Minutes of AGM of Parents In Partnership held on 20

^{Feb, Blackhall School, Craigcrook Rd.}  

Tina Woolnough (Chair) welcomed attendees. 

Present:  Rachael Hay (Westfield Court Nursery), Pamela Canning (St Cuthbert’s RC school), Luke McCullough (Clemiston PS) Kenny Kinnear (Parsons Green PS), Lesley Severn,  Mig Coupe (Mindroom), Carol Lindsay (Treasurer), Tina Woolnough (Chair). 

Apologies: Anne Thomson (Minutes Sec), Mhari Louise Teden, Dean Park Parent Council, Suz Edwards (Victoria Primary School), Martin Southern (Bonaly PS), Jeanna Brady (Bruntsfield PS), Helena Hamilton (Cameron House), Lynda Flex (Drummond Community High School), Linda Somerville (Leith Walk PS), St Crispin’s  

Election of Office Bearers and Committee:   Tina was re-elected as chair as was Carol as Treasurer. They were nominated by Pamela Canning and seconded by Mig Coupe.  The Minutes Secretary had indicated that she wished to stand down.  For the meeting, Carol agreed to take minutes whilst a new Minutes Secretary was sought. 

Appointment of external auditor:  Michael Cockburn was agreed as the external examiner of the accounts. Thanks were minuted for Michael. He will examine the accounts for OSCR. 

Annual Report 2005-6 & Accounts: these were approved. 

Annual Report 2006-7 & Accounts: these were approved. 

Changes to Constitution:  Italics denote changes – 2a (“Bill” to “Act”); 7 (to read “The AGM of the Association shall be held within three months from the end of the financial year to receive office bearers’ reports, to elect office bearers, to appoint and auditor or independent examiner and to transact any other competent business”. Delete: “Nominations for election to the Committee should be submitted in writing to the chairperson or secretary prior to the meeting”.  “At General Meetings and Special General Meetings, seven shall form a quorum.”  8 (“Three …shall be a quorum”). 

Budget Cuts:  Tina Woolnough reported that she had requested a deputation to the City of Edinburgh Council meeting on 21 Feb 2008.  She was seeking guidance on points she should make.  She noted from Council erports that the pre-school and primary populations were to rise by 5000. Attendees asked that the following points be raised in the deputation: 

• Additional Support for Learning – needs are not being met and cuts of 5% to the central budget would make this worse.  One in 5 children have additional support needs.  English as an additional language services were already struggling. Not every school has a fully trained additional support needs co-ordinator.  A shortage of educational psychologists was causing more problems and children were still not gettong a diagnosis so they were unable to access appropriate support.
• General provision for children: Go4It and Play4It had been axed
• The voluntary sector, especially respite/out of school care, was very uncertain about where they stood
• Cuts to pre-school provision:  the loss of fulltime nursery places was of serious concern, particularly as the Council report notes that child poverty is no longer confined to specific areas of the city
• The increase in school meal charges far beyond inflation and premises charges were considered regressive steps.

 School Estate Rationalisation – it was agreed that a “watch this space” approach be taken until more was known about school closures etc. Concern over the ‘secret’ discussions was expressed although there were 3 parent reps at the Council’s Forum meetings. 

Press strategy – it was agreed that parents/school councils might find training helpful and Tina should offer this in an email with the minutes.  Jemma Fraser is now the Evening News education reporter and Alan Roden is the Council reporter.  Fiona McLeod covers education for the Scotsman. 

Grant bids for Additional Support for Learning funding: it was agreed that Tina should write to Gillian Tee to ask if external funding was allowed to be used for ASL services.  It was noted that such funding could set a dangerous precedent in letting local authorities off the hook. 

AOB:  Inclusion is not working in schools. Some training now being given to teachers for children with additional needs. Lack of Special Needs Coordinators in schools, which does not seem to be managed. Lack of CPD. avalaible to teachers due to decreased resources which restricts staff cover.

