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October 2001 - Members' Letter
19 October 2001
To: All member School Boards, Directors of Education, MSPs and Education Committee Chairs
Dear Colleagues
1. SSBA Roadshows
May I take the opportunity of saying a very big ‘thank you’ to all those School Board members, Directors and Directorate Staff and local Councillors who have attended the SSBA Roadshows over the last year. It has been a pleasure seeing you and hearing your views that will help shape SSBA and School Boards in the future. We still have eight to do and look forward to seeing you at these.
2. Assessment
As you know the Government are currently consulting on assessment. The SSBA questionnaire and summary is enclosed (for secondary schools only) {not available on the web - contact SSBA office for details} and I would be grateful if you would complete this and return it no later than 7 December 2001.
3. SSBA 10 year questionnaire
SSBA has asked you many things over the past 10 years and we thought it would be a good idea to find out whether your views have changed. I apologise for the size of the questionnaire but we hope that you will see this as an opportunity for making your views known. The questionnaire {not available on the web - contact SSBA office for details} should be returned to SSBA no later than 19 January 2002.
4. School Board training
SSBA has approached your local authority Education Department offering them SSBA School Board training. SSBA provides a large amount of training all over Scotland and the four main courses for new members and headteachers(and for reminding established members and headteachers about their duties) are:
- Roles, responsibilities and partnerships – How good is our School Board
- How to run effective meetings
- Effective Communications
- Getting the best out of your School Board – a practical guide for Headteachers
I enclose a copy of the letter and order form sent to your Director for your information. Please contact SSBA if you would like help in organising a ‘cluster group’ training session.
5. Advice for new members of School Boards
We also have copies of "Getting the best out of your School Board" which is a practical guide for beginners – they are £3 each and a valuable guide for new members. Headteachers have been provided with their new handbook that is also available to School Board members at £3 each.
6. SSBA Membership fees
SSBA membership fees have stayed at the same rate for the past three years. However, due to rising costs and the need for a third member of staff we are reluctantly increasing our fees for 2002.
Membership fees for 2002 will be as follows:
Full membership for schools with up to 100 pupils = £38 (previously £35)
Full membership for schools with 101+ pupils = £45 (previously £40)
Associate members = £45 (includes PTAs, other organisations and individuals with an interest in education)
Invoices will be issued to members in December.
7. Group membership of SSBA
One of the advantages of Group membership is that you still get the choice of whether or not you want to be members of SSBA. The main reason for becoming part of the Group membership scheme is that you save money. Group memberships are available at £35 and are paid for directly by the Education Department.
During the past year we have added 5 new authorities to the scheme and Councils currently taking advantage of the group membership scheme are as follows:
| Aberdeen Aberdeenshire Argyll and Bute Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway East Lothian East Dunbartonshire |
Falkirk Glasgow City Midlothian Moray North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Perth and Kinross |
Shetland Isles South Ayrshire Stirling West Dunbartonshire Western Isles |
For those of you who are not involved in Group membership at the moment, I enclose a form which you should fill in and return if you would like me to approach your Director of Education regarding your involvement in the SSBA Group membership scheme. This form should be returned no later than 18 November 2001. (Before invoices for 2002 are issued to you in December). Boards in the above list should not complete this form.
To those of you who will be retiring from your School Board on the 30 November may I wish you well in the future and I hope that you have enjoyed your experience as a School Board members. I hope that new members will find SSBA helpful and please remember that we run a ‘Problem Solving Service’ and no matter how large or small the problem may be we will be happy to help.
With kind regards
Ann Hill
Chief Executive
SSBA
