Membership

Membership of SSBA has risen again this year and now stands at 1967 individual School Boards as compared to 1753 last year.

Group Membership

Education Authorities and School Boards are given the opportunity of joining the SSBA Group Membership scheme. The main difference in this type of membership is very simple – SSBA issues one invoice directly to the Education Department for all of their Boards and we receive one payment. This saves considerable time and effort for both parties. You still get the option not to join as we firmly believe that the decision to join should be made by yourselves. The monetary saving is quite substantial – a Board with over 100 pupils taking out individual membership will pay £45 per year whereas a Board which is part of the Group membership scheme will only pay £35. Local Authorities who take out Group Membership also receive the benefit of discounted training courses which we provide.

Involvement in the Group Membership by Education Authorities now stands at 24 Councils.

The following Councils currently take advantage of the SSBA Group Membership scheme:

Aberdeenshire

Argyll and Bute

Clackmannanshire

Dumfries and Galloway

East Ayrshire

East Dunbartonshire

East Lothian

East Renfrewshire

Falkirk

Glasgow City

Highland

Moray

North Ayrshire

North Lanarkshire

Perth and Kinross

Renfrewshire

Scottish Borders

Shetland Islands

South Ayrshire

Stirling

West Dunbartonshire

Western Isles

Executive Board Members

Executive Board members continue to play a crucial part in the decision making process in Scottish education. During the past year John Tierney was appointed to the Scottish Executive Assessment Committee and Management Team and I was appointed to the Religious and Moral Education Committee at the Scottish Executive. There are still a few vacancies on our Executive Board but it is hoped that these will be filled shortly.

SSBA Office and Staff

SSBA continues to enjoy free office space in Dumfries in Southwest Scotland, courtesy of Dumfries and Galloway Council. We have two full time staff and part time staff who are employed on an ‘as needs’ basis. We have increased the number of School Board training tutors this year and can now cover most of Scotland on request.

SSBA Website and Discussion Forum

www.schoolboard-scotland.com - SSBA continues to update its website on a regular basis.

Newsletter Competition

The standard of entry to our Newsletter Competition was exceptionally high with a large number of entrants from all over Scotland. The entries were judged on – originality, layout, pupil participation, variety of articles and topics, information for parents, School Board contact details, reader friendly. The six winners were as follows –

1. Strathburn Primary School, Aberdeenshire
2. Houston Primary, Renfrewshire
3. Old Machar Academy, Aberdeen
4. Grange Academy, East Ayrshire
5. Hermitage Academy, Argyll and Bute
6. Auchterarder Community School, Perth and Kinross

School Board Training

SSBA continues to deliver School Board Training. The most popular courses continue to be Powers, Responsibilities and Partnerships and The Effective School Board at Work. We are now delivering a new Head Teacher Training Course which was recently piloted for Head Teachers and School Boards in Dumfries and Galloway and Renfrewshire. The content of this new course is as follows –

1. Basic Legislation relating to School Boards
2. Partnership between the Head Teacher and the School Board
3. Partnership between Head Teacher, School Board and the Education Authority
4. Partnership between School Board, Parents and Local Community

This course fits in with the requirements for the "Scottish Qualification for Headship" for aspiring Head Teachers.

The pilot courses were run with Head Teachers accompanied by a member of their School Board and this proved very satisfactory for both parties.

The Banks Report, (see 9) identified a need for appropriate training for Head Teachers and School Board members. The report concluded that not enough emphasis is placed on Head Teacher training by the local authorities. Head Teachers are crucial to the success of an effective School Board. The report identified the lack of consistent training in some areas and no training at all in others. This issue is being taken forward by SSBA and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland.

National Debate

Briefing packs, videos, posters and leaflets were distributed by the Scottish Executive Education Department to help find out your views within your communities. The results were published in February 2003.

A summary of the key priorities follows –

1. Increase pupil choice by reviewing the school curriculum to suit 21^st century.
2. Simplify and reduce the amount of assessment to cut down the number of tests and exams and the amount of time spent on them.
3. Bring forward proposals to reduce class sizes and improve pupil/teacher ratios at critical stages such as P7, S1 and S2, particularly in Maths and English.
4. Tackle discipline problems and bullying by fully implementing the recommendations of the Discipline Task Group. (SSBA were represented on this body by Gordon Stewart).
5. Improve school buildings to create a school estate in which all schools have the right facilities.
6. Give more control over budgets to Head Teachers so that the people closest to the children can decide how best to use resources.
7. Have teachers work across primary and secondary schools to help with the transition from primary to secondary.
8. Involve parents more in their children’s education by providing new national guidelines.
9. Strengthen the role of inspection by delivering clearer and more frequent reports to parents.

