Dumfries and Galloway Council wants to make major changes to the school week, but concerns have been raised both about the proposals themselves and the way in which the consultation process has been handled. Here, education writer James McEnaney explores what is going on.
What is the council proposing?
The council wants to introduce an approach that is sometimes called an ‘asymmetric school week’. This means that schools do not start and finish at the same time every day – typically, they have four longer days and one shorter day.
This sort of system is in place in other parts of Scotland, and officials in Dumfries and Galloway want to follow suit.
As part of the consultation process, they have laid out an example of what the changes could look like. In both cases they say that teaching time would remain the same overall, and the council has also pointed out that the changes will not affect early learning and childcare settings.
Primary Schools
An 'example current primary timetable' provided by the council shows schools starting at 9am, having a break from 10.30am to 10.45am, followed by lunch from 12.30pm to 1.20pm, with the day ending at 3pm.
Under the new proposals, children would have to be in school earlier to allow for an 8.45am start, and break time would be brought forward five minutes. For four days a week, lunch would run from 12.30pm to 1.10pm (a removal of ten minutes of free time from pupils) with afternoon class then continuing until 3.25pm.
On one day a week, however, lunch would be moved even earlier, starting at 12pm and ending 12.45pm, with pupils then sent home five minutes later.
Secondary schools
The council has also provided an example of what the altered secondary school timetables for the region could look like.
According to this outline, the school day would begin at 8.50am and all periods would be 50 minutes long.
During the four longer days there would be a total of seven periods, with a break from 10.30am until 10.50 am and a forty minute lunch from 1.20pm until 2pm. School would end at 3.40pm.
However, on the one shorter day students would not get a break until after their third period, with a ‘brunch’ planned for 40 minutes from 11.20am. They would then complete two more periods, finishing school at 1.40pm.
Why do officials want to do this?
The council has made some major claims about the benefits of this change, which they argue will enhance both learning and wellbeing for young people.
Briefing documents assert that pupils will enjoy a ‘better balance in the week’ and have more time for ‘extra-curricular activities’ which, for secondary pupils, includes having time to ‘prepare for the world of work.’
At secondary level, the council also believes that the timetable changes will enable schools to ‘offer more variety of subject choices to young people’ as part of the provision of online learning in the area.
The council has also claimed that changing the school week will help address challenges in recruiting teachers to the area by ‘making it easier to timetable our current staff and to recruit new staff to fill vacancies.’
However, no evidence to support these claims has been provided by the council, either alongside the consultation documents or in response to requests from The Herald.
What do others think?
The council is currently running a consultation on its proposals, but concerns have been raised about the questions that have been used and the way in which information is presented to those taking part.
In one section – entitled ‘Potential Benefits’ – respondents are met with a series of claims about the positive impact of the council’s planned changes, but these are presented as facts. Participants are then asked to rate how important these considerations are to them.
Critics say that this raises questions about the validity of the council’s consultation, as well as its willingness to engage with families in staff in good faith.
The EIS has previously accused council officials of constructing some questions “to give a preconceived outcome” and criticised the fact that the council could not “provide clarity about a whole range of contractual issues” – for example, current deals over teacher pay and conditions do not cover the provision of live online learning.
In addition to this, the union has argued that the longer days suggested may not be suitable for younger pupils or those who live in particularly rural parts of the authority. It is also worried about the apparent push towards more online learning in the region, telling The Herald that “no evidence has been provided to show that this would be beneficial for learners.” The EIS believes that there should be a registered teacher in class with students at all times.
Concerns have also been raised about the apparent failure to complete an Equality Impact Assessment on the proposed changes.
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The local district secretary for the SSTA, which exclusively represents secondary school teachers, has said that the council must review its process and ensure that it actually “fully understand the implications” of its own proposals.
Speaking to The Herald, Andrew O’Halloran, the local representative for the EIS, said that although a recently confirmed extension to the consultation period was a welcome change, the union still has “outstanding concerns about the validity of the questionnaires and the unresolved contractual aspects of online delivery".
