THE WAY I SEE IT: These resource-challenged Ross-shire schools could be beacons of light
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
I moved to Wester Ross in 1996, found the adventure I was seeking and 20 years ago married a local man who hails from Aultbea since generations. Our three sons, all at Gairloch High School last yearare approaching the latter end of their formal education journeys.
Being of the mindset that there’s no point complaining about the system unless you are willing to try to help improve it, I have been an active member of primary and secondary parent councils for over 15 years. Inspired by the passion of the staff, many of whom are parents too, continually going the extra mile for our children and young people despite the underfunding and challenges of a broken education system.
RELATED:
The Way I See It: Life-changing role of West Highland schools must be protected
Wester Ross pupils share life-changing impact of face-to-face teaching
Have our twice weekly newsletter delivered direct to your inbox
Every year for the last seven, I’ve sat through the increasing doom of secondary school head teacher reports requiring ever more creative solutions to offset the cuts, now juggling staff time to the minute to keep the curriculum rolling. School management is a plate spinning performance, requiring some wand waving magic in addition to blood, sweat, and tears.
Over the years there’s been public meetings, the Parent Council has written strongly worded letters to politicians and the council and still the cuts snip away at pupil support staff budgets, teachers become increasingly part time, subjects slip away, we lose caretakers to keep the school buildings maintained, cooking and cleaning budgets all reduced. Teachers are absent due to stress with increasing regularity, new teachers last for a short time before the whole round of recruitment starts again.
Schools become part of the rural depopulation catastrophe as the funding diminishes fixed to pupil role formulas, and the pain of more budget cuts is felt widely in the community.
But the wheels keep turning, walk into the primary school and it is a bubbling pot of creativity, and the high school fields teams for small school sports tournaments, has a competition winning school band, runs DofE trips and career festivals. Each young person is a well-known character, an individual member of the school community by the end of their high school journey heading for a positive destination. The schools are punching well above their weight because the teachers/parents care, and work ever harder to make things work despite the cuts.
Our local primary school Bualnaluib has bucked the trend of falling school rolls, it reached a low of 16 when my eldest was in upper primary after sitting at 60ish when my husband was a pupil in the 70’s/80’s. How has Bualnaluib School and nursery increased its role to 35 currently where other schools are mothballed and closed?
Probably helped by a very good Education Scotland report, local employment opportunities, possibly a new play park and football goals in the village, and definitely a very supportive and inclusive community where new people are welcomed and included and the skills they bring add to what already exists. The cumulative result, children have moved here whose parents can work remotely or locally, and former pupils have returned to raise their own families.
It would take only a fraction of the total highland school staffing budget to fund our 4 small schools at a sustainable level. Highland Council and Scottish Government need to stop seeing remote rural schools as a problem and fund them sufficiently to become a big part of the solution to rural depopulation.
Look at where we live, it’s an easy sell to attract families who can now work remotely but the schools need to offer equity of opportunity not just to attract new pupils but to encourage existing pupils to stay on after 16. If funded properly remote rural schools can be beacons of light and hope to reversing rural depopulation, the alternative is not an option.
Fiona Mackenzie is co-chairperson Gairloch High School Parent Council
