Background: The Gairloch High School Parent Council have set up an action group to try and save Gairloch High School from losing any more staff and to try and maintain as balanced and varied a curriculum as our children need and deserve. Our action group is called, REAct (Rural Education Action).
We have also decided to send a letter home to parents/carers inviting them to our next parent council meeting on Wednesday 24th August 2011 at 7pm in the High School. The letter was posted but is available for viewing here.
We are fortunate that the Head of Education, Calum MacSween is visiting the school on the 24th and has agreed to attend our meeting on Wednesday night. This meeting is open to the public and we hope that as many of the members of the community will come along as well. As the future of Gairloch High school affects the whole community we are hoping for as much support as possible.
Meeting of Gairloch High School Parent Council, 7pm 24th August 2011 in Gairloch High School
Minutes
Present: Approx 160 attended including members of the community, staff and members of the Parent Forum
In Attendance: Calum MacSween (Acting Head of Education), Maurice MacIntyre (Acting Area Education Manager for Skye, Lochaber and Wester Ross)
Apologies: Huw Banister, Andy Vickerstaff, Lynn MacKenzie, Jim Sutherland, Pat Gulliver, Viveca Port, Jess Dodd, Fiona MacMillan,
Gillian Morrison (Chair) welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Mr MacSween and Mr MacIntyre
The minutes of the meeting 20th June 2011 were approved by Jennifer Robertson and seconded by Sandi Urquhart.
Gillian thanked everyone for attending and explained that the purpose of this meeting was to give the wider Parent Forum and concerned members of the community an opportunity to meet with Mr MacSween and Mr McIntyre, in the hope of gaining some concrete assurances about the future of Gairloch High School. A Parent Council sub group have set up the action group “REAct” (Rural education Action group). The aim of this group is to stop the deterioration of the curriculum at Gairloch High School, to provide the pupils and staff with a stable and secure working environment and to protect Gairloch High School’s excellent reputation.
John Port (Head teacher) was encouraged to see so many people coming out to support the school. There is a demographic problem in that the number of children has decreased and John manages the school budget to fit in with this demographic. He has worked hard to manage the changes, keeping as much of the curriculum in place as possible. In addition to the curriculum, he values the extra commitment of staff to provide a wide range of extra curricular activities to enable various skills to be delivered to pupils. The formula used to determine staffing levels is based on the number of pupils in the school. Home Economics and Business Studies have already been lost and this year he looked to preserve English and Maths and other subjects without losing more teaching staff. It is known that Pat Gulliver is planning to retire next year and he is working with Mr MacSween to find ways to avoid losing art in the curriculum. Next year there is a bigger intake of S1’s and a small S6 leaving, so the school roll should be higher in the next school year but it will fluctuate in following years. He would like to come up with a 7 – 10 year plan with the Highland Council to stablise the situation. The school is still doing very well and this year’s results were still very good. John will endeavour to fight for the school.
Mr MacSween said that the turnout tonight was a clear indication of support and concern for the curriculum. He has had long links with Gairloch High school originating back to Neil Wilkie’s time as Head teacher. He suggested that Gairloch High school be recommended to be a case study for the new Commission on Rural Education, announced by Michael Russel MSP as the school meets the criteria, namely the delivery of rural education to maintain the life chances of children in rural communities, to consider funding issues around rural education and the link between rural education and rural communities. He recommends that the school and Highland Council work together to petition the commission.
Questions then followed from the floor, which were mainly answered by Mr MacSween.
Questions from the floor regarding the formula and responses from Mr MacSween
- Why was the formula changed during the school holidays?
The formula before the holidays (4.6168 + (0.089451 x roll) did not reflect the impact of the cuts to budgets. The formula as used now (4.4968 + (0.087125 x roll) reflects the results of cuts to budgets.
- You cannot use the same formula for large and small schools. Local efforts to provide a good education are to be admired
The Council uses three different formulae according to the size of school (roll less than 210, roll between 210 and 299 and roll of 300 +) to provide some kind of balance. This is a Highland policy, not a national one, and is geared to put more support into smaller schools.
- GHS is unique, therefore the formula will not work here
To an extent all schools are unique. There are five other schools like Gairloch with rolls of less than 210. What is causing problems in Gairloch is the fact that the roll has fallen at the same time as staffing budgets have been cut.
