Falkirk’s Education Funding Proposals 30m to be cut over 5 years

[cazzyg]

Anyone else in the Falkirk Council area here. This seems crazy when education is already cut to the bone here.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tes.com/news/heads-told-drive-search-huge-savings%3famp

Particularly cynical is the way it’s being passed to headteachers. Who would want to be a head here when they get to be the bad guys making people redundant and cutting back services.

I saw a letter on FB from Denny High saying to reach their savings target they will have to loose around 9 staff!

there seems to be a massive gap between words and action at all levels of government. All the infighting at the council doesn’t help

I’m from Denny but now stay in Stirling and believe me Stirling are just as bloody useless as Falkirk. I’m sure Stirling will be watching how this plays out in Falkirk and will probably propose the same sort of cuts (while spending money on ruining the roads in the town centre, spending loads on replacing street lights in Kings Park and other crap)

Stirling council has a massive deficit. At a recent EIS meeting the closure of a secondary school was being discussed. A Falkirk council primary head acquaintance told me about their cuts recently. Directors of Education had attempted to put it across to them as a development opportunity

I’ve never understood why Stirling has so many high schools so wouldn’t surprise me that they were going to close one. Stirling High took in their largest S1 year this year. In previous years children from DDs old primary school were 50/50 between Bannockburn and Stirling Highs. Last year it was 75/25 to Stirling

best solution would be to stop St Modan being a catholic school and then you could get rid of 1 of the three in the town - probably Bannockburn. Not that I'm saying they should do it, just if they were that would be the obvious one to do, or shut St Modans and divide the pupils between the others as they would already have a non denominational catchment school. Maybe a a similar solution for Falkirk council?

The whole situation is madness though when Education is apparently the top priority and don't even get me started on the bloody trains.

Falkirk’s High schools are pretty full. St Mungo’s - the denominational high is one of the more popular and this puts pressure on the feeder primary schools.

There’s still a lot of house building going on so don’t see any of the high schools closing.

Some of the smaller primaries could go but I fear it needs a more radical solution than all the smaller death by a thousand cuts options.

This impacts on my children, they brought their letters home tonight. I'm staying away from social media tonight as the armchair politicians are out in their masses. Denominational schools and teachers pay demands seems to be the focus of the most vitriol.

Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP seem to be getting it right on a couple of local FB groups I am on

I would add here that I have nothing against Catholics, I just think that A: segregation is wrong, and B: we can't really afford as a country to be offering alternatives to standard High Schools without parental contribution if it is ultimately costing more. I feel the same about the Gaelic school/Notre Dame etc too. Nothing personal on any count. I'd rather that if there was available money to be committed to education that it is either spread across the board/in areas where there is a specific need/to providing specialist teachers for disabilities etc.

Stoorie would those groups be being run by the SNP progaganda factory?

I agree with you Wax re segregation of children along religious persuasion of their parents - to be bussing in to a school in the neighbouring LA in this day and age because you want a catholic slant to your education is terrible

Yes lots of propaganda on the groups blaming Westminster- Nicola could personally firebomb every takeaway, pub and hairdressers in Denny (of which there is a lot!) and it would Be Westminster and the Barnett Formula to blame

The propaganda factory has done an impressive job Stoorie (I am genuinely impressed) but unfortunately very little else as far as I am concerned, but I do admit to be being biased. I have no affiliation to any party btw. there are no parties that represent my views. I view it like religion, I had an open mind and a willingness to be persuaded and I have yet to see any facts (or even feelings) that have given me any reason to believe.

As far as I am concerned, there is something very wrong when the party in power (whoever they are) are not critisised both from without and within their own party. That is the way to robust legislation and representative politics, where people are able to critisise and the power has to appropriately respond.

Anyway I digress...

And maybe I had more of a clue than I realised at the time when we failed to settle in Denny and moved.

Ah Denny. If they aren’t arguing over Rangers/Celtic, catholic/protestant, what chippy or hairdressers is best they are arguing whose at fault for the state of the town!

:o

@StoorieHoose that’s the council’s fault always according to the comments I’ve read .

