Council chiefs in Fife have given their clearest indication yet that the length of the school week could be cut and staffing costs reduced as it strives to make further budget savings.
The Courier revealed in April last year that Fife Council was exploring the possibility of reduced teaching time to save an estimated £6 million.
Last year’s proposals, which provoked a parental backlash, prompted leading teaching union the EIS to express concerns there could be teaching job cuts and problems with the delivery of the school curriculum.
Now, Craig Munro, Fife Council executive director (education and children’s services) has indicated that potential changes to the school week and school timetabling are back on the agenda.
The council is also exploring the possibility of more joint head-ships.
With Fife Council requiring budget savings of around £77 million over the next three years, and with education making up around 48% of that budget, the Fife branch of the EIS yesterday warned that the “inexorable” arrival point was approaching where teacher staffing costs as the biggest part of the education budget would have to be reduced.
But Fife Council’s executive spokesperson for education, Councillor Bryan Poole, said he was convinced the changes could lead to “better learning outcomes for our children”.
In a letter encouraging parents and carers to attend “engagement” meetings over the next few weeks, Mr Munro said: “The Education and Children’s Services Directorate will shortly be conducting an engagement exercise about how we should develop further the provision of education in Fife.”
“The aims of this engagement are:to inform parents, carers and other members of the local community about our vision for the future; to outline ways in which we can best develop the provision of schooling in Fife over the coming years, allowing us to improve the learning experiences and physical activity of children and young people in Fife, their employability skills, and their leaver destinations; to explain the role of the professional learning of staff and school leadership in achieving these aims.
“We would like to engage in a dialogue around practical issues involved in developing our proposals like: the school week, school timetabling approaches and potential new leadership models in schools.
“In the current financial climate we are aware of the need for Fife’s schools to provide an education that is not only well-designed to meet the educational needs of children and young people, but also sustainable.
“However, we firmly believe our proposals would meet both of these aims.”
Mr Poole would not detail the proposals at this stage.
But he told The Courier the education engagement meetings, which have been designed to “generate a dialogue and discussion with parents and staff around possible changes to the school week, leadership and timetabling arrangements” should be seen and as distinct from the budget process. The councils draft budget is due to be published next Tuesday.
He said: “Over the past few years Fife’s Education Service has seen improvements, year on year, in the learning outcomes for Fife’s children.
“These improvements have come about because of deliberate and planned interventions based on research and evidence collected from Scotland and beyond on what works.
“In short we know that the two most important factors in continuing and stepping up the improvements we have seen is a) the quality of the teacher and teaching and b) the leadership that we can deploy in schools.
“There has been extensive discussions amongst the senior education professionals, including head teachers, around how we can create the space to develop and support all of our teachers to be the best they can be and thus improve the outcomes for Fife’s children.
“We are now at the stage of sharing those discussions with parents and the wider staff and having a robust dialogue.
“From a personal perspective it is my view that, based on the evidence that I have seen and read that the proposals which will be discussed have the potential to result in a significant step change in the educational outcomes for our children.
“I want Fife’s children every child to have the best possible learning opportunities and educational outcomes and the discussion proposals are designed to help us achieve that objective.
“So I would encourage and I hope that all parents can find the time to attend at least one of the engagement sessions.”