On the specific council claim that the changes will boost teacher recruitment, he added: “There is no evidence for this assertion.”
Laura Moodie is the Kirkcudbright Academy Parent Council chair and a former primary parent representative on the council’s education committee. Speaking in a personal capacity, she said that she believes the council is “making the effort to have open conversations with parents”, and noted that face-to-face events had been held in various parts of the region. However, she told The Herald that a range of practical issues have already been raised with her, “especially around public transport and childcare provision.”
She added: “As a parent of primary and secondary pupils I can see the benefits and disadvantages to the plans but it’s concerning not to have clear answers to questions around how those without access to transport and childcare will be able to participate fully in the proposed after-school activities and how online learning might work in practice.”
Others who spoke to The Herald have been more critical, with one saying that the consultation process demonstrates “how an elected council could cynically look to push through an unpopular and unhelpful agenda.” They also attacked the way in which children’s views had been gathered.
Some councillors have also expressed concern, although they did not wish to comment formally while the consultation is under way. One suggested that the council’s education department is unlikely to be able to give a “straight answer” to questions about its plans and said that they haven’t heard a single colleague speak in support of them. Another was unhappy that that the most recent full council meeting included a briefing paper on the consultation while it remains a live process.
What does the council have to say?
Given the number of claims made about the benefits of these changes, and the practical implications of altering the school day in this way, The Herald approached Dumfries and Galloway Council with a number of specific questions:
- The council claims that the changes will benefit young people by providing a 'better balance in the week', with 'time in and out of formal learning'. Does the council have evidence to support this assertion?
- The council claims that the changes will 'make it easier to timetable our current staff'. Please explain why this is the case.
- The council claims that the changes will make it easier 'to recruit new staff.' Does the council have evidence to support this assertion?
- The council claims that there will be 'More time for young people to explore extra-curricular activities and volunteering opportunities, to prepare for the world of work.' This is, presumably, an assumption being made based on young people having an extra couple of hours outside of school one day a week, but has the council done any work to model what opportunities will be available to young people and how they will be supported to engage with them?
- The council says that these changes will allow for an expansion in the delivery of online learning, but teachers have raised major concerns about this. As things stand, this sort of delivery would not be covered by SNCT / LNCT agreements, so how does the council actually plan to implement this?
- Has the council carried out a full Equality Impact Assessment with regard to the proposed changes? If so, has this been published?
We also asked the council about the questions it had used in its consultation document, pointing out that the way in which claimed benefits are presented is “arguably misleading”, especially in light of the lack of published supporting evidence, and highlighting the fact that parents and teachers have “raised serious concerns over this consultation, which they say shows that the council is not acting in good faith.”
Finally, we asked about concerns that the council is “pushing this through at least in part because school transport contracts are up for renegotiation soon". We therefore asked the council to confirm when these contracts are due to be renegotiated.
The council refused to answer any of our questions.
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Did the council say anything at all?
Yes – a council officer reissued an existing response, which they described as a “comprehensive comment” in response to our request for information.
It said: “Our council is looking to develop and enhance educational provision within our region, which includes looking at ways to refresh our school systems to better suit the needs of school pupils and staff.
“The consultation on the shape of school week is open until 11 October, and is gathering feedback from young people, school staff, parents/carers and the wider community. Our community drop-in sessions were well attended and received lots of feedback. A wide range of people have been involved so far, and are keen to find out more and give us their ideas and raise questions.
“Working with our trade unions is a key part of this consultation and they are part of the working group that the council has set up to make sure there is a direct route to have their say. We take their concerns seriously and any questions raised by the trade unions will be answered, and we will provide the information their members are seeking. We have regular meetings with trade unions, and we hope this gives an open forum to build on the work to date, and further these conversations.
“Our aim is to share the proposal and gather feedback from all stakeholders regarding potential changes to the structure of the school week in our schools. All feedback can then be considered and a decision on the way forward will be made by elected members of Dumfries and Galloway Council.”
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