My company Seton Design have just rebranded Gregors', an accounts firm in Edinburgh to great effect. As a direct result of this Gregors' gained two new clients in the first week of the new brand launch after seeing the new signage on the Gregors' office. The client was delighted with the work we did and gave us a fantastic testimonial.

'A few months ago our practice was looking for a new Logo. Having met Andrew White from Seton Design around that time we asked him to have a look at this.  Over a number of meetings Andrew asked us a lot of questions that led us to realise that a new name or logo, without the right thinking and purpose was not going to help us move our business forward the way we were visualising.  Rather than this, Andrew took us through a complete ‘Rebranding’ protocol that began with us revisiting and restating how we saw ourselves as both a business and as the individual team members.

This exercise was extremely illuminating as it demonstrated that, in different ways, most team members were aligning themselves at varying degrees away from the business direction that they thought they were going.  Once everyone had bought into re-aligning themselves there was an almost magical change in the business. Not only was this change positive, but it spawned growing improvement in the performance and job satisfaction of all team members, which has naturally led the business to operate at an improved level of performance expectation.  Aside from the skills of the team at Seton Design in bringing to us a ‘rebranded’ business with a new name and an innovative Logo, we value even more the fact that we were looking for a way to take our Accountancy Practice to ‘the next level’ and Seton Design gave us the route to do this, by getting us all to share the same thinking about how we saw the business in the future and the rebranding process created the mechanics to set individual focus on this. Overall, what Seton Design did was to allow us to make the next step in taking our business to the next level. When we commissioned Seton we had concerns as to the financial commitment that the whole process necessitated, however we found that these concerns were unfounded, as the process they delivered has materially enhanced our performance capability'.
 
Norman Gregor CA
Director - Gregors' Accountants

Please visit our website: http://www.setondesign.com

Taken from www.ciwf.org.uk - Compassion in World Farming

UK Councils pledging to source only non-cage supplied eggs 2009 / 2010

38 councils receive a Good Egg Award

Philip Lymbery making his speech

“A big thank you to everyone who has taken part in our Cage-free Councils Campaign. Together, we’re making a real difference to our food and farm animals”
Philip Lymbery, CEO


38 councils were celebrated as ‘Good Eggs’ at Compassion’s awards ceremony in Bournemouth on 6 July 2010. The winning councils have all committed to sourcing eggs exclusively from cage-free hens. Collectively they will be directly helping more than 17,000 hens a year enjoy happier lives in a more natural environment, without cages.

By winning one of our Good Egg Awards, the councils have joined the ranks of top UK companies including Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, who previously won awards.

Our special guest Pam Ayres presented the awards. She gave a poignant rendition of her poem on the life of the battery hen and underscored the real difference that the assembled councils were making to the lives of hens.

“Local authorities who take the cage-free pledge thoroughly deserve our recognition and applause,” said Compassion Chief Executive Philip Lymbery. “Their actions are so important, both to the hens that benefit directly, and to ensuring that politicians and higher welfare farmers feel supported in their quest to bring a better deal for our laying hens ahead of the 2012 EU ban on barren battery cages.”
The movement for a cage-free future is growing

A 2010 YouGov survey, commissioned by Compassion, showed that 63% * of the UK public would prefer for their local council to use eggs from cage-free hens. Compassion has made significant progress in ensuring that public opinion is heard.

Over 90 councils in the UK are now using barn, free-range or organic eggs and are part of the movement to better welfare and better quality food that is sweeping the corporate and public procurement sectors.

 2009

    * Bath and North East Somerset Council
    * Carmarthenshire County Council
    * Derbyshire County Council
    * Devon County Council
    * East Ayrshire Council
    * Greater London Authority
    * Halton Borough Council
    * Hampshire County Council
    * Havant Borough Council
    * Hertfordshire County Council
    * Isle of Wight Council
    * Lancashire County Council
    * London Borough of Barnet Council
    * London Borough of Croydon Council
    * London Borough of Enfield Council
    * Midlothian Council
    * New Forest District Council
    * North Yorkshire County Council
    * Nottinghamshire County Council
    * Poole Borough Council
    * Shropshire Council
    * South Gloucestershire Council
    * Southampton City Council
    * Warrington Borough Council
    * Warwickshire County Council
    * Waverley Borough Council
    * Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
    * Worcestershire County Council

