term, as presumably they had received a 'better' offer elsewhere. Unfortunately, therefore, the 28 teacher vacancies probably understates the shortage of teachers from day one of the new school year on Tuesday.

Bearing in mind the likely number of demands for long term cover in the classroom during the forthcoming session, including maternity leave, it looks as though it is going to be another tough year for our teachers covering for absent and under recruited staff.

The Director and the Education Convener, Councillor Hunter, need to come up with a plan 'B' if Dundee is to meet its commitment to maintain teacher numbers. This will become apparent when the teacher and pupil census is undertaken in September.

Hours of Schooling
A recent report from Reform Scotland has revealed that Dundee pupils receive 855 hours of tuition a year in Primary and Secondary schools whereas in Aberdeenshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council pupils receive 1,000 hours per year in primary school and 1,100 hours per year in secondary school.

The report shows that when these hours are calculated over a child's entire compulsory schooling from age 5 to 16, this adds up to more than two years worth less teaching time for Dundee pupils compared with pupils in Aberdeenshire. 

More time spent in the classroom does not necessarily correspond with better learning outcomes, but the equivalent of two years difference is a very substantial variation.

The law of Scotland only defines the minimum number of school days each year and not the number of hours of teaching and learning each day, week and throughout the school year; this is left to the discretion of the Council. 

Clothing Grants
In 2009 a Scottish government working group proposed a minimum level for a school clothing grant of £70. Six years later, BBC Scotland revealed that: "parents on a low income could be given anything from £20 to £110 to put towards school uniforms each year." In Dundee, we have been informed, grants are restricted to £50 which is 29% below the minimum level recommended six years ago. 

This hardly seems adequate or fair in a city with significant levels of poverty.

Meeting with the Director of Children and Families' Services
I will be raising all these issues at my meeting with Michael Wood, the Director of Children and Families' Services next week.

Commenting on the Next Round of Education Cuts in Dundee

The announcement on Thursday 12 January of the Council's planned cuts of £0.7 million in Education in 2012/13 is to be regretted. This needs to be seen against the backdrop of 99 fewer teachers in our schools as a result of the £4.7 million cut to the budget in the 2011/12 financial year. To add to the woes of our schools, most of next year's cuts will also fall directly on our schools.

The removal of visiting Music and PE teachers from our primary schools will effectively narrow the curriculum for many children. Expecting every primary class teacher to take their own class for PE is a backward step. At a time when we are conscious of trying to encourage all young people to adopt a more physically active lifestyle, I have serious doubts as to whether our primary schools will be able to fulfil the government's standard of two hours of quality PE for each child each week.

The reduction in the number if visiting instrumental teachers will further cheese pare at our once outstanding schools' music service in our city. Starting music tuition a year later is a backward step because music makers need to start young. Reducing the instrumental tuition by a year risks lowering the number of our young people who may engage in the Dundee Schools' orchestras and bands and reduce those that might enter for SQA examinations in music. 

At the Policy and Resources Committee on Monday 9 January, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Ken Guild, informed us that he had written to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney MSP, to let his know that he had accepted the financial deal on offer from the government. Part of that deal includes a commitment by the Council to maintain teacher number in Dundee. When our SNP led Council cuts Music and PE teachers, there is a risk that the council will incur a financial penalty which will lead to even more cuts in our schools

On top of these additional cuts, the effect of reducing the pay of short term supply teachers is making it difficult to recruit them.  Between August 2011 and January 2012 nearly a quarter of the requests for supply cover from our Secondary Schools were unable to be met. This represents another stealth cut that will affect the quality of teaching and learning in our schools. 


Dundee children and young people deserve better!

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.