Strong opposition to plans to introduce “executive headteacher” posts in Argyll and Bute has been revealed by a teaching union poll.
Executive heads would run up to eight schools - as many as seven primaries and one secondary - under a “cluster leadership model” that Argyll and Bute Council hopes will address difficulties in recruiting leaders to its small rural primaries.
The council’s consultation on the proposal closed yesterday, and the EIS teaching union’s submission included the results of a survey of members.
Around 48 per cent of local EIS members responded to the survey (385 in all), and only 19 supported Argyll and Bute Council’s plans. Some 35 per cent of the respondents were in a promoted post, with the rest being main-grade class teachers.
EIS Argyll and Bute secretary Alison Palmer said: “The results of this survey speak for themselves. Our members cannot see the benefit of the proposals, other than for the purposes of budget cuts.
‘Executive headteachers’ plan ‘a cost-cutting exercise’
“The posts, as they are proposed, will not encourage recruitment or retention in rural areas. The proposals are more likely to increase workload for all teaching staff.”
Ms Palmer added: “If the local authority is really interested in what teachers’ concerns and suggestions for improvements are, then we would point them to our local election manifesto demands.
“We need investment in our schools in the form of more support in - and for - the classroom: more specialist ASN [additional support needs] provision, reduced class sizes and more time for teachers to plan quality learning, teaching and assessment.”
Ms Palmer described the plans for executive headteachers as “a distraction from the underlying problems that it claims to seek to address”. She said she hoped that “the council won’t waste any more time or money on this wasteful proposal”.
One headteacher who responded to the EIS survey wrote: “This is not about my job title as such, but rather being a headteacher is my occupation - in the same way that someone might feel about being a doctor. I think such a fundamental change to my job should not be considered with such woolly rationale.”
Another respondent said: “I’m really not sure how the executive head post adds value. I can see the benefit for heads in very small schools, but I’m not sure how it will work with non-teaching heads of larger schools. I can’t see that it supports the Scottish government’s empowerment agenda and I really don’t understand how it can help solve recruitment, when you’re taking away the role of headteacher yet essentially leaving someone the same job.”
And another comment read: “A big part of school life is building relationships and trust with families. This will be very difficult as the executive head would hardly have any time in each school they are overseeing.”
The EIS said that many comments in the survey referred to the Argyll and Bute proposals as a cost-cutting exercise.
One respondent wrote: ”A money-saving plan. No improved career plan for teachers. Reduces numbers of promoted posts. No sound educational basis for plan.”
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said: ”We must be realistic about the challenges education services in Argyll and Bute face. Falling school roles and teacher shortages in the long term put the education of our young people at risk, and failure to change will in effect be letting our young people down.
”We are grateful to everyone who took part in the consultation. Their feedback will be vital in shaping the proposals before they are submitted to members of the community services committee for a decision.”