Deputation to the City of Edinburgh Council on 21 Feb by Tina Woolnough, chair of a registered charity Parents in Partnership which was formed in 2003 to create a voice for parents in Edinburgh. Ross Finnie, Lib Dem MSP, Conference Speech Feb 2007:“investing in the education of our people is the most important investment we can make” This budget proposes cuts – or should I say “efficiency savings” – to the Children and Families department of 2% for school budgets and 5% centrally – this is the wrong thing to do and gives out entirely the wrong message.  School budgets are already pared and starved – headteachers are telling us that they have nothing left to cut. The central cuts are more horrendous – most of the support and services for children with additional needs is funded centrally.  Contrary to the message that has been given out, these central cuts will have drastic impacts on frontline provision for vulnerable and needy children.  One in five children has additional support needs.  Support is patchy, intermittent, staff have inadequate training, there is a desperate shortage of educational psychologists and – for budget reasons only – children are still not being diagnosed so that support does not have to be funded.  This is a disgrace.   Children and young people who fall through the educational net are children whose dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia were not identified.  Those young people who face poor prospects and whom this city lets down will invariably have learning difficulties that were not picked up or that were not addressed because of lack of funding.  If you got funding for additional support needs right, you would begin to address the disastrous educational outcomes of many of Edinburgh’s young people. I  wish to note Item 4.1 , the Policy and Management OverView Report:   “School and pre-school populations increasing by over 5000 by 2016”; “A significant proportion of children leave the Council’s schools without employment, training or continuing education”; “many live in disadvantaged or deprived geographic circumstances.  These are not now always concentrated solely in deprived geographic communities but are increasingly spread across the city”; “a renewed emphasis on early years work with vulnerable families”; In the context of a growing – not falling – child population, in the context of the shameful record of school-leavers who have been let down by an absence of specific learning support, in the context of scattered poverty, which requires the geographically-centred funding approach to be thrown in the bin,  why then is the Children and Families budget being cut?  Why have fulltime nursery places across the city been slashed?  This is the wrong thing to do. Then I would draw your attention to Item 4.2 (a), The Revenue Budget 2008-11 3.22 “the three year revenue budget shows a surplus of available rsource…of £11.95m in 2008/9, with a futher £13.787m and £10.79 in 2009/10 and 2010/11 respectively”. Why then is the Children and Families department facing cuts –  of 5% centrally and 2% in schools? The Children and Families budget which has been shared with parents showed this meant: 

• Unacceptable increases in school meals, which will penalise lower income families and may deprive children of a crucial nutritious meal – the wrong thing to do
• See the axeing of the popular and highly successful Go4It and Play4It holiday schemes – if you want more young people roaming the streets in the holidays, this is the way to create more community youth problems – the wrong thing to do
• Uncertain futures for many voluntary groups working with children and families.  In particular, I have been contacted by St Crispin’s parent council which runs its essential holiday play scheme.  They – parents who already face the extreme challenges of caring for autistic children – are extremely fearful that their funding will be cut or removed or that they will not be notified in time to set up the play-scheme.  Do you have any idea of the anxiety this causes parents?  Putting families in this situation is the wrong thing to do.
• I understand long-term and well-respected providers of respite holiday care for children with additional support needs such as autism are being required to compete in a tendering process.  This will delay organising provision and may result in the quality of provision being compromised.   
• School premises charges are to rise.  Has the impact of this on voluntary organisations been assessed?  Will respite care and holiday clubs be threatened?
• Teachers are required to do 35 hours of CPD a year but schools can no longer afford the cover to let them go on courses during school hours.  Is this the way to ensure we have fit for purpose teachers?
• Not every school has a fully trained Additional Support for Learning co-ordinator – again, school budget constraints are impacting negatively on vulnerable children.

 Most of all, budget cuts like these give – yet again – a negative message to children and young people – that they are not worth it and that investing in their futures is not a priority. In the national context of every political party electioneering on an “education, education, education” ticket, we need to see some real financial commitment.  Where is the CEC priority which makes this commitment?

Consultative Committee with Parents
Children and Families Estate Review

Edinburgh, 29 January 2008

1 Children and Families Estate Review: Rationalisation and Development Programme

In response to a continued need to manage the supply of education and care facilities with a view to ensure the delivery of best value, the Council had considered a framework for a review of the entire Children and Families property estate. That matter was the subject of detailed consultation.

FULL MINUTES – 7 pages (176kb PDF)

“Parents in Partnership, Edinburgh’s support and lobby network for parents, is holding its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 20 February at 7.30pm at Blackhall Primary School, Craigcrook Rd.

Agenda items so far include the school rationalisation process, budget cuts, AGM business and additional support for learning.

All parents/carers are very welcome.

Further information is available from Tina Woolnough, Chair, on 07799 416 360 or by email tina@kristina.org.uk or on www.parentsinpartnership.org.uk.”

FROM COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE

The new cross party forum set up to review the children and families estate has met for the first time.    The group’s recommendations will be fed back to the Education, Children and Families Committee.

