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| SSBA - Beyond 2000 We are now into the new Millennium, the Scottish Parliament is getting on with its business and appears to be keeping education high on its agenda and this is very welcome indeed. With the introduction of a new Education Act in 2000 the role of School Boards in education and the part that parents can play in raising standards is now well recognised. The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act clearly sets out enhanced rights for consultation with School Boards on the five National Priorities, Education Authority Improvement Objectives and School Development Plans as identified by the Government. This in our view places a responsibility on School Boards to participate in raising standards in our schools. This is something best achieved through the promotion of a school ethos conducive to learning – the right of every pupil to benefit from education, and the mutual respect and rights and responsibilities for everyone to have a place as a valued citizen. This is recognised currently by the Learning and Teaching Scotland document "Education for Citizenship". The right to lifelong learning suggests that School Boards have a place in all five priorities as set out by the Government. However, we are still a long way away from realising the full potential of School Boards in this process. SSBA is about to launch a new School Board booklet for Headteachers to help persuade those schools who do not have School Boards to get onboard. There is an even greater need to expect every school to have a School Board. Parents have a right to be involved in their children’s education and this is the best way of doing so. We have had a very busy year in the SSBA and it has not been without its problems. The new Executive Board have taken over the reins and we are now moving positively forward as indicated in the following Annual Report. We have gained charitable status this year and our memorandum and articles of association have been renewed. Charitable Status implies increased potential for fundraising. We continue to be a non-political and non-sectarian organisation supporting and representing the views of School Boards throughout Scotland. School Boards will, of course, welcome the new Education 2000 Act which strengthens their role in the education of their children. We are sure there will be many new challenges in the coming year and we must look forward to playing a full part in raising standards and achievements to even greater heights.
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2000 Annual Report by Alan Smith - President
| 1. | Membership of SSBA has risen again this year and now stands at 1753 as compared to 1621 last year. |
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| 2. | Education Authorities are offered group membership of the Association. This type of membership is cheaper because they pay a one off payment for all of the Boards in their area who want to be members of SSBA. Savings are approximately £10 per Board. The following Councils are currently group members of SSBA: |
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| Aberdeen City Council Aberdeenshire Council Argyll and Bute Council Clackmannanshire Council Dumfries and Galloway Council East Lothian Council East Dunbartonshire Council Glasgow City Council Midlothian Council Moray Council |
North Ayrshire Council North Lanarkshire Council Orkney Islands Council Perth and Kinross Council Shetland Islands Council South Ayrshire Council Stirling Council West Dunbartonshire Council Western Isles Council |
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| 3. | The new Executive Board of SSBA took up office on 20th May 2000 and have been working hard to ensure that the future of SSBA is secure. Five working groups were set up to look after the following areas:
There are still a few vacancies on the Executive Board and it is hoped that these will be filled during the coming year. |
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| 4. | The offices in Newall Terrace, Dumfries continue to be given free of charge by Dumfries and Galloway Council. We operate the school year (Dumfries and Galloway) and normal opening hours are 9 - 5. Visitors are always welcome and becoming more popular. |
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| 5. | Standards in Scotland's Schools, etc Act 2000 This new Education Act clearly sets out the enhanced rights for consultation with School Board on the five National Priorities passed by the Government. These priorities are defined as –
To remove any lingering doubt about the role of the School Board, let us quote in full Priority 4 of the list which says – "To work with parents to teach pupils respect for self and one another and their interdependence with other members of their neighbourhood and society and to teach them the duties and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society". In our view there could hardly be a clearer statement by the Scottish Executive that PARENTS ARE PARTNERS in the education process and it is up to School Boards to lead the way. |
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| 6. | SSBA continues to provide School Board training throughout the country and the four SSBA tutors have covered areas from Shetland to Dumfries. Most of the Education Authorities have been very supportive of their Boards by providing training. We have also put together training courses for School Boards who want to organise their own training. This has worked out well in most cases because the School Boards in the neighbourhood got together to organise their own with our help. The most popular courses at the moment continue to be:
