Plans to group schools into ‘collectives’ under a shared leadership team have been widely condemned by local groups.
Community councils in Garelochhead and Cove & Kilcreggan both held public consultations about the proposals by Argyll and Bute Council, as did Hermitage Academy Parent Council.
All three have rejected the proposed new model, which the council dubbed ‘Empowering our Educators’ but has also seen teachers union EIS start a protest petition.
Cove and Kilcreggan community councillor Mark Irvine said: “In essence it is a radical proposal to cluster groups of schools together under a shared executive head – it has been universally rejected and the mounting pressure on Argyll and Bute Council is very evident.
“Let’s hope that the sufficient adverse feedback across all of Argyll and Bute stops this current proposal and leads to more effective consultation.”
The Cove and Kilcreggan response said it was ‘highly inappropriate’ for the council to put the burden of consultation on community councillors.
It adds: “The resounding conclusion, based upon local parental feedback, is that Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council cannot support this proposal going forward in its current form.
“We conclude that the consultation process has been very one-sided, with parents being asked to accept major changes without being able to see the detail upon which to make an informed decision.
“Their concern was that by agreeing ‘in principle’ to these proposals without seeing the detail, they would effectively be giving their assent for the proposal to go to vote in chambers in due course without further consultation.”
The full submissions from all three groups are at the end of this article.
Stella Kinloch submitted a response on behalf of Hermitage Academy’s parent council which said after presentations, social media and confidential email feedback they could find no support for the proposals.
It questions assumptions made by officials who drew up the plans, saying that the population in the Helensburgh area is not declining and that recruitment challenges which affect more rural areas do not apply there, while there is no evidence of the need for change.
It adds: “The parent council view the proposal acting in reverse of empowerment of the leadership in our schools which we believe drives improvements, morale and engagement which delivers quality teaching outcomes truly placing the pupils at the heart of the decisions made by our school leaders.”
Garelochhead Community Council said they had failed to find any person or organisation that supports the changes, branding them ‘a waste of time and money’ – earlier this year it was revealed that the council had paid PR consultants £65,000 for the project.
It added: “The proposal lacks any informative detail, there is no real clear evidence to support these changes.
“It does nothing to address recruitment issues and as it stands will simply add another layer of middle management into a process that needs streamlining not bureaucratic aspirations of grandeur.
“We cannot in any way, shape or form, support nor give a level of mandate to such an appallingly scant and hazy proposal with no detail nor local recognition of educational needs.”
The full responses are here: HAPC_EmpoweringEducResponse to AB SchoolCollective_C&K_response Garelochhead Community Council response
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