SNP's Broken Promises on Primary Class Sizes in Dundee

"Under the SNP, Dundee City Council will continue to deliver new schools, smaller class sizes, breakfast clubs in every school ....."

".... And as every parent knows, smaller classes means more teacher time and better learning." 

(April 2012 SNP Dundee Manifesto - see below)

"Removing the restrictions of class sizes of 18" is proposed by SNP in Council Budget Paper last week providing a saving of £595,000 per year.
(January 2013 Budget Paper see below)

SNP Education Cuts in Dundee Reveal Shocking Abandonment of Class Size Reductions in our Primary and Secondary Schools

In the latest round of Education Cuts in Dundee, the SNP Administration are proposing to remove smaller class sizes in Primary One classes where previously introduced in the City Primary Schools. This is an shameful abandonment of their local and national promises to voters to introduce a maximum class size of 18 in Primary 1-3 classes. This will be very disappointing for parents and carers whose children are coming up to P1 in the schools where this had been introduced. 

They are also proposing to abandon the universal provision of smaller class sizes - an average of twenty - for Maths and English in S1 and S2. In a divisive move, they are proposing to remove this from five of the nine secondary schools in Dundee apparently having regard to the Council's Fairness Strategy. This means that Maths and English classes in the five secondary schools can be will be as large as 33 pupils. This would represent a huge increase.

I think many parents will think this will be rough justice if this applies to their children in their Secondary School. I am sure there will be immediate demands in the city by parents, carers and teachers to know which schools this will apply to and what effect it will have on teaching and learning in Maths and English for children in those schools affected.

It seems that so many of Labour's steady improvements to the staffing levels in our schools are being carelessly removed by the SNP's successive cuts in Education in Dundee.

Although we were told in a report to Council earlier this week that, we had to to maintain teacher numbers, as part of the local government settlement between the Scottish Government and Councils, here we are again seeing further cuts in teacher numbers with up to thirty more front line teacher posts disappearing this year.

Education Statistics Reveal SNP Broken Promises and Sleight of Hand

The publication yesterday of the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland 2012 reveal a number of broken promises by the SNP Government and City Council.

The pupil-teacher ratio in Dundee Primary Schools has increased in the past year and is now the highest it has been since 2007. Each year under the SNP this has been inching up from 11.7 in 2007 up to 12.3 in  2012. I think parents and teachers can see which direction this is going and where the cuts are biting.

With regard to the statistics for P1 classes of 18 or under, the progress apparently made in the past year is probably illusory in Dundee. This year these statistics have included in these figures some of the largest classes in the city with up to 36 pupils in one classroom but with two teachers. This arrangement is being used in some of our Primary schools where there have been rising numbers of pre-fives entering P1 classes and this has been the only way of accommodating them. This is hardly the small class that parents imagined. It's worth recalling that the figures for the percentage of pupils in P1-P3 (not just P1) in classes in 18 or less was supposed to be 100 per cent by 2011 - this is one of the SNP's manifesto promises for the May 2007 Holyrood Elections.

Finally the expected information on absences and exclusions from our schools are not included this year. In the small print we find out that these figures will now only be collected and published every two years, thus reducing the information available about trends in pupils not attending school and those that are excluded. This is a backward step which I can only assume is to keep the figures out of the public eye.

SNP Primary School Class Size in Dundee - Limited Ambitions & Difficulties Ahead

Item two on the agenda of the Education Committee on Monday, is a report from the Director of Education, setting out the Council's response to a Scottish Government's Consultation on draft regulations to reduce the class size maximum of all P1 classes to 25.

Despite their electoral promise in May 2007 to reduce primary school class sizes in years one to three (P1-3) to 18, the SNP government in Holyrood is proposing to only legislate for a class size reduction to 25 in P1. They have however asked in their consultation whether the same limit should apply to P2 and P3 classes.

In Jim Collins's report to the Education Committee, (para 5.2.1) he suggests that, '... in practice, and in the current financial climate, such an extension is likely to cause considerable financial difficulty. and .... (para 5.3.1) 'the Council urges caution, and continuing dialogue with local authorities around the financial implications.'

I think parents in Dundee will be disappointed that this appears to be limit of the ambitions for our city wide primary schools by the SNP administration of the City Council. I wonder whether Councillor Liz Fordyce (SNP), Convenor of the Education Committee, has merely been caught napping approving this report for the Agenda of the Education Committee? I hope she will be coming forward with her own amendment on Monday evening which will give fuller effect to her party's commitment to class size reductions to 18.

In addition, parents with pre-school aged children will want more answers from the Convener about how their children might be excluded from their local primary school if the proposed legal limits on class sizes were introduced. For example, Barnhill Primary School is almost bursting at the seams. In Broughty Ferry, on the basis of figures recently supplied to me by the Education Department, the August 2010 school roll for Primary One intakes to Eastern, Forthill, Barnhill and Craigiebarns Primary are all currently full with waiting lists. Will some parents with rising fives in the catchment areas of Barnhill Primary School have to seek places outwith these other three schools if class size legal limits are reduced?

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.

Education Committee Hampered by Only Having Half the Picture

In early December, I called for an emergency meeting of the Education Committee to consider the target schools for the potential reductions in Primary years 1-3 class sizes and the target schools for free school meals. I also asked that at the same time we examined the proposed cuts in primary education that would form part of the council's budget for 2010/11. I am glad that the Education Convener has brought forward the plans for class size reductions and free school meals but I regret she has not brought forward the planned reductions in Education at the same time.

