Education secretary agrees to discuss 'detrimental' rural school issues with Ross-shire and Sutherland parents
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Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has agreed to meet with north-west coast parents to discuss "detrimental" issues within Highland high schools outlined in their open letter.
On February 6, four west-coast parent councils from Ullapool, Gairloch, Kinlochbervie and Farr joined forces to highlight the issues faces by these schools due to under-staffing and budget cuts.
Their open letter, titled Save Our Rural Schools, is addressed to Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner and Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth and has almost reached 900 signatures at the time of writing.
READ MORE ON THE SAVE OUR RURAL SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN:
- Ross-shire MP backs 'abandoned' constituents as Save Our Rural Schools campaign is stepped up
- Ullapool High School pupil shares 'detrimental' reality behind virtual learning
- West Highland parents say their high schools "are beyond breaking point"
- Ullapool and Gairloch schools' crisis: Education Secretary responds to concerns
Some three weeks after the open letter's launch, Ms Gilruth has now issued her response to the parents, confirming she will meet with them to discuss the issues they have raised. However, it's understood she is yet to respond to open letter signatories.
The campaign group also hopes for Councillor Bremner to also agree to the meeting. The date of the meeting is yet to be confirmed.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Education Secretary has responded to the open letter of the four parent councils and has offered to meet them to discuss their concerns.
“It is important that we recognise the specific context of our rural schools, which is why local councils currently have the autonomy to provide incentives to attract teachers to their area. It is right that any decision to do so is taken at a local level given that local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of their staff. To support them, we are providing local authorities with £145.5 million in this year's budget to protect teacher numbers.”
“Councils are able to extend subject choice through school-college partnerships, digital platforms and collaborative approaches to timetabling. This includes accessing e-Sgoil who provide a range of online provision for national courses.”
Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner has automatic responses to all open letter signatories, outlining what the Highland Council are currently doing.
Councillor Bremner said: "The Highland Council has a large school estate with a pupil population of just over 30k which serve urban, small isles and rural communities and vary hugely in size.
"All local authorities are required to have a Devolved School Management Scheme which includes a formula on how schools will be staffed. The Highland Council has two levels of staffing formula to ensure that our smaller secondary schools have the staff required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum to meet the requirements of curriculum for excellence.
"The Primary staffing formula increases incrementally based on school roll, which ensures that national class size maxima are adhered to. There are also several bespoke management arrangements in place across Highland Council schools including, cluster schools and 3-18s which have been negotiated and agreed with members and local communities to meet their needs. In addition to the allocated staffing formula, each school will have an allocation of Pupil Equity Funding which they can also use to engage additional staffing.
"Following primary enrolment and the collation of projected secondary rolls, staff planning is undertaken for each individual school to ensure that the appropriate staffing is in place for the new school session starting in August. Wherever possible, posts are advertised on a permanent basis to encourage applications. The council provides a generous relocation and removal package which is available to teachers moving to the Highland area for a permanent post, this includes a contribution towards rental and travel. We are also currently investing in a comprehensive leadership programme for newly appointed Head Teachers as well as teachers at other levels to encourage retention and growth of staff across our schools.
"We currently provide some online provision for a small number of interrupted learners and senior phase pupils undertaking advanced higher courses. To build on the success of this, we are in discussion with head teachers to potentially provide a more progressive senior phase offering."
