Kinlochbervie High School Board Newsletter

June 2004

The members of the School Board for 2003-04 were:

The meetings were also attended by:

 During the year, the Board held four regular meetings (one per term).  An extra meeting is planned for June 14th.  The main issues dealt with were:

1.  School Staff

There have been lengthy delays in finding new permanent members of staff when teachers leave the school.  The subjects particularly affected this year were Technical, English and P.E.  There are a lot of part-time posts in the school, which may reduce the number of applicants applying for the jobs, but the school finds this necessary in order to offer a wider range of subjects.  It seems that the difficulty of finding staff is not specific to Kinlochbervie High School, as there are not enough teachers available nationally.  However, the School Board does not want to see pupils' exam results suffering due to the lack of a specialist teacher, and it was felt that small schools with only one teacher for each subject were particularly disadvantaged.  It was also noted that the situation is likely to get worse as a large proportion of teachers near retirement.  Letters outlining the Boards' concerns were sent to the Education Minister Peter Peacock, Jamie Stone MSP, Highland Council's Director of Education Bruce Robertson and Head of Resources Hugh Fraser, and John Thurso MP.  The Board discussed how the situation could be improved with, for example, financial incentives for new teachers, provision of housing, and employment of permanent supply teachers to be shared between several schools.  A meeting with Annete Sharland, Area Education Manager, and Jamie Stone MSP has been arranged for June 14th to clarify the best way forward.  The School Board thanked Ian Smith for the hard work he had done to find staff throughout the past year.

 2.  Finance

At the beginning of the year the school had overspent on its core budgets by £14,000, but it had £17,000 to spend on ring-fenced government initiatives, i.e. money only to be used for special projects decided on by the Scottish Executive Education Department.  It was noted that most of the core budget is spent on staff.  The Board was concerned that because of the system of ring-fencing, the school is not able to put its money to the best possible use.  Contact has been made with other similarly minded School Boards so that we can work together to raise the issue.  However, the situation seems to be improving and it appears that the school has managed to reduce its deficit.

3.  Transport

There was concern about the roadworthiness of the Scourie bus after it broke down at the end of April.  The matter is being investigated.  Questions were raised about the provision of bus shelters for pupils travelling to school.  A shelter has been put up in Scourie which has helped the situation there, but now consideration is being given to the need in other areas.  There are hopes of some funding being made available, but at this stage it is unclear how it would be best used and whether it would be sufficient. 

4.  Promoted Posts

Highland Council has been carrying out job restructuring (as a result of the McCrone report), with Kinlochbervie being allocated 5 promoted posts when it formerly had 8.  The Board supported the school's proposal for the new structure to be Head Teacher, Deputy Head Teacher, Principal Teacher (Senior Management Team), and two other Principal Teachers.

5.  School Closures

The Board agreed that the school should be closed when school transport is cancelled due to bad weather.

6.  School 10th Anniversary

Depending on what the school chooses to do to mark its 10th anniversary in August next year, the School Board will either assist the school with its project or it may organise a separate event.  A number of possibilities are being considered.

7.  ECS Sutherland Forum

Fiona Belbin and Ronnie Lansley attended this Area Education meeting in December and had the opportunity to make the Board's views more widely known.

8.  School Board Elections

Elections are held every two years.  The next one is due in the autumn of 2005.  Until then new Board members will be co-opted to take the place of any who stand down.

9.  Website

The Board now has a page on the school website www.kinlochberviehigh.highland.sch.uk.  There you will find contact details for Board members and the minutes of recent meetings.  It is hoped that future agendas, feedback, and ideas for fundraising will also be included.  Minutes are of course already displayed on notice boards throughout the area.

The next ordinary meeting of the School Board is scheduled for Wednesday 29th September in the school ICT room (former library).  While only Board members may participate in the discussions, all members of the school community are welcome to attend the meetings.

If you would like more information about the School Board or have a comment to make concerning the issues raised in this newsletter, please speak to any School Board member.  The telephone number of the Chairperson is 01971 502008.

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