On Monday evening the Education committee will be hampered by only having part of the financial and educational picture spelled out. What I can reveal is that the Chief Executive has confirmed that the Education Department has been asked to identify savings of 1% of its budget which amounts to £1.3 million. The details of what reductions in service have been targeted will remain confidential until the budget documentation is released. The Director of Finance confirmed on Thursday last week that the budget volume is likely to be ready to be circulated to elected members later this week. It seems pointless to improve some aspects of services with one hand and remove them with the other and not consider the overall impact of these combined changes on the education of all of the children in our nursery, primary and secondary schools at the same time.

I shall be asking the Director of Education and the Education Convener the following questions at the meeting:
Firstly, with regard to the targeted 13 primary schools for class size reductions, what changes to class teaching will also happen at the same time? I understand that to keep the cost down, more children in Primary years 4-7 will be taught in composite classes (containing children from more than one year group).
Secondly, what is the timescale for the roll out of this policy to the remaining majority of primary schools in the city? Many parents in our city will be wanting to know how long their children will wait for this.
Thirdly, how will some of these thirteen schools who receive more money for extra teachers to reduce class sizes feel the effect of the £1.3 million budget cuts in Education yet to be revealed?
Fourthly, what is the projected overall teacher count for Dundee for September 2010? Will there be more or fewer teachers than in September 2009?
Fifthly, what will be the implications on the council's plans to drive up attainment and achievement in our schools from the combined effect of these class size reductions and budgetary cuts?

Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, Demoted in Cabinet Reshuffle

Earlier today, First Minister Alex Salmond admitted, "education needed a fresh look" when he announced a mini reshuffle of his ministerial team. Fiona Hyslop, the under pressure Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning was demoted. She is to be replaced by Mike Russell, previously the Culture and External Affairs Minister. Fiona Hyslop takes over the role Mike Russell is giving up.

Laurie Bidwell, Labour's Education Spokeperson in Dundee said:

"Today's move follows a dificult time for Ms Hyslop, who has been under fire for months over not delivering on the SNP's manifesto commitments. More particularly, not reducing primary school class sizes in years 1-3 ; not cancelling higher education student debt and not matching Labour's PPP school building programme 'brick for brick'. It will however take much more than a reshuffle of his pack to make some impact on the issues where Fiona Hyslop was not making much headway. The reason why local authorities were finding it difficult to follow her tune was down to tightly restricted resources. If her successor is more persuasive in Cabinet and commands more cash for schools some progress can be made reducing class sizes and building more schools. Ironically, to achieve that, Mike Russell will need to squeeze wasteful public spending such as the National Conversation, Scotland's most expensive blether, which until today he was promoting in his former role."

Review of Class Sizes Provides Figleaf for Education Secretary

On Wednesday, Fiona Hyslop (Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning) announced that a review to address the mix of class size control mechanisms is to be led by David Cameron, President of the Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES).

David Cameron - a former Director of Children's Services at Stirling Council - will take forward an in-depth review of the various class size control mechanisms, which include regulations, circulars, and teachers' terms and conditions, announced Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop today.

Mr Cameron's review will have a remit to bring forward recommendations before next summer on the best approach for coherent and effective class size control mechanisms in Scottish schools.

This follows the announcement in September 2009 of plans for a legal maximum of 25 for all primary one classes from August next year.

Laurie Bidwell, Labour Education Spokesperson in Dundee said:

"While the current measures and controls to determine class sizes are confusing and need to be rationalised, this review is really a fig leaf to cover the embarrassment of the Education Secretary that she is unable to adequately fund reducing Primary 1-3 class sizes to 18 as her party promised in the May 2007 elections to the Scottish Parliament. To fulfill this SNP manifesto commitment would require a substantial increase in the budget for teachers in Dundee and money for extra classrooms at schools that are currently fully subscribed such as Barnhill Primary School in Broughty Ferry."


Existing arrangements for regulation of class sizes are as follows:

* Primary one - maximum of 25 set by circular
* Primary one to three - maximum of 30 set by regulations
* Primary four to seven - maximum of 33 set by teachers' terms and conditions
* Composite classes - maximum of 25 set by teachers' terms and conditions
* Secondary one to two - maximum of 33 set by teachers' terms and conditions
* Secondary one and two maths and English - maximum of 20 set by circular
* Secondary three to six - maximum of 30 set by teachers' terms and conditions
* Practical classes - maximum of 20 set by teachers' terms and conditions.

Class Size Reduction in Primary Schools - Another SNP Broken Promise on Education

“The announcement this morning by Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, that she will introduce a legal cap of 25 pupils on P1-3 class sizes will leave parents wondering about the competence of the Cabinet Secretary at mental arithmetic. There is clearly a big difference between the SNP's May 2007 Manifesto Commitment to reduce P1-3 class sizes to 18 with the Cabinet Secretary's announcement of a legal maximum of 25. No amount of spin can remove the 18 or less pledge from the 2007 SNP manifesto. The question that SNP Government ministers must answer is when will 18 or less be met.

As Labour Education Convener in Dundee, until April this year, I was clear that class size reductions were particularly desirable in the early years of schooling but could only be achieved in all Dundee Primary Schools if the government in Holyrood was committed to finance the cost of the extra teachers and classrooms. The government has not given councils one extra penny to pay for the P1-3 class size of 18 policy so not surprisingly progress on reducing class sizes is very slow.

Without extra classrooms and cash to employ more teachers and to erect more classrooms, a legal cap of 25 might reduce parental and carers choice when they find that their local school is full and cannot accommodate all of the placing requests from the school's catchment area.

I think, many parents, carers and teachers will be disappointed that this is another extravagant electoral promise about Education that the SNP government is now conceding it cannot keep.”