Councillors highlight class sizes at Wardie Primary School

Edinburgh Reporter

5 days ago

Local councillors have been seeking answers on plans intimated to parents to amalgamate classes at Wardie Primary School.
SNP Councillor for Forth Ward, Stuart Dobbin, and the Education spokesperson for the SNP Group, Cllr Euan Hyslop, expressed their concerns about proposals indicated to parents just last week to merge three P4 classes at Wardie Primary School into two, saying that this appeared to be based on finances rather than what is best for pupils.
On 22 May P4 parents at Wardie Primary School received notification that due to the number of P4s in the class reducing from 67 to 66 the school would be merging three primary four classes to two classes of 33 – which is the maximum legal class size in Scotland for primary 4-7.
According to their investigations, SNP councillors (and also concerned parents), found out that the council's decision has been put on hold but will be kept under review until the September census.
However, parents have been told that a further reduction in the P4 pupil roll would be likely to lead to a reduction to two classes of maximum size.
One of the P4 parents who initially raised concerns about the proposal, Carolyn Samson, said: 'When parents were first notified of this proposal we were shocked because we felt that the council was taking a decision based on finances, rather than what would be best for our children. We were also very confused about the council's own policy on class amalgamation because a child in catchment was placed on the waiting list prior to the amalgamation of classes.'
She added: 'It's so important for every child's education and the wellbeing of children and teachers that class sizes are not completely maxed out to the legal limit.'
Parents from Wardie Primary school launched a Change.org petition available here:
https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-p4-class-merger-at-wardie-protect-our-children-s-education
The councillors said this had generated uncertainty within the school community as a result of the communication from the council.
Council response
The council has now responded to enquiries. A Council spokesperson said: 'The decision to reduce the number of classes required has been reversed given that there is a catchment child on the waiting list. A three class arrangement for P4 will be in place for August.' They confirmed the situation will be kept under review – as indeed they do with all schools in the city. And the council has said the news has been communicated to all parents and carers.
Meantime Cllr Hyslop has submitted a motion to the next Education, Children and Families Committee on 10 June seeking a review of the council policy on merging classes in order to provide clarity for families, (but as we set out below the size of classes is linked to Scottish Government funding, and the rules in place which govern that).
Cllr Hyslop said he wants the council to develop a stated policy about class sizes. He said: 'This situation has highlighted a real lack of clarity around the Council's policy on this matter. It's our view in the SNP that the Council should not be taking steps to increase class sizes to their absolute maximum without reserving at least one space per class to accommodate for children and young people moving into the catchment area during the academic session.
'The Council should also not be moving from three to two classes when there are young people waiting to be allocated a space in the year group that would take one of the classes above the legal limit – as was the case here at Wardie. There is also a really important argument here to be made about local considerations as we have a responsibility to get it right for every child at Wardie Primary School. That means listening to the staff and parents in the school community when they have concerns about the impact that an increase in class sizes would have on a particular cohort of young learners because of their specific educational needs.'
The Scottish Government sets the national limits for class sizes and each local authority in Scotland, including The City of Edinburgh Council, can choose to structure their own classes taking account of school capacity, staffing and local factors. The Council have stated that they need to run their class sizes as efficiently as possible because funding for each school is based on the pupil roll.
Cllr Dobbin said: 'I very much welcome the Council's decision to rescind their proposed increase in class sizes but the matter is very much still alive and we need to act in order to give parents clarity. Smaller class sizes are not only vital for maintaining high standards of teaching and learning, but they are particularly crucial in creating supportive and inclusive classrooms for pupils with additional support needs. Ensuring every child receives the attention and resources they require must remain a key to a positive learning environment.'
The motion from the SNP group will be debated at the Education, Children and Families Committee on Tuesday 10 June.
We understand that some parents will be seeking further information about the decision through Freedom of Information legislation asking about the school roll, class sizes, waiting lists, in catchment requests, out of catchment requests or anything else that could be considered relative to the management of the number of classes at Wardie Primary.
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