The initial meeting of the group considered its remit and also started looking at the criteria for reviewing the estate.

The membership of the group is:

Councillor Mrs MacLaren
Councillor Beckett
Councillor Balfour
Councillor Burns
Councillor Johnstone
Mr A C Duncan, Religious Representative
Mrs M Bryce-Stafford, Teaching Representative
Linda Anderton, Parent Representative (NS)
Lynda Flex, Parent Representative (SS)
Martin Southern, Parent Representative (PS)

The parent representatives will be ratified at the next meeting of the Consultative Committee with Parents

Commenting on the first meeting, that took place on 10 January, Gillian Tee, Director of Children and Families, said: “I am delighted that the first meeting of the Forum was productive and that we agreed a set of broad criteria to be used in evaluating the school estate. The criteria come under three main headings; educational outcomes, value for money and school rolls. It was also agreed that use of the criteria would be a guide and that the Forum would take account of wider qualitative information when detailed proposals are being discussed. I will be inviting key stakeholders to give their views at the next meeting of the Forum on 31 January.”

Joyce Nisbet, Client Manager, Children and Families, Corporate Services, 2/2 Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh EH8 8BG    0131 469 3134

Edinburgh – Winner of the European City of the Year 2006; Edinburgh – Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location  Best Place to Live 2007

The Council is continuing its covert strategy of reducing fulltime nursery places within its own establishments. It is now implementing its new admissions policy document which has not been consulted on with parents or with nursery staff. Parents are being called into meetings with headteachers, and are being warned that they are to lose their fulltime nursery places.

In essence, the new Admissions Policy has created five “bands” of need – children who do not meet the stringent “need” criteria are to lose their fulltime nursery places.

Tina Woolnough, Chair of Parents in Partnership, says: “This is a hugely regressive step for parents on low incomes who wish to return to work or who need fulltime nursery care for a range of personal and family reasons. Worse still, there is the serious possibility that children with fulltime places will be stigmatised. It will be obvious to all that these children are “needy”. This is unacceptable. It may also be dangerous for very vulnerable children who may be suffering abuse – a fulltime place will be a very public flag of need and vulnerability.”

“We call on the Council to abandon this Draconian policy, particularly as we have yet to discover what the Scottish Government is planning for Early Years provision. The Council’s secret strategy of reducing fulltime places from 1300 last year, to 1000 now, and then to 700 in January 2008 has to be challenged.”

As the news breaks on the end of the school closure consultation process, we urge campaign teams in individual schools to stay in place over the coming year. Chair of Parents in Partnership Tina Woolnough says: “Many of us are celebrating the end of this ill-conceived school closures proposal but we have yet to find out exactly what the future holds for children and families in Edinburgh. We now have a breathing space in which it is imperative to continue to build our parent communication network. This whole experience has shown the importance of keeping parents in touch with one another.”

“Budget cuts are already being imposed on schools across Edinburgh, as supplies budgets are drastically reduced and staff are not being replaced. It is crucial that we keep educational provision and proper funding for schools high on the agenda.”

“Brilliant Council-run holiday activity schemes such as Play4It and Go4It have been axed for the October holidays. We need to lobby to get these opportunities back for our young people. Why is the Children and Families budget being targeted? We call upon the Council to go to the Scottish Executive and ask for new money to support children with additional needs and to invest properly in our children – they are both the citizens and the future tax-payers of the future”.

Parents in Partnership is very committed to maintaining the network of parent contacts in schools that has come together from this appalling school closure proposal. Please keep in touch and share on-going issues with us by email on tina @ kristina.org.uk or by phone on 07799 416 360.

Stop Edinburgh School Closures web site

Parents in Partnership Chair Tina Woolnough reports on the Education, Children and Families Committee Meeting, Tues 28 August 2007, 10am to 1.20pm

• Five deputations (from Lismore PS, Parents in Partnership, St Cuthbert’s, Westfield Court Nursery, Grassmarket Nursery) were allowed to speak to the Committee – but were only allowed to make general points and were not allowed to refer to specific schools or nurseries. They all did a brilliant job at speaking out for all affected families, schools, nurseries and communities across the city.

The importance of continuity of care, community context, the role of children and families in a sustainable future for Edinburgh were all emphasized. As a child-centred approach is the current national educational mantra, no-one in the public gallery was persuaded by the argument that these cuts are not about money.

