Comment posted Major success for Argyll and Bute Council education staff and for Kilmodan school by Integrity? Not in the ConDemAll.
Yet another success for a school the previous administration, and in particular Cllr Marshall’s criteria, would have us believe is failing.
A little encouragement and a little support and our rural schools can, and do, demonstrate quite how effective they are and quite how well they deliver education.
Integrity? Not in the ConDemAll also commented
- Regarding the update which reads ‘Auileen Goodall is an Educational Development Officer – not a Quality Improvement Officer. This keeps the pressure on the question of just what the very many QIOs at Argyll and Bute council actually do and whether that is worth what it costs us’
This is an important point of discussion. It would be interesting to know what are the remits of both roles and how much overlap is there. Based purely on title (which can obviously be misleading) they certainly appear to be roles which must have a lot of similar responsibilities. Are we getitng value for money from these two roles?
Recent comments by Integrity? Not in the ConDemAll
- Conundrums on ‘Challenge: see what you make of these VisitScotland statistics’
Do you have a link to it? - Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
To my knowledge nobody is judging parents for their choices but isn’t it wonderful that they still have that choice?ARSN has gone on record many times to say that they are not blanket opposed to school closures, just opposed to closures which do not provide an educational benefit and which are progressed without the interests of the children at their root.
Parents and grand parents will always put what they believe their children’s best interests are first (and rightly so) and it was one of many insulting slurs made by ABC during the closures issue that this was not the case.
Luss is a prime example of a school with a small number of pupils in a small number of classes which thrives educationally, and there are no signs that its pupils are suffering form the issues you mention Islay (however that doesn’t mean it might not be an issue elsewhere). Didn’t stop ABC insinuating that rural schools can produce ‘socially dysfunctional’ children.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
My reference to Helensburgh appears to have sparked something it was never meant to spark.It was a source of frustration for ARSN that the argument was constantly put forward that rural schools, and rural children, were somehow overly privileged, yet the lack of other council services in rural areas conveniently ignored.
However none of us would have ever entertained the idea of turning the table and, for example, advocating closing or amalgamating urban schools, even if the proposal could have been put forward using the same flawed arguments as ABC used to close the rural ones.
Tim is right to say that ARSN wasn’t political. There were a few blinkered individuals on here who, as soon as an ARSN member supported local schools, instantly assumed we were Mike Russell’s sheep however it was normally by people with a limited understanding of the issue at hand.
Anne is right to say that Helensburgh need to join in, and she knows full well that so do Dunoon, Oban, Luss, Barcaldine etc etc – all she was doing was responding to my reference to Helensburgh (which I made purely because it was the urban area I am most associated with). It was not the demonisation of an area but a call for us to cast off these stupid idea that rural and urban areas can’t work in co-operation with each other.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
JohnI certainly hope you are right about urban and rural communities not turning on each other. During the previous schools campaign it was staggering how many Helensburgh people were adamant the schools should close (often without ever having bothered to even read the reports or make any effort to ascertain any facts).
The tired, somewhat idiotic, and entirely incorrect argument about rural children getting a private school education and the even more ridiculous one about rural communities bleeding the urban ones of funds was trotted out time and time again.
- UK National Lottery Good Causes in Scotland
AngusApologies for slight rounding as I don’t have exact figures to hand but doesn’t that mean funding has been awarded at about the same % as the population spread?
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Yet another success for a school the previous administration, and in particular Cllr Marshall’s criteria, would have us believe is failing.
A little encouragement and a little support and our rural schools can, and do, demonstrate quite how effective they are and quite how well they deliver education.
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Well done Kilmodan! Great school, great kids and great community.
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So, is this Aileen Goodall one of these much maligned immprovement officers we keep hearing newsie and FA rubbishing??
Mmm??
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We could do chapter and verse on QIOs in general and in particular but it seems thrawn to do that right at the moment because our hope is that things will improve under new political guidance.
ARSN was always aware that QIOs follow instructions from their employer and indeed it was obvious that some were uncomfortable with the roles they had during the closure consultations, not least the dreadful scripts they had to read from (Vygotsky indeed!).
Now that there’s a new administration, we hope to see more of the kind of work Aileen Goodall is doing. Given all the negative tensions involved in the closure debacle, I’m sure it’s what our QIOs would rather be doing.
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Didn’t you read the Update at the foot of the article Simon?
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A bit unfair, B2. Simon’s reply was posted before newsy posted the update.
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Just checked our time logs. We posted the update at 08.23 and Simon’s comment to which Barmore 2 refers was posted at 09.09.
Apologies.
I had done this time log check myself and had not noticed the days, only the hours.
Simon posted his comment on 3rd June at 9.09pm.
Our update to the article was on 4th June at 08.23am.
Lynda
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It is certainly very interesting to hear what has been happening in Kilmodan.Has this been successful in the other schools across Argyll?
I would love to hear from the teachers and support staff on the closure story now that they are allowed a voice without
the threat of disciplne.Or have all the bosses seen the light.Still a lot of money being paid to the QIO,s or is this new title a change or additional staff?
I would hope that the education department and Carol Walker,s so called leadership will be examined very quickly by the new council along with giving us the answers to spygate and Jo Smith.Is she still sitting at home being paid to get a sun tan.
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Well done Kilmodan…!
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Well said Barmore 2. Kilmodan deserve our congratulations, as do all the wee schools who keep clocking up one prize or another for doing really special and wonderful work.
I reckon Argyll & Bute always had the best chance of implementing the Curriculum for Excellence because the wee schools already had to operate that way to an extent and the teachers really know how to make it work. Let’s hope they’re allowed to flourish now so the kids, and their communities, can move forward with security and confidence.
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Yes – well done to EDOs, so why shouldnt all the QIOs become EDOs?
And I hope that Neil McIntyre gets the answers to his questions quickly – I cant think of a good reason why he shouldnt.
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Regarding the update which reads ‘Auileen Goodall is an Educational Development Officer – not a Quality Improvement Officer. This keeps the pressure on the question of just what the very many QIOs at Argyll and Bute council actually do and whether that is worth what it costs us’
This is an important point of discussion. It would be interesting to know what are the remits of both roles and how much overlap is there. Based purely on title (which can obviously be misleading) they certainly appear to be roles which must have a lot of similar responsibilities. Are we getitng value for money from these two roles?
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I think the best people to enquire this with would be Head Teachers across Argyll & Bute and perhaps ask them to list the areas they have received help or have found QIOs and QIMs to actually have been a benefit to them.
I already know the thoughts of one area – so I would expect much silence to follow such a request.
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Thank you for the subtle prompt on the latest typo.
Aileen Goodallhas now been reunited with her proper name.
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Surely after the chaos of the rural schools proposed closures the points made by Integrity and Crazy in response to this story would be a great place to start for our new councillors The investigation into duplication of responsibility across the whole spectrum of council departments will surely follow.Jobs can be created and services improved if someone has the sense and guts to do it.
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I expect the new Lead Councillor on Education, who knows his area of reponsibilty , possibly better than his appointed staff, to lay down the law to his staff as to policies and guidance. The days of paid staff laying down policy, and failing to give correct information to the elected members and the Council as a whole, are over. One such occurrence such as we have seen in the last few years will lead, I hope, not to resignations and “settlements” but to termination with no recompence. The first real test will probably come in the next 2 weeks with the report on Spygate and the dealing with the culprits in that affair.
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