Boroughmuir Parents

The EPCN (Edinburgh Parent Council Network) is continuing to find ways to consult on and resist the proposed cuts.

Tina (below) has asked if other PCs would also write to the media – we will do this, and I would welcome comments and support on this. (please email parentcouncil@boroughmuir.org) or comment below.

Regards

Jerry

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Dear Sir

The proposed cuts to secondary schools which are driving the move from a departmental subject-based model to a faculty model have not been properly and openly debated on educational grounds.  A number of high school parent council chairs made this point in their deputations to the City of Edinburgh Council’s budget meeting in February.  We argued that the cuts were being made too quickly and too deeply.  The tight timescales for the savings mean that head teachers must consult with parent councils and parents by the end of June.  As a parent council chair of a large high school, I do not see how our parent council can effectively consult our parents on the proposed changes this quickly, because no debate has been held about the educational advantages and disadvantages of the faculty model.  We need information about the experiences of other local authorities to properly understand the proposals and their consequences for the education of our young people.  More work needs to be done to communicate with parents as a whole on this issue – we are key stakeholders and we require a reasoned debate to satisfy ourselves that these changes have educational merit, and are not just about money.
Yours sincerely
Tina Woolnough
Chair
Royal High School Parent Council

Dear all

My thanks to Ann Henderson (James Gillespie’s), Fiona Kelly (Drummond), Gwen Macleod (Gracemount), Tony Carbery (Boroughmuir) and Tina Woolnough (Royal High) for advice and support in bringing the Deputation to the Council today.

We’ll have to see what the result is – I fear the votes were already stacked in favour of the ruling administration’s budget proposals. However, I think we did our very best and managed to highlight the issues in a way which will make it more difficult for the Council to steamroller through the cuts in coming months.

I am copying this message to Parent Council chairs who gave us support but were not able to be at the meeting today themselves – Christine Lowe (Forrester), Francis Barkey (Balerno), Kenny Gregor (Gracemount), Karen Traill (Liberton), Paul Iannetta (Holyrood) and Jerry Forde (Boroughmuir). Those of you who were not able to send a rep to join the deputation might like to know that we told the councillors that we had your support – so many thanks.

Cllr Beckett suggested to Tina that it would be useful to meet to talk further. It would be great if we could keep up the good work by meeting him as a group. Tina, could you perhaps keep us posted and we’ll see if that can be fixed up.

I suspect it’s very unusual to have a deputation from so many secondary Parent Council Chairs together. I’m sure that strengthens our hand. We’ll need to be alert in the coming months for whatever is in the pipeline…

Lovely to meet some of you today for the first time.

Thanks again, and best wishes to one and all

Susan

Susan Hardman Moore