Banks Report

Nicol Stephen, the Depute Minister of Education and Young People launched a review of Support for School Boards at our AGM in March 2002. The Banks Report was commissioned by the Scottish Executive following concerns raised by School Boards over the lack of support and funding available to them from their local authorities. Philip Banks, retired HMIE, was asked to review the level of support offered to School Boards. The objectives of the review were:

1. to provide information on local authority support to School Boards,
2. to evaluate the level of local authority support,
3. to identify the needs of School Boards and Head Teachers in terms of finance and administration, initial and continuing training, availability of information, resources and role development,
4. to evaluate the current contribution of key agencies, governmental and non-governmental, to meeting School Boards needs, and
5. to identify key issues for future policy consideration.

The consultant spoke to School Board members, Head Teachers, teachers, community members, Education Department personnel, School Board Co-ordinators, Directors of Education, Lead Officers in both SSBA and SPTC and also took evidence from HMIE.

The review identified:

Strengths of the present position, including –

1. commitment of all parent members of School Boards
2. recognition by almost all Education Authorities of the effectiveness of School Boards as part of parental involvement in policy consultations
3. constructive relationships between most Head Teachers and School Boards
4. availability of national training, advice and information from SSBA

Areas of weakness, including –

1. School Boards are hindered by the legacy of the abandoned policy of self-government of schools
2. School Boards have inconsistent expectations of their potential role and very unclear ideas about the implications for them of recent legislation
3. School Board consultation with parents is inconsistent
4. Rationale for allocating finance to School Boards is inappropriate
5. Head Teachers are generally complacent about their own training needs in relation to School Boards and Education Authorities do not set high enough expectations of them
6. The potential role of School Boards in contributing to the improvement agenda lacks national definition

The formal election procedures deter many parents from membership

Steps which should be considered include:

1. The relaunch of the School Board movement by Ministers

2. The Scottish Executive should take the lead in establishing a new national framework for the work of School Boards, drawing on the views of all parents

3. The framework should include consideration of –

   1. finding ways of disseminating good practice
   2. improving communications between School Boards and the wider parent body
   3. establishing more consistent levels of training for teachers and parents
   4. easing access for School Boards to essential information
   5. using ICT more consistently
   6. raising general expectations of the contribution to be made by School Boards
   7. setting the funding of School Boards on a a proper basis
   8. clarifying the relationship between School Boards and PTAs
   9. encouraging a more consistent level of support from education authorities
   10. ensuring a better fit between national and local training, both for induction and on-the-job training

The Ministerial Review Group included members from the Scottish Executive Education Department, HMIE, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and the Scottish School Board Association.

This report draws on the strength of involving parents in the education of their children. We are grateful to the Minister for addressing our concerns and commissioning this review. We look forward to the relaunch of School Boards and to SSBA working in partnership with the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and others to ensure that School Boards get the support they need. We look forward to seeing more parents involved in the education of their children and the possibility of School Boards having both a wider membership and a much broader role in supporting Head Teachers and schools. The report is available on the Scottish Executive website within the section entitled ‘Publications’ and on the SSBA website. There is also a small stock of copies in the SSBA office.

Consultations on -

1. Education, Culture and Sport Committee – School Meals (Scotland) Bill
2. Justice Committee – Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill

In April we were asked by the two Scottish Parliament Committees named above to consider the above proposed Bills. Due to the extremely short time scale for returns (less than a month) we randomly selected 300 schools from our membership database and issued fifteen questionnaires – five for parents/School Board members, five for staff (either administration or teaching) and five for pupils in either P7 or S3. We are grateful for the rapid return of these questionnaires which enabled us to convey your views.

Problem Solving Service

This service to members continues to grow. Enquiries range from questions about changes to legislation, what can be discussed at a Board meeting, who is in charge of setting the Agenda etc.

Conferences

At our two day Conference in Glasgow in December, the Education Minister Cathy Jamieson commended the Scottish School Board Association, Glasgow City Council, Careers Scotland and the Young Engineers Clubs Scotland for organising the Conference with the theme of Celebrating the Achievements of our Young People. She said "We have all come together because we recognise that, despite what the media might want us all to believe, the young people of Scotland are not always a problem to society. On the contrary, they are its future, and, given the right support, a bright future".

SSBA Publications

Publications now include –

Booklets

• Running an Effective School Board meeting
• A practical guide for School Boards
• Working with your School Board – a guide for Head Teachers
• The duties of the School Board Clerk

Training Course Booklets

• Powers, Responsibilities and Partnerships
• Effective Communications
• Effective Meetings
• Appointment procedures for appointing senior staff
• Working with your School Board for Head Teachers and teachers
• Councillors and their School Boards

Publications can be ordered by contacting the SSBA office.

Financial Report

The Accounts were prepared by Farries, Kirk and McVean, Chartered Accountants, Castle Street, Dumfries and are contained within this report.