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17/02/2010

No Smaller Class Sizes for Broughty Ferry Primary Schools

In the documentation for the Dundee City Council budget meeting, on Thursday 11 February, there were no plans for smaller Primary years one to three (P1-3) class sizes in Broughty Ferry's three primary schools. Classes of 18 or under are being introduced in thirteen Dundee primary schools in August this year but none of these are in Broughty Ferry. In fact, since Barnhill, Eastern and Forthill primary schools are operating at or near to capacity, they would each need additional classrooms built in order to retain their current volume of pupils and accommodate P1-3 pupils in classes of 18 or under. As no money is budgeted for building permanent or temporary classrooms in the Education Department's capital plan for 2009/2012, its difficult to see how any progress on class size reduction in primary schools in The Ferry, can be achieved. I think Councillor Ken Guild, also a Ferry Councillor and leader of the Administration of the City Council, should apologize to parents in Broughty Ferry for excluding their children from the Council's plans for smaller class sizes.