2010

    * Bacons College
    * Birmingham City Council
    * Bolton City Council
    * Bridgwater College
    * Bristol City Council
    * Cambridge City Council
    * Cambridgeshire County Council
    * Ceredigion County Council
    * Cheshire East Council
    * Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
    * East Sussex County Council
    * Gloucester County Council
    * Gwynedd County Council
    * Herefordshire County Council
    * Kent County Council
    * Leicester City Council
    * London Borough of Hounslow Council
    * London Borough of Merton Council
    * London Borough of Tower Hamlets
    * Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
    * Oxfordshire County Council
    * Peterborough City Council
    * Rochford District Council
    * Ryedale District Council
    * Salford City Council
    * Sedgemoor District Council
    * Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
    * Somerset County Council
    * South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
    * Staffordshire County Council
    * Suffolk County Council
    * Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
    * Telford and Wrekin Council
    * West Oxfordshire District Council
    * West Sussex County Council
    * Wigan County Council
    * Winchester City Council
    * Wychavon District Council
________________________________

any council missing from the list?

usually i am bored in east lothian, there doesn't seem to be any activities for gay men in east lothian, sure there are plenty of things to do, and there are many activities to engage in, but sometimes i just want to get out with the boys and have fun.
Carberry forest is the only interesting place as i walk my dog there and i have met a few new gay friends there walking their dogs.
Its a great chance to have a chat and enjoy your surroundings aswell as getting fit, you know what i mean boys..

Introduction 

 

The purpose of this paper is to inform the Working Group which will explore and consider the potential of Community Based Management of Schools in East Lothian.

 

The Working Group will be composed of headteachers, parents, elected members, community councillors, young people, unions and officers from the department and the wider Council.  The Working Group is due to report to East Lothian Council's Education Committee in December 2010 and will build upon the Report from the Community Based Management of Schools Conference held at Queen Margaret University on the 22nd April 2010.

 

It should be emphasised that the outcome of this exercise might be that very little change needs to take place and that community based management of schools – in any form – is not in the best interests of children, young people or the communities of East Lothian.

 

It is likely that the Working Group will establish sub-groups to address specific issues.  These sub-groups may extend beyond members of the Working Group.

 

Working Group Remit:

 

1. Describe the logic for exploring a more community based approach to school management.
2. Present a long term vision for the place of schools within their communities.
3. Describe the current Scottish Government legislation and East Lothian Council Standing Orders and explore how these might relate to community based management of schools.
4. Describe a range of community based approaches to school management.
5. Describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each of the identified community based approaches to school management.
6. Identify possible solutions to some of the perceived weaknesses and threats of the identified approaches to community based management of schools.
7. Identify those management functions which could be further delegated to headteachers in East Lothian by the Council's Committee for Education.
8. Make a recommendation to the Council's Committee for Education on the next steps in relation to community based management of schools.

 

1.    Do you want more or less power delegated to schools?

 

This section takes you through three tasks which will inform your thinking as you make your way through this paper.  Please take a couple of minutes to complete the tasks before continuing with the rest of this paper.

 

Task A

Please respond to this task: Place the two symbols on the lines depending on your perception

            ∆ = where you think we are now            *  = where you think we should be in the future

 

If you don't know where we are now just place a star on the line,

           

Local control ……………………………………………………………………………………..……. Central control

Devolved Budgets …………………………………………………………………………….……  Centralised budgets

Local Accountability ……………………………………………………………………….....…  External Accountability

Serving the community………………………………………………………………………….. Serving the Local Authority

School diversity…………………………………………………………………………………………School uniformity

Internal evaluation…………………………………………………………………………………… External evaluation

 

                               mid-point

Task B

 

Tick or cross if you agree or disagree with the following statements:

 

1.        The Local Authority should give more freedom to schools to enable them make local decisions about the curriculum. 

 

2.       The Local Authority should trust schools to deliver high quality education on behalf of their communities.

 

3.       The Local Authority should focus on confirming the school’s self-evaluation on performance.

 

4.       The Local Authority should “inspect” schools on a regular basis on behalf of the community

 

5.       The Local Authority should make decisions about staffing and resource spending for every school.

 

6.       The Local Authority should focus on developing each school’s ability to help themselves.

 

7.       The Local Authority should be able to intervene directly to support any school where the quality of education is seen to be declining.

 

 

Task C What do your responses tell you about the relationship you would like to see between the Local Authority and schools, i.e. more or less power delegated to schools?

