Download Letter - Calderwood Primary School Parent Council Response to

Calderwood Primary School Parent Council
Buchanan Drive
Rutherglen
Glasgow
G73 3PQ
The Deputy First Minister
John Swinney MSP
St. Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
6th January 2017
Dear Deputy First Minister,
Calderwood Primary School Parent Council response: Governance Review of Scottish Education
Thank you for the opportunity to input into the Governance Review of Scottish Education. Our understanding is
that the review provides 'principles' and not specific policy statements but that this will be the next step. Our
understanding is that the Government will publish a response to the review and more specific proposals will
follow this year. We would hope that this remains consultative and that the Government continues to listen to
those most affected by any major changes.
Below is Calderwood Primary School’s Parent Council response to the review. We found it helpful to approach
the document utilising the specific parent focused questions from the Minister, which we understand came
about following discussions that were had with the National Parent Forum in Scotland.
In terms of general feedback, we found the document to lack detail and depth. The information session
facilitated by South Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Government in December 2016 was incredibly helpful
when it explained that this approach was to encourage discussion, idea sharing and innovative thinking around
governance. While we welcome the sharing of best practice, of innovation and the emphasis on collaborative
working with parents, we do not believe there is the push from parents or the education profession for changes
to the current governance structures. We believe that there is scope to make improvements and increase
autonomy within the structures that already exist.
We found the information session incredibly helpful in formulating our response and we were encouraged to
hear from other parent councils who share a similar position to ours. It is our belief that there are issues around
resourcing and staffing levels which would not be addressed through the type of restructuring implied in the
document and our concern would be that some of the changes proposed may in fact hinder the educational
leadership we would like to see in our school.
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How do we want schools to be run?
From a parental perspective, we would want the school ‘run’ by those whose primary focus is to deliver an
exceptional education experience for every child at Calderwood. We would want the leaders in learning to be
able to concentrate on the education and emotional wellbeing of our children.
We would hope that schools would be run through working in partnership with the children, parents and wider
community and at a more strategic level they are supported in the implementation of nationally developed and
coordinated strategies. We would not want the school management team distracted from what we believe
should be their primary focus. In short, it is our belief that the current arrangements work; the Scottish
Government provide a strategic framework and governance structure which is then adapted for local use,
implemented and assessed at Local Authority level.
What services and support should be the responsibility of schools (as opposed to the Local Authority)?
It is our belief that the school leadership should have responsibility for the delivery of learning including the
curriculum, coordination of teaching methods and assessment. We also think it is the responsibility of the
school to create the nurturing environment and culture that encourages self-growth and self-worth. It is also the
responsibility of the school to appropriately assess the needs of the children and determine what is required to
best meet these needs.
We believe that the Local Authority’s role should include ensuring consistency across schools both in education
approach and resourcing to ensure children from all backgrounds get the same opportunities.
What kind of decisions should head teachers be able to make to support effective learning?
We believe that the following exemplifies the type of decision making that would support effective learning:
Strategic Direction
While we recognise that there are new National drivers within Education, it is important that schools at a local
level retain the autonomy to personalise their own strategic plans. No two schools are the same but with the
guidance from Local Authorities in the identification of local needs, combined with self-evaluation and
identification of individual school needs, schools are in a strong position to retain and indeed increase
autonomy, without any huge shift in governance structures. It is our understanding that Calderwood and indeed
other schools welcome the support and guidance from Education Scotland and the Inspectorate. It is our belief
that both bodies should continue to play their individual role in improving the quality of Scottish Education in
partnership with local authorities and schools.
Recruitment and selection
We believe that it is very important that Head Teachers are fully involved in the recruitment process when
recruiting teaching staff in particular and our understanding is that this is not always the case. Head Teachers
know the specific needs within a school in terms of balancing staff skills and qualities. We believe that this is an
area where Local Authorities could share best practice and improve effective recruitment.
Increased Purchasing Flexibility
From discussion with our Head Teacher and the management team, it is our understanding that they would
welcome greater flexibility in the devolved school budget. As budgets reduce there needs to be greater
flexibility in where resources can be purchased in order to seek best value. From our experience of working with
the Head Teacher to identify suppliers for specific projects, this is not always the case with the current iproc
system used within our Local Authority. Resources can be difficult to source if at all and the quality of materials
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varies greatly. This may be an area where improvements could be made to help support and deliver effective
learning.
With regards to the proposal for Head Teachers to have an increase in budgetary responsibility, we do not
believe that Head Teachers should manage budgets such as salaries, janitorial, utilities, facilities etc. This should
continue to be managed centrally for several reasons, the first and most important of which (from a parental
perspective) is that we would not want the Head Teacher distracted from her role as a leader of learning. In
addition, it is our understanding that stringent controls are required when managing such large budgets to
ensure that risks of misappropriation of funds and fraud are minimised. We would have thought that this would
be better managed at Local Authority level. For example, segregation in duties so that no one person can
complete the full process. This would be difficult to implement at individual school level where it would really
just be the Head Teacher.
To what extent are our school leaders fully qualified to do this?
We can only comment on the school leaders at Calderwood Primary School. We are lucky to have incredibly
competent leaders who are committed and qualified to deliver the highest quality of educational experience for
the children of Calderwood. It is our opinion that they have the educational and leadership qualifications to
deliver what we as parents want from our leaders in learning in the current governance structure.
What role should parents play in school life and how could they be supported?
Parents should be encouraged to play as much of a role in school life as they feel able to. Parents should be
there to support, encourage, question and partner with the school. By offering multiple and varied ways of
interaction, parents should feel that there is a way for them to interact with the school and have a role in school
life, that they are comfortable with. This might include Parent Council involvement in the staff recruitment
process, volunteering at school events, sharing skills, donating items or responding to questionnaires.
Trying to engage parents is incredibly challenging. We have a very active Parent Council and interested Parent
Forum, but even with this it can be difficult to engage parents in policy or strategic discussion. It is our belief
that parents want to be informed and consulted when appropriate but do not necessarily want to get involved
with the minutia of the curriculum or educational policy – they want to leave this to the educational
professionals. Trust in the leadership of the school is key to this, as is effective communication.
What are your thoughts on Regional Education Boards?
We do not feel that the role of regional Education Boards has been adequately explained in the document. Our
initial thoughts on this though are that we would want greater details as to what additional benefits these
Boards would bring other than an additional tier of bureaucracy.
Who should have the final say: Head Teacher, Local Authority, Regional Board?
We would suggest that it would depend on what ‘the final say’ related to. If it is about the educational
experience of the child, the Head Teacher. If it is about financial prioritisation, the Local Authority. To date we
do not know enough about the remit and responsibilities that the Regional Education Boards would have.
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In conclusion, from our discussions with parents and staff of Calderwood, we do not get the impression that
there is any great push for a change in the governance structure. Clearly we are looking at it from the
perspective of Calderwood Primary parents. Other parents in other areas will have their own thoughts, their
own concerns. As we have said previously, we have no doubt that the management team of Calderwood are
flexible, adaptable and more than capable of dealing with any changes, any increased responsibilities but we are
of the opinion that they do not need this, nor do they want it. From a parental perspective we want teachers to
teach and leaders of learning to lead.
Yours sincerely,
Jayne Swanson
Chair, Calderwood Primary School Parent Council
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