- The formula is clearly not working here when we are not only losing staff but this means that we are losing subjects
Yes, I can see that. We spent time with John this afternoon trying to understand the reasons and we began a process of formulating a plan top address the issues. We would like Parent Council members and local councillors to be involved in the discussions too.
- Can you influence changes to the formula?
The formula is not the work of any individual and, yes, I would be involved in any review of it. We would need to consult widely but, as things stand, the overall funding is fixed and we have to make alterations within it. If we change one formula, it will have an impact on the other two formulae. So there would need to be some negotiation.
- If you add the total number of pupils in the schools under 200 pupils, this number comes to less than the school roll in the large schools. A 10% increase in budget would make a big difference to these small schools and a 1% drop in budget of the large schools would not affect them drastically. This could be a solution.
That’s a good point and can certainly be looked at. We would need to sit down as an Education Management Team and look at the wider impact of changing one of the formulae. Equally, it would be interesting to compare a school with the combined roll of the six smaller schools (approx 780) and see the difference in the staffing of the single school of 780 with the combined staffing of the six schools. I think that would show the benefits of the formulae for smaller schools but would not address the specific problem in Gairloch at the moment. But we can look again at the formula.
Other questions from the floor:
- There has been a fight to keep English and Maths. What about the non-academic children?
Every school as part of its Curriculum for Excellence plan is looking at how best to provide a curriculum that meets the needs of all learners. Literacy and numeracy are core but, you are right, we need to work with partners such as colleges, employers and voluntary groups to ensure that the curriculum has sufficient breadth to meet the needs of all. For rural schools this is something that the Commission on Rural Education could look at.
- Does anyone have a budgetary discretion for GHS?
Councillors have a small discretionary budget in their wards that, as a one off, might help around the edges of the curriculum but couldn’t look at the core curriculum that is causing concern at the moment. Schools work with a devolved budget and the staffing budget is by far the biggest. Any savings that can be made there can be used elsewhere but if the school is over-staffed, none of the other budgets are big enough to compensate. That’s part of the problem.
- The school is not meeting the needs of everyone – we do not have home economics or business studies.
Part of our discussion this afternoon was round that issue. We need to formulate a plan involving West Highland College and local employers that allows for a broad curriculum to be followed. There may be some online options – but not for practical classes such as HE obviously. There could also be a way of keeping teachers in rural schools if they have a part-time contract for face to face teaching and also a contract for online teaching for students in other schools.
- Even if teachers were available, the school is not allowed to employ any more teachers
There can be some negotiation around this.
- There is a worry that a falling roll leads to a falling curriculum which will lead to less people coming into the area
Yes, I understand the worry that a downward spiral of fewer job opportunities locally leads to families moving away and the school roll reducing and then a reducing curriculum impacting on whether people move to the area. There is a role for the Commission here to see how local authorities can support schools in rural areas to maintain a broad curriculum.
- Once a subject goes, it is hard to get it back again. We had to fight to get to 6th year status and now subjects are under threat
Point taken. Every school wants to offer the widest and best curriculum for their pupils. We are looking at ways of lifting the resources to provide the best curriculum and to make the most of what we have got. The Council committed to building 6 year schools along the west coast. That has been achieved. Now we have to work together to ensure a breadth of curriculum is maintained. The battle is to maintain resources and develop academic and practical skills. The battle should not be between GHS and Highland Council. We should agree there is a problem and act together.
- We were told that education is not a priority for councillors, where are they tonight?
I cannot comment on where they are tonight. But what I can say is that every councillor that I’ve come across is interested in education, not least in their own area. The local members should be included in any group that is set up to address the immediate problem and also in any approach to the Commission on Rural Education.
- Our children have to move away for employment and higher education. They need a wide curriculum to give them equal opportunities with their urban counterparts
Yes, I totally agree. Rural schools are important in communities and pupils need access to the same chances as in urban and bigger schools. We need to look at how best to ensure that access.
- Our children deserve face to face teaching and interaction with and motivation from their teachers. Only some pupils are motivated for self study
Nobody is suggesting all, or even most, learning could be online. But it’s an option worth looking at for some individuals, in some subjects at some levels. One of the strengths of smaller rural schools is that they often teach subjects at more levels – albeit often in the same class. In some bigger schools that flexibility doesn’t exist and can restrict the number of levels that can be taught in any one subject.
- Some courses have a practical element which cannot be done online
Agreed. Online works for some subjects and at some levels. It can only ever be one option amongst others.
