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Blueprint for education consultation


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I checked too but came up with zilch.

 

From what I could gather the report came before the services committee today and then will be discussed at full council next week?

 

The report was posted on the website yesterday and is due to be considered by a special meeting of the Services Committee on 12 February:

 

http://www.shetland.gov.uk/coins/submissiondocuments.asp?submissionid=8641

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Had a quick look at some school web-sites and if the North Roe web-site is up-to-date they currently have a school roll of 12 pupils.

 

 

I wonder if Bill Manson realises this?

 

 

Also, Lunnasting primary currently has a school roll of 20 pupils.

 

According to the report, and excluding those in single school isles, 7 primary schools have a roll of less than 20 and will continue to in the next two school years following this one - Uyeasound, Burravoe, Cullivoe, Sandness, Urafirth, North Roe and Ollaberry (although presumably at least one primary would be retained in Northmavine). As far as I can see, the report does not elaborate on how long numbers have to be below 20 for it to be considered for closure, although presumably it would be for as long as forecasts allow, so 4-5 years.

 

If he doesn't already know, I'm sure Bill Manson will soon become aware that there are schools in his ward (which includes Delting and Lunnasting as well as just Northmavine) which stand to be affected. However, perhaps he and fellow members in a similar position should bear in mind that those opposing school closures don't always hold the majority view and in many cases comprise a relatively small proportion of their overall electorate, many of the rest of whom expect them to be able to make difficult but necessary decisions to help balance the books.

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In the face of 35 million pounds spent every year how much money do you think they are going to save?

 

 

Also, Cullivoe has a rising school roll we are due to have at least 20 pupils after the summer holidays, possibly 23 depending if 3 children are deferred for a year. The school roll will continue to rise over the next few years up to possibly 27 pupils due to the high number of babies and people moving into the area.

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I've just had a quick look at the report and it makes for interesting reading if you compare the figures, both primary and secondary for Shetland and Orkney which is really the only two you can compare because of course education is going to cost more here.

 

Orkney have less primary pupils, they have less pupils in composite classes compared to Shetland, they have hugely less additional supports needs staff and classroom assistants and yet cost per pupil is significantly higher than costs here in Shetland.

 

But if you compare secondary costs it is a different story. It is what we have being saying all the time along - primary education is actually quite cheap in Shetland, it is the secondary education that is costing us money.

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The report was posted on the website yesterday and is due to be considered by a special meeting of the Services Committee on 12 February:

 

http://www.shetland.gov.uk/coins/submissiondocuments.asp?submissionid=8641

 

For something so important and of such relevance to much of the population, it wasn't exactly easy to find if it hadn't been for the above link.

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I've just had a quick look at the report and it makes for interesting reading if you compare the figures, both primary and secondary for Shetland and Orkney which is really the only two you can compare because of course education is going to cost more here.

 

Orkney have less primary pupils, they have less pupils in composite classes compared to Shetland, they have hugely less additional supports needs staff and classroom assistants and yet cost per pupil is significantly higher than costs here in Shetland.

 

But if you compare secondary costs it is a different story. It is what we have being saying all the time along - primary education is actually quite cheap in Shetland, it is the secondary education that is costing us money.

 

According to the figures it costs 52% more to educate a primary pupil and 71% more to educate a secondary pupil in Shetland compared to the national average, so yes, secondary is proportionately more expensive. However, I do not see that as being justification to leave the primary system as is - proportional cuts should be made in both areas.

 

I agree that the number of management staff employed, and their associated cost, should be looked at but so should staffing levels in the frontline. The report states that Orkney manages with one primary teacher per 11.1 pupils and one member of primary support staff per 24.4 pupils. In Shetland that figure is 8.9 and 12.3 respectively. The fact that Shetland seems to need twice as many support staff per pupil compared to Orkney cannot simply be swept under the carpet just because they are seen to be the good guys compared to those who work in Hayfield House.

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I don't agree that Shetland and Orkney should be compared with the national figures - it is always going to cost more to deliver education here than on the mainland.