What I don’t understand is that standards are allegedly dropping and we have to have national testing, there’s a shortage of qualified teachers and yet the answer is to cut funding....?

None of it makes sense.

Yes Falkirk Council do get the blame lain at their door for the state of the town centre! Mind you they try and improve it and some locals still moan - I like the sculptures and the coloured windows in the library!!

I respect people's opinions on denominational schools but believe in a parent's right (as the most significant educators of a child ) to want their child educated in an environment that upholds their beliefs. I, personally, don't view it as segregation and the placement requests from non catholics would suggest that others share my views. Really don't see how removal of existing schools (which are functioning at capacity in Falkirk and Stirling I don't have stats for elsewhere ) would make savings.

I fear for the state of Scottish education as a parent and a teacher. Schools are at breaking point. DD4 at one point last year was being taught in a class of 60+ for Maths . One Maths specialist and supply cover kept it legal. No applicants for vacancies in a perfectly nice school in Stirling (hardly a backwater or challenging area) for a core subject. I see the same where I teach our daily cover sheet is ridiculous as posts go unfilled long term and teachers scramble about trying to provide meaningful work for cover classes over and above the lessons they've planned for their own.

I also disagree with the attempts of politicians of all parties to try to use education as a stick to beat the opposition with. Labour and SNP alike have sold out a system that once was world renowned.

The environment to educate children about your beliefs already exists, it's called the home and can be combined with a place of worship if wanted.

As I said, I respect other people's views Wax. Having a different view to you doesn't make me wrong just of a different view. I don't think the intention of this thread was a debate on faith schools.

I am rather cynical in my view on Falkirk council's timing of their communications to parents. It appears to me an underhanded attempt to turn parents against teachers as we approach the first potential nationwide teacher strike since the Thatcherite Government. It's very easy to make the issue "greedy teachers" not ferocious cuts to system already struggling to cope.

That's true Lidl. All politics is underhand and sleekit it seems. I remember when people seemed to actually care and try to do things for the good of doing them rather than for who they can score points over or what personal gain they can get. Maybe it was always so and it's only now that I am old an cynical that I notice. Im sure there are so many things that could be done better for probably no cost. And for me the religious thing is relevant but more from the point of view of what is it, worship aside, that these schools are offering that is appealing to people who are non Catholics or believers? Surely whatever that is can be replicated across the other schools? If all schools are full then there is no impact, and I'm all for parental choice if the overall cost is the same to the council. There is something intrinsically wrong with the model of education I think that is causing the issues. I don't think throwing money at it is necessarily the answer but it's something that is definitely part of it. And in the meantime, I think we are failing our youth. My DS tells me that most of his year are stressed and negative about their future. That makes me really sad. These are young people who should be enthusiastically taking this county forward and they already wonder what the point is. I don't know what the answer is.

It's the beginning of the end for education.
We can't get staff...so they combine classes and squeeze children in. Then suddenly it's well you've managed so far so let's not replace that teacher.
We have no IT. No joke... there isn't a spare pc in the whole school as I found recently when I needed to use a laptop for a presentation on another school. No spares at all.
Theres hardly any pcs for pupils... except we have hundreds who have special needs and must type their work. How? And on that they've done away with most support teachers and now only employ support assistants who are half the price but obviously not teachers/ properly trained.
I can't remember the last time I saw a glue stick that I didn't buy. We get no paper for displays. We have to aak pupils to buy textbooks.
It's spread so thinly that it something must give.

I fear a crisis is coming in education in Scotland.

I’m very cynical about this. The local council here is notorious for infighting between the different parties for control of the council. This seems to be a calculated move and a later statement from the current leader directly contradicts the letters issued by heads based on a template approved by the council.

@cazzyg, I have been wondering, who actually sent those letters and to what end? They are all identical and sent on the same day; they have been signed by the HT, but it was not written by them. They contain no info or suggestions, only an invitation to send YOUR suggestions (what about? As if the general public would know how these things are run).
All the letters have achieved is to get the public in a frenzy. This is hardly surprising, but I can't work out what whoever decided that these letters were to be sent hoped to accomplish.