Most primary strath primary schools moving to 4.5 day week

Most primary schools in Badenoch and Strathspey are set to move to four-and-half-day classroom week when the new term restarts in August.

Some secondary schools already operate the four and a half day week – Grantown Grammar School has done so for a while and it has just been introduced at Kingussie High School.

The remainder set to be following the new timetable by August and earlier this year primaries were given the opportunity to follow suit - if it was agreed by parents and staff.

Many schools have already signed up to the change, while others have decided against it,

Five primary schools in south Highland - Carrbridge, Kinmylies, Dochgarroch, Teanassie and Tomnacross - already operate the new hours.

Eleven more - Newtonmore, Alvie, Kingussie, Gergask, Kirkhill, Beauly, Cannich Bridge, Balnain, Glenurquhart, Stratherrick, Farr, are due to implement the change after the summer holidays.

Highland Council has said the timetable change is not to save money but will allow additional time for teacher training, protect rural schools from closure and offer more time for senior pupils to take part in part-time college courses.

No learning time will be lost as classes will run on slightly later during the rest of the week and lunch breaks will be made slightly shorter to make up for the lost hours on Friday.

Councillor Alasdair Christie, chairman of the people committee, which covers education, said consultation is ongoing.

"The response has been really varied across the Highlands but some schools have said they want to go ahead and could start as early as August," he said.

"There has been really good discussion on it with parents wanting to know how it will affect child care, education and transport so consultation is continuing in those cases."

Independent Inverness South councillor Duncan Macpherson said he is satisfied with the consultation process so far but has heard from unhappy parents, including one Inverness hairdresser who will have to fork out an extra £160 every month to pay for child care.

"I hope there is full consultation taking place because it can only be a good thing if it is for the benefit of pupils, parents and staff but that seems to be what it is happening so hopefully it stays that way," he said.

"There are concerns about child care and loss of income and it is an extra cost for parents but if schools have signed up it must be suiting some people otherwise it wouldn’t go ahead."

Alistair Bell, Highland spokesman for teaching union EIS, said most staff are happy with the proposal, although pointed out that it may cause issues for part-time teachers.

"Most staff don’t seem to have an issue with it, I think it would actually suit many of them very well to finish early on a Friday," he said.

"They are happy that their classroom contact hours will be protected through the slightly longer days but the problem is specialist teachers who come in to teach things like art or PE as many of them only work part-time.

"If they already only work part-time then half a day is cut that could make it very difficult for them to achieve the balance between classroom contact hours and non-contact time. That is something that head teachers and the local authority will need to address."

Struan Mackie, councillor for Thurso and north west Caithness, believes that the matter should be brought back to councillors for discussion.

"Now that it is happening at high schools I can understand why it makes sense to do the same at primaries as it offers continuity for parents who have children at primary and high school who have had to arrange for a child to be collected from one school at lunch time and another a couple of hours later," he said.

"That aside, I haven’t heard a compelling enough argument for it to be happening at all.

"I think it needs to be discussed again in the new council. I don’t think we should be going back over every decision that has already been made but this is a major issue which was discussed in the previous council yet will be implemented in this new one, when none of the new councillors have had a chance to scrutinise or have their say.

"If it goes ahead it will impact the next five years and beyond so I think we should be given the opportunity to discuss it in detail because I want to be sure that the council is giving this the fullest and widest consultation possible."

And Cllr Mackie pointed out if parents are making the decision they may not take into account the wider impact outwith the school, especially in rural areas.

"When it was discussed before there were a lot of concerns which I don’t think have been addressed," he said.

"It can even have knock on effects on things like public transport because the bus times have changed to suit the school hours. It doesn’t seem like much in the grand scheme of things but in rural areas including parts of my ward it can mean the difference between someone being able to get to or from work."

A Highland Council spokeswoman said that as consultations have taken place locally there is no record of where they have taken place, or the reasons for opting in or out of the new timetable.

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