 

I don't know why Shetland has more class-room support staff than Orkney. Perhaps it's because pupils are better assessed here as to what their needs are? I know that in our school the class room assistant was employed to help a child with specific learning difficulties and behavioural problems. It is true that we do have more primary schools but we also have more pupils.

 

I'm sorry, but if this report is meant to be a root to branch examination of education in Shetland it is severely lacking.

 

Where's the info on transport costs ? This figure must be huge for Shetland.

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  • 8 months later...

Just wondered if anyone had heard anything re. the Blueprint.

 

 

Went to the parent council chairpersons meeting in September and had a persentation from Matthew Moss about it but everything was very vague. He said that lots of different options were being looked at and costed and that proposals would be put forward before the council at a meeting in November.

 

However, I have spoken to someone " in the know" who says that "Action Plans" have already been drawn up. What is being planned has huge implications for education in Shetland and will mostly affect Nursery bairns and secondary. School closures is also still on the (hidden) agenda.

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  • 2 weeks later...

in my humble opinion the whole consultation was so far off the mark you could drive not one but several coaches and horses through it. If any attempt is made trying to use this as a justification to make any changes which are resisted by communities , e.g. to close schools, I doubt if it would be seen to meet minimum standards set for consultation.

There was a budget code allocated internally so the whole cost of the thing will be available via a freedom of info request. I think but am not certain it was the flea who asked for this to be done. Maybe not a bad principle to follow.

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Thanks for that Marlin. I was beginning to think that I was the only one interested in the Blueprint.

 

I was hocking aboot on the SIC website and see that the proposals to change delivery of nursery education to 7 schools has already been before the services committee on the 8th of October and passed.

 

I just wondered if anyone knows which 7 schools it is and if the Parent councils have been consulted.

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  • 2 weeks later...

so their master plan is to depopulate the northern isles. if your an incoming family with a choice would you want your child living away from home. i know we would not have moved if we had to make that choice. expecting kids from unst, yell and even fetler to travel to either brae or lerwick is a joke. it will be fine during summer but when winter comes in its a lot of driving. why are they building a new school at mid yell if they are planning to shut it very limited thinking. this of course has nothing to do with the stupid amount of money they are pouring into anderson.

 

if you want the isles to keep viable the kids have to stay. mid yell as a secondary school would be the best option.

 

i can understand the reasoning behind shutting primary schools with small numbers but in most communities the school is a hub. as my kids attend one of the schools affected i would be opposed to just moving kids from one school to another without lots of thought. if your merging sandness, skeld and the happyhansel are they going to build a fit for purpose school. i hope they have plans for improving the gritting of the roads think mini buses on some of our side roads in winter. it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

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I've seen the report that is going before the Services Committee. Don't know if it is available on the SIC website yet. There are lots of "options" being looked at, some are viable and some are non viable.

 

Don't be fooled into thinking this is the final proposals. Most of which is in this document will never happen. This is just being put forward so they can now go into informal consultation. This will tick the right boxes when and if they ever have to put forward school closures to the Scottish ministers.

 

Believe me, what they really want to happen has already been written in a report somewhere.

 

Whatever happened to the school roll of less than 20 pupils being the reason for closure? Cullivoe has 21 pupils and a rising school roll. Skeld primary has in the region of 24 pupils plus nursery bairns.

 

Couldn't believe Rick Nickerson's comment on public platform tonight that children in the outer isles had a different educational experience from all the other schools in Shetland. Do they make the bairns go to school 24 hours a day or what?

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expecting kids from unst, yell and even fetler to travel to either brae or lerwick is a joke. it will be fine during summer but when winter comes in its a lot of driving.
AFAIA pupils would be staying in the hostel and going home at weekends, as is the current setup, not commuting daily (although a commute from Yell to Brae might be an option for some)

 

why are they building a new school at mid yell if they are planning to shut it very limited thinking mid yell as a secondary school would be the best option.
There are no plans to shut the Mid Yell school, quite the opposite. More pupils will be moved there under the proposals
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