2. Why the need for change?

 

 

1. Evidence exists that, where schools work in partnership with parents and the local community, the quality of education can be enhanced and the outcomes for young people improved.

 

1. The capacity of Local Authorities to continue to manage education in the manner that has been the norm up to this point will be severely compromised by the impending public service cuts.

 

1. Many stakeholders who reflect upon the relationship between the Local Authority and schools want to see a movement towards greater delegation of responsibility to a local level.

 

1. There exists significant flexibility for any Local Authority to delegate more management functions and associated budgets to headteachers within the existing legislation.

 

1. There are significant resources available in our communities in the form of other agencies, groups, individuals who could make a very positive contribution to the quality of education and educational outcomes for children and young people.

 

1. Schools are iconic places within our communities and have the potential to play an even greater role in their development and well-being.

 

1. Our current funding, management and governance systems work against a coherent 3-18 education system.

 

1. The responsibility for making detailed budget decisions should lie as close to the classroom as possible.

 

 

3. What won’t change?

 

The Council will always retain overall statutory responsibility for the delivery of education in East Lothian – unless the law were to change.

 

The Council would not delegate the following matters to local level.

 

1.        School building programmes;

2.       Placing requests;

3.       Securing appropriate provision for a child or young person who has special educational needs;

1. Providing psychological services;
2. Preparing, publishing and reviewing measures and standards of performance for the schools under its management in consultation with the Education & Children’s Services Policy & Performance Review Panel;
3. Educating all children in mainstream schools unless there are circumstances which would justify education being provided elsewhere;
4. Carrying out detailed consultation where it is intended to discontinue, amalgamate or change the site of the school;
5. Providing free transport to and from school for children living beyond the “statutory walking distance” from school;
6.  Providing, where appropriate, education elsewhere than at an educational establishment;
7. Fixing a date(s) for the start of attendance at primary schools and fixing the date by which a child must have reached the age of five in order to start school;
8. Providing grants for school clothing;
9. Providing higher school bursaries and bursaries for attendance at appropriate FE Colleges;
10. Complying with the statutory provisions regarding the appointment, retirement, employment and dismissal of teachers;
11. Providing reports and returns and giving such information to the Minister for Education as may be required;
12. Giving advice to Parent Councils;
13. Making available funds to cover the Parent Council’s expenses;
14. Making grants/payments to approved organisations and individuals;
15.  Providing a Scheme of Devolved School Management;
16. Ensuring that all schools provide the education authority with an annual school development plan.

 

4. What is our vision for the place of schools within their local communities?

 

“It Takes a Village to raise a Child”

 

Community Based Management of Schools is an idea developed by East Lothian Council’s Education and Children’s Services Department.  Our proposals echo the sentiment of the well-known African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child”. 

 

Our modern interpretation of this ancient proverb is a belief in partnership, where we build working relationships and networks between schools, parents, families and other services in order to give parents as much support as possible to overcome the challenges of raising children in today's society.  Such a partnership can significantly improve the quality of education, the outcomes for young people, and the strength of our communities.

 

“In schools where parents and the community involvement is visible, teachers are highly effective and this contributes to learners’ positive behaviour and improvement in their performance” Boaduo et al, 2009, Educational Research and Review Vol. 4 (3), pp 96-105

 

The unprecedented social, cultural and financial challenges facing society in Scotland is forcing us to consider alternative educational models that capitalise upon the strengths of our communities to support and nurture the development of every child and young person. 

 

“I have argued, as have many others, that separating education in schools from education outside schools defeats the purpose of education by maintaining a gulf between the two worlds of learning.” Sarason, S, 2003,

 

Children and young people only spend 15% of their week attending school during a term.  The rest of their time is spent at home or in their local community.  We cannot afford to ignore any longer the potential contribution communities could make in terms of being able to support children, parents and the learning process.

 

Yet today these communities are under threat themselves with many parents being left to raise their children in isolation, making the task of education much more difficult.  Among the many factors cited as causing difficulties and tensions within today’s families are:

 

·         Smaller, more isolated, family units, as opposed to wider familial support networks able to lend a helping hand and absorb financially and emotionally the task of child rearing

·         today’s modern living and changing value base, and the difficulty of knowing what to teach a child to equip them for modern life

·         the loss of community, and the sense of isolation that follows

 

All research points to the fact that education should be seen as a journey of development for every child.  Rather than seeing education split up into various stages e.g. early years, infant years, upper primary school and secondary, we should be reinforