Partners in learning
CfE
Letter to Director for Education
16/03/2012 18:13
You may have read in the most recent newsletter that the Parent Council are writing to Gillian Tee, the Director of the Department of Children and Families, regarding the large P1 intake anticipated for this year. The text of the letter is reprinted below.
Dear Gillian,
I write with regard to the 2012/13 P1 pupil intake numbers for Trinity Primary School.
Currently, the number of in-catchment children registered to attend the school is 88. This number will certainly fall, as parents settle on
final options elsewhere. Our experience of last year showed that the initial 75 in-catchment applications became 66 pupils actually attending Trinity, a reduction of 12%.
If we assume the drop-off rate for this year will be between 10% and 15%, we are then looking at pupil numbers for the start of the new term of between 75 and 79. The school are using a working number of 82.
You may be aware that for the current 2011/12 P1 pupils, the school is operating a system on 'paper' which has 25 pupils taught by 1 teacher, and 41 team-taught by 2 teachers. In practice, they converted corridor space to allow 3 distinct teaching areas, where groups of 22 pupils use 1 space each, on a rotational basis, and have a named teacher per group. This system is working very well for all parties, with pupils, parents and teachers all happy with the approach.
The new 2012/13 intake will result in a similar situation, but will require a 4th teacher should the final pupil numbers be 76 or more. The
parent Council is very happy that maintaining this current approach for the new P1's will still work, regardless of whether the numbers require 3 or 4 teachers/groups.
However, we are concerned about the impact of large pupil numbers as they move through the school years and would welcome the opportunity to work with the Department to help develop long-term solutions that will address future local challenges.
The P1 numbers have remained at 66. Going into P2, this will require more creative use of space by the school, or adopting the 'paper'
approach that will see a class of 30 and another of 36, team-taught. If the 2012/13 intake is 79, in P2 this may become two team-taught classes of 38 and 39. More worryingly though, this number would allow a P2 class of 30, and a team-taught class of 49. Such a large, single class may force an alternative approach, such as composite classes being employed.
The latest national statistics show that the number of pupils entering the school system will remain at the current levels for the coming few years at least (see note below). While nothing is definite with these numbers, and indeed there will be pockets of variation, given the P1 intake for 2011/12 and now 2012/13, it would seem that Trinity will at least follow the national trend.
This will create real capacity challenges for the school as they operate with finite space. Some of the options that the Parent Council has
considered as possible means of addressing this are -
* Further internal space conversion
* Porta-cabins in the playground
* Building annexes to current exits
* Constructing a class in the free space at the front entrance
* Relocating some pupils to another, local site
* Re-drawing catchment boundaries to spread the impact
* Building another school and dividing catchment
These options range from the more temporary through to permanent solutions. They come with quite different capital costs. Some will
prove to be quite unpalatable to some parents.
No doubt many of these and others will have already been considered by the Department as you look to address this challenge on a city-wide basis. Whatever the best route(s), it is important that a clear strategy and appropriate funding is in place to address local
challenges. As such, the Parent Council would be very grateful for the opportunity to discuss this with your teams, providing a conduit to the parent body to keep them engaged and informed of plans.
I'd be grateful for your thoughts and feedback on how we could work together going forward.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Jeffrey
Chair, Trinity Primary Parent Council
(Note - Scottish Government Report 2010 on population growth shows projected 7% population growth through to 2033 (5.19m 2010, 5.54m 2033). Factors include net in-migration, increased fertility rates and longer life expectancy. Critically, birth rate has exceeded death rate since 2006, and is anticipated to continue.)
Dear Gillian,
I write with regard to the 2012/13 P1 pupil intake numbers for Trinity Primary School.
Currently, the number of in-catchment children registered to attend the school is 88. This number will certainly fall, as parents settle on
final options elsewhere. Our experience of last year showed that the initial 75 in-catchment applications became 66 pupils actually attending Trinity, a reduction of 12%.
If we assume the drop-off rate for this year will be between 10% and 15%, we are then looking at pupil numbers for the start of the new term of between 75 and 79. The school are using a working number of 82.
You may be aware that for the current 2011/12 P1 pupils, the school is operating a system on 'paper' which has 25 pupils taught by 1 teacher, and 41 team-taught by 2 teachers. In practice, they converted corridor space to allow 3 distinct teaching areas, where groups of 22 pupils use 1 space each, on a rotational basis, and have a named teacher per group. This system is working very well for all parties, with pupils, parents and teachers all happy with the approach.
The new 2012/13 intake will result in a similar situation, but will require a 4th teacher should the final pupil numbers be 76 or more. The
parent Council is very happy that maintaining this current approach for the new P1's will still work, regardless of whether the numbers require 3 or 4 teachers/groups.
However, we are concerned about the impact of large pupil numbers as they move through the school years and would welcome the opportunity to work with the Department to help develop long-term solutions that will address future local challenges.
The P1 numbers have remained at 66. Going into P2, this will require more creative use of space by the school, or adopting the 'paper'
approach that will see a class of 30 and another of 36, team-taught. If the 2012/13 intake is 79, in P2 this may become two team-taught classes of 38 and 39. More worryingly though, this number would allow a P2 class of 30, and a team-taught class of 49. Such a large, single class may force an alternative approach, such as composite classes being employed.
The latest national statistics show that the number of pupils entering the school system will remain at the current levels for the coming few years at least (see note below). While nothing is definite with these numbers, and indeed there will be pockets of variation, given the P1 intake for 2011/12 and now 2012/13, it would seem that Trinity will at least follow the national trend.
This will create real capacity challenges for the school as they operate with finite space. Some of the options that the Parent Council has
considered as possible means of addressing this are -
* Further internal space conversion
* Porta-cabins in the playground
* Building annexes to current exits
* Constructing a class in the free space at the front entrance
* Relocating some pupils to another, local site
* Re-drawing catchment boundaries to spread the impact
* Building another school and dividing catchment
These options range from the more temporary through to permanent solutions. They come with quite different capital costs. Some will
prove to be quite unpalatable to some parents.
No doubt many of these and others will have already been considered by the Department as you look to address this challenge on a city-wide basis. Whatever the best route(s), it is important that a clear strategy and appropriate funding is in place to address local
challenges. As such, the Parent Council would be very grateful for the opportunity to discuss this with your teams, providing a conduit to the parent body to keep them engaged and informed of plans.
I'd be grateful for your thoughts and feedback on how we could work together going forward.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Jeffrey
Chair, Trinity Primary Parent Council
(Note - Scottish Government Report 2010 on population growth shows projected 7% population growth through to 2033 (5.19m 2010, 5.54m 2033). Factors include net in-migration, increased fertility rates and longer life expectancy. Critically, birth rate has exceeded death rate since 2006, and is anticipated to continue.)
CfE Factfiles
21/06/2011 21:00
We’ve previously linked to a number of fact files on the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).
The download area now includes a new fact file produced by the National Parent Forum an overview of key terms and features concerning CfE. If you want to understand more about some of the ways teachers talk about CfE (Experiences and Outcomes etc) then this might be of interest.
The download area now includes a new fact file produced by the National Parent Forum an overview of key terms and features concerning CfE. If you want to understand more about some of the ways teachers talk about CfE (Experiences and Outcomes etc) then this might be of interest.
Steve Hodgson
Curriculum for Excellence Fact Files
02/11/2010 22:37
We previously posted a link to three Curriculum for Excellence fact files and these have now been joined by three more which may be of interest.
Health and wellbeing
Parents as partners
Supporting learners
The last two are likely to be of most interest as they focus more on providing advice to parents and provide links to other resources.
Health and wellbeing
Parents as partners
Supporting learners
The last two are likely to be of most interest as they focus more on providing advice to parents and provide links to other resources.
Steve Hodgson
Curriculum for Excellence Fact Files
27/08/2010 20:54
Welcome to a new school year at Trinity Primary.
You might be interested in three new Curriculum for Excellence fact files produced by the Scottish Government and available here to help teachers and education staff talk to parents and learners and about current changes in Scottish education.
The first provides general background on CfE, the second deals with assessment and the third will be of interest mostly to those with children at secondary school, particularly this year's S1 intake.
Fact file: background and benefits
Fact file: assessment and qualifications
Fact file: the secondary experience
You might be interested in three new Curriculum for Excellence fact files produced by the Scottish Government and available here to help teachers and education staff talk to parents and learners and about current changes in Scottish education.
The first provides general background on CfE, the second deals with assessment and the third will be of interest mostly to those with children at secondary school, particularly this year's S1 intake.
Fact file: background and benefits
Fact file: assessment and qualifications
Fact file: the secondary experience
Steve Hodgson