- How much control does John Port have over his budget?
All schools are part of the same system. Budgets are based on school rolls and John is dealing with budget reductions at the same time as a falling roll. That is something of a challenge no matter which school you are in.
- Over the next 7 – 10 years the school roll is fluctuating, what is being done to even out this rollercoaster?
That needs to be part of the discussion in drawing up a plan that allows for some fluctuations – which are perfectly normal in a school. It’s mainly when there are large fluctuations that problems are caused
- This used to be a 2 year secondary with the threat of downgrading to a primary only school. There was a community uproar. We need to fight to maintain the standards we have now. We need support from our Councillors
The strength of support is evident in the turnout tonight. That must be hugely encouraging for the Parent Council and for the staff of the school. We are hear to listen and then to work with the school and community on a plan for the immediate issues and, if you agree, on a joint submission to the Commission. Gairloch would make for a very good case study on the levels of resource needed to keep a broad curriculum going. This is not a one off visit. We’ll come back to a future meeting to update on progress.
- On upgrading the school, savings were made in not hostelling the pupils in Dingwall. When the formula came in, the school roll dropped and are now being penalised as a result. Why are small schools penalised?
All schools feel penalised when budgets tighten but I accept that smaller rural schools do not have the economies of scale , nor access to alternative provision that some of the larger, urban schools do.
- Is it true that if a teacher retires or resigns, that teacher will not be replaced?
No, not necessarily. It is not inevitable that Art will be lost at the end of the session. Hence the importance of joint working on an agreed plan.
- Why is there not a projected 5 year plan based on projected figures of school rolls? What groups can REAct lobby before the budgets are agreed in February?
There are too many budgetary uncertainties for us to be able to create a 5 year plan with any degree of confidence. I hope REAct will quickly find that working with officials and local councillors will provide a way forward.
- Would like to see colleges such as West Highland College making allowances for small numbers of pupils wanting to take up courses
That would certainly be helpful. Colleges have their own budgetary pressures of course but we should look to see if there can be some kind of cross subsidy with more popular courses subsidising less popular ones.
- Are any subjects safe from cuts?
One of the first things that the working group should look at is what constitutes an appropriate curriculum for Gairloch. The Curriculum for Excellence identifies 8 curriculum areas so that provides a starting point. So you might start with English, Maths, two Social Subjects, three Sciences and so on building up the curriculum. No school ever has as may subjects as it might want but we should at least be able to agree an absolute core minimum.
- How sustainable is teaching more than one subject?
Dual qualified staff certainly help smaller schools provide a wider curriculum. But it may be difficult to recruit dual qualified staff in the future. Many of us who started in the 70s and 80s were dual qualified but it is not so common now. That’s definitely a point for the Commission to consider.
- If we got a probationer, would this be on temporary contract?
Yes – all probationer contracts are temporary for one year.
- Using teachers with a dual qualification means that the staff have less time to focus on their subjects and the pupils lose out on a specialised teacher for their subject
I don’t think there is any evidence for that.
The reply was backed by Mr Port.
Overall, despite everything, the school performs very well indeed, not just academically but in the range and quality of extra curricular opportunities staff provide. They don’t just go the extra mile, they go extra miles for staff. Gairloch High School is doing very well indeed and no one wants to see that change.
Response from John Port:
Our problem is remote rurality. Other small schools have colleges nearby that can be accessed by pupils easily. It was difficult to work out a timetable due to the staff cuts but grades have not suffered. This demonstrates the effort staff are putting into giving the pupils the best education. Although Graphic Comm is temporarily not available to some pupils, it will be available to them at other times in their school careers.
Conclusion:
The school would be happy to be considered in being a case study for the Commission. Mr MacSween will put the next steps in place. Gillian and 2 other members of REAct will work with John and Maurice MacIntyre on this. Mr MacSween will take our concerns and suggestions regarding the formula back to the Education, Culture and Sport Senior Management meeting in the first instance. He will also keep a close contact with the school and the parent council.
Mr MacIntyre gave his commitment to the school by looking at the long term solution to this emotive subject.
Gillian thanked everyone for attending. John also wanted to express his thanks to everyone.
The next REAct meeting will be on Monday 29th August at 7pm in Gairloch High School.
The next Parent Council meeting will be the AGM on Wednesday 2nd November at 7pm in Gairloch High school.
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