• A timetabled programme of deputations and public meetings will be held for batches, or “tranches” as Cllr Maclaren calls them, of threatened establishments (Timetable).

• The Education Committee (which is a cross-party committee of councillors with five additional church/lay representatives) will hear all deputations from a “batch/tranche” and will then send a report to full Council after each batch/tranche . It is not yet decided whether this report will summarise the outcome of consultation process, or whether it will recommend closure or retention, based on the consultation outcomes. Either way, full Council will make the final decisions (full Council meets on 22 November and 20 December, although it is not yet confirmed that school closures will be agenda items). Nor has it been decided whether further deputations will be heard (probably unlikely, but this will mean councillors not on the Education Committee will NOT have heard the cases of campaigning schools.)

• The process of gathering nurseries/schools into “tranches” is that it will either disadvantage those establishments who are scheduled to be heard later in the “rationalisation” process – if early deputations are persuasive – or this process suggests that certain schools/nurseries in each batch are already (secretly) ear-marked for closure, Otherwise, if each establishment makes a convincing case and persuades the committee against closure, we could end up with all 22 being saved (and therefore no budget saving).

• Convenor of the Education Committee, Cllr Marilyne Maclaren said of the role of deputations in the future: “We are open to persuasive argument”.

• Cllr Maclaren held the previous Labour administration responsible for setting a budget which required cuts of £9m over three years from the Children and Families department. A deficit had also been left of £14m.

• The new Director of Children and Families, Gillian Tee, spoke of putting the “financial realities on the table” and that “good quality consultation” was imperative.

• Relations between the Labour councillors on the Committee and the administration parties (particularly the Lib Dems) were bad-tempered to say the least. In this context, parents and committee representatives who wish to make deputations should be wary of forming any close political allegiances as part of your campaign.

Yesterday’s meeting agreed to launch the consultations for eight Children and Families establishments. These are: Princess Elizabeth Nursery School, Cameron House Nursery School, Westfield Court Nursery School, Grassmarket Nursery School and Gorgie War Memorial Hall Community Centre , St Ann’s Community Centre, Riddles’ Court Community Centre, Bingham Community Centre. (Timetable).

Organisations who wish to make deputations on 24 Sept (to be confirmed) need to read and respond to the relevant reports which went to the Education Committee yesterday. There is a generic report for each sector (Community Centres, Early Years establishments (both published) and Primary Schools and Secondary Schools (still awaited).

Parents in Partnership will shortly post a Campaign Toolkit, including “How to Make a Successful Deputation”.

Subject: Request for information from Children and Families department

Dear Ms Tee

I would be very grateful if you could kindly supply the following information:

Pupil rolls, by year from 2000 to 2007, for all Edinburgh primary and secondary schools

Projections for future pupil rolls up to 2020

The Children and Families definition of school “capacity” ie what factors are used and how you calculate the capacity of a school

How you assessed the usage of a school eg do you use actual school lets, or requests made to the school lets department

What input Children and Families has made to the Edinburgh City Plan consultation process over the last three years

A copy of the Children and Families budget for 2005-6 and 2006-7

A breakdown of the deficit, explaining the causes of the deficit.

The budget, projected and actual, for funding children with additional support needs

I look forward to receiving this information at your earliest convenience – I appreciate some parts of my request will be more readily available than others and I would be glad to receive any information as it comes forward.

Our organisation is endeavouring to ensure that we have as much factual information before us as is possible – I sincerely hope that your department will help us in this endeavour.  We are committed to ensuring an informed debate on the school closures and falling pupil rolls issue.

I make this request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act although I feel sure that much of this information is publicly available anyway.

Yours sincerely
Tina Woolnough
Chair, Parents in Partnership
35 Craigleith View
Edinburgh EH4 3JY

Parents in Partnership has produced a new web site to highlight information for those involved in fighting plans by City of Edinburgh Council to close schools in the city.

Tina Woolnough, chair of Parents in Partnership, said: “The proposed school closures will affect the vast majority of state schools in Edinburgh. Pupils from threatened schools will be displaced elsewhere, catchment boundaries will be re-drawn. The proposals are a devastating blow for many, many families, members of school staff and local communities. It is imperative that school communities unite to fight these closures. We are trying to offer instant access to background information from the Scottish Executive. There are regulations to which the City of Edinburgh Council must adhere in respect of consultations, background information and outcomes. We also want to help schools keep in touch with one another. We urge schools to visit our website and use it to make contact and share strategies.”

http://stopedinburghschoolclosures.info