Parents claim Aviemore school is being short-changed after arrival of Ukrainian pupils
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Concerned parents at the strath’s largest primary school fear that the most vulnerable pupils could lose out further on their education following a large influx of Ukrainian children.
They were quick to stress they welcome the new arrivals from the war-ravaged country but believe Highland Council is not putting in the extra required resources at Aviemore Primary School.
Around 30 pupils from the Ukraine started on Monday joining classes from P1 to P7 and the education authority has so far allocated one additional teacher.
Andy Norrie is worried about the impact on his eight year-old son Benji, who has autism and has already seen his support cut, as well as existing and new pupils.
He said: “These kids are far from home, will struggle with communication and are being dumped into a school at the very last minute with no prior planning.
“This is shocking negligence by Highland Council who had all summer to come up with a plan and have clearly failed to do so.
“Clearly it is absolutely right to support the Ukrainian children with education and wellbeing, and nobody is questioning that.
“However it is clear that without adequate resourcing this will have a huge impact on the whole school, it will not be fair to the Ukrainians, the existing pupils or the staff.”
Mr Norrie said other equally concerned parents were fearful of speaking out in case they were accused of being racist.
He said: “This is absolutely not the case. My mother is looking after a couple of Ukrainians in her home. We took them on a trip around the Highlands. It is absolutely necessary to look after these people.
“But this is going to screw the Ukrainian kids who are being dumped in a school with no language support...
“There are Ukrainian English speakers locally but the council has not even looked to contacted them to help out.”
Highland Council figures reveal that 134 Ukrainians have just started at 40 schools across the region.
Sixty children are attending in Badenoch and Strathspey compared to Inverness (29); Ross and Cromarty (17); Skye and Raasay (1); Lochaber (9); Caithness (7); Sutherland (5) and Nairn (6).
The education authority refused to provide a breakdown for local schools.
Aviemore school parent Mike Dearman said: “Parents are concerned about being seen as anti-Ukrainian when the intention here is exactly the opposite.
“The Ukrainian students are very welcome and our concern is that they are not being adequately supported at what is a very difficult time for them and while doing so reduce disruption to the existing pupils.
“The reality is these children have come from and are still experiencing hugely traumatic events at a young age, with little to no English skills, and have been placed into one of Scotland’s worst performing schools – as shown in the latest Scottish Government data – which didn’t have the resources to fully support its pupils before this intake.
“The idea that minimum staffing ratios are sufficient support for this is absolutely ludicrous. We hear that the teachers main method of communication with the new students is through Google Translate.
“The council needs to step in immediately, not in three to six months, to find solutions to alleviate these issues before we see bigger cracks appearing and irreversible harm to the pupils’ education and wellbeing of both pupils and staff.”
Another parent, who did not want to be named, said: “The council should be putting its hands into its pockets to pay for extra support staff and resources to accommodate them instead of the school being forced to ask for donations of really basic equipment such as headphones and teachers having to buy simple things like tennis balls and paint.”
Parents were alerted to the large influx of new pupils just one week before the new academic year began.
A council spokeswoman said support was in place at the school and more would be forthcoming.
She commented: “The new enrolments to the school – which includes some Ukrainian families who have moved into the catchment area in the late summer – have meant that the school roll increased and consequently an additional teacher has been placed in the school.
“Furthermore, we are currently working with the school to increase the number of support staff in order to provide support for all children who require it.
“Additionally, the school is receiving support from area officers including the additional support needs officer, the education officer and the English as additional language teacher is linking in to support with the new children who have moved to the area from Ukraine.
“As per Scottish Government guidance all children resident in Scotland are entitled to education and funded early learning and childcare (ELC) irrespective of their immigration status.
“The preferred approach is to match families with permanent accommodation as quickly as possible, and to offer schools and funded ELC places at this point.
“However, whether their accommodation is permanent or temporary, children arriving from Ukraine should have access to appropriate education and ELC services from as early as is appropriate for the individual or families’ needs.’
“Therefore the priority of the council was to enable access to school and ELC for the children and young people from Ukrainian families in the area and the support for them will be in place.
“It is important they are included as part of the school which is why they are enrolled in to the year group for their age and stage and not isolated in a separate class or grouping.”
