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Highland councillor says all school kids in Badenoch and Strathspey being failed by local authority





Councillor Russell Jones has said school staff are being asked to do impossible job at times.
Councillor Russell Jones has said school staff are being asked to do impossible job at times.

A leading local Highland councillor has said that the problems at Aviemore Primary School are not just confined to classrooms there.

Councillor Russell Jones (Independent) said he has had many conversations with parents in Kingussie and Newtonmore who ‘have very similar stories of classroom evacuations and violent incidents’.

Related article:

Classroom evacuations are ‘frequent occurrence’ at strath’s largest primary school

He told the Strathy: “The discussions I have had with parents of ASN kids are the most moving I have had in my life.

“No other parents I have spoken to wants these children removed, they just need to be looked after properly and the current system is failing everyone.”

The Scottish Government policy is a presumption to mainstream education for all children.

Councillor Jones said: “Personally I have no problem with this policy and would rather see all of our children educated in our communities alongside their peers.

“However to do this there has to be far greater support for children who have ASN. At the moment some children with complex needs are expected to cope in class alongside other pupils.

“Understandably there are times that they cannot do this and they react negatively which can lead to a classroom evacuation.

“This is obviously extremely traumatic for everybody involved, not least the child at the centre of it who will be confused and scared.

“The other side of these incidents is that other children are exposed to a situation they should not be and are removed from their classroom during valuable learning time.

“Teaching staff and PSAs are caught in the middle of all of this and, I would imagine, will find these situations very stressful.

“Our school staff are being asked to do an impossible job at times.”

Councillor Jones continued: “I have been asking at Highland Council for months for better ASN provision in Badenoch and flexible timetables which would allow children who need additional support to be in class with their peers at times and at other times their timetable would allow them to be out with class but with ASN specialists in the school environment.

“This would obviously have a budget implication for extra staff but the money has to be found somewhere.

“At the moment we are failing all of our children, those with ASN and those without, as well as putting intolerable pressure on our school staff and parents.’

The Strathy has submitted a Freedom of Information request to the council asking for the number of classroom evacuations in local primary and secondary schools for the past five academic years.


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