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| 7. | Information on SSBA is now well established on our website. I hope you will agree that it is worth a visit. You can find us at:- |
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| 8. | The practical guide for parents on how to get the best out of your School Board has proved to be a real winner this year. A guide for Headteachers is due to be launched shortly as is the new SSBA guide to Special Education Needs. SSBA Publications include:
Coming this year:
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| 9. | SSBA Representation on National Bodies This year has seen SSBA represented on the following national groups:
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| 10. | This service is now one of the main functions of the office and keeps the staff very busy. Enquiries range from questions about the changing legislation, how to help the Headteacher tackle the Education Authority, appointment of staff - and the lack of training for this very important undertaking, school discipline, complaints procedures and bullying. Member Boards take priority in this service and we have had to turn away a few enquiries because we simply don’t have the staff or resources to cope with the quantity of calls. However, we also work closely with all the local authorities and SEED in tackling problems together. It is encouraging that SEED still pass School Boards onto SSBA for help. |
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| 11. | The ‘Investing in Parents’ Conference at the start of the year in New Lanark gave us the opportunity of hearing what Boards were concerned about. The first ever international conference for ‘Parents in Education around the World’ was held in Glasgow in May of this year and was a tremendous success with visitors from 24 countries around the world taking part. Our ‘SSBA Roadshow’ got underway in December with the first of a series of countrywide roadshows taking place in Highland (Inverness, Thurso, Newtonmore and Golspie). It is our intention to take the roadshow to all parts of Scotland during the coming year. Plans are also well underway for the SSBA 10th Anniversary Conference on ‘Learning for Life’ which will be held in Dumfries between 26 - 28 April 2001. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to Dumfries and Galloway Council for their support over the past 10 years. |
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| 12. | Safe School Travel and Safe School Trips Both of these booklets continue to be used throughout the country by both schools and travel companies. If your child is going on a school trip, either for a day’s educational visit or a week long trip to France then it is worth asking your school to provide you with a copy of ‘Safe School Trips’ which costs £1. ‘Safe School Travel’ continues to be a useful guide to travelling to and from school and at just 50p it is worth buying a copy for your schools. |
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| 13. | Sex Education in Scottish Schools The debate around Section 2A generated intensely held and conflicting views across the whole of Scottish society. In January (2000) SSBA asked the Government to delay any decision on the repeal of Section 2A until they had consulted with parents. SSBA carried out further consultation in February. Parents and School Boards asked for more information to be made available to them. Following approaches by SSBA the Government agreed to give School Boards time to consult before the implementation of their new guidelines. During November and December the Government and SSBA went out to consultation with School Boards on the new guidelines for Education Authorities and Schools. Consultation was also carried out on the proposed guidance leaflet for parents. School Boards were supportive of the consultation required with parents contained within the new guidelines. However, the layout and wording of the new parents leaflet was seen as non-parent friendly. There was also a great deal of criticism of the assumptions made within the documents, e.g. the document assumed that consultation with parents is already taking place in schools when in fact, only 20% of School Boards considered that such consultation was taking place. David Cowling, the SSBA Executive Board member for Fife has joined the Scottish Executive Working Group taking this issue forward. |
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| 14. | SSBA played a major part in bringing the problems of the new data collection systems to the attention of SQA as early as March 2000. Our young people and our teachers have suffered an injustice this year and we must ensure that it is not repeated. A new interim SQA Board has been put in place along with a ‘Stakeholder Group’ which will be responsible for making sure that a repeat of last years problems does not take place. We have expressed our disappointment that SSBA are not represented on either of these groups. |
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| 15. | New Office Bearers were elected this year: President – Alan Smith |
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| 16. | Independent Inquiry into 'Herald' Allegations SSBA has dealt with the allegations carried in the ‘Herald’ newspaper regarding financial irregularities within SSBA. SSBA took these allegations very seriously and a full independent inquiry was carried out. It has been demonstrated that no financial irregularities occurred within SSBA. Steps have now been taken to ensure that staff and Directors are indemnified in their future roles and responsibilities. |
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| 17. | The Accounts were prepared by Farries, Kirk and McVean, Chartered Accountants, Castle Street, Dumfries and are contained within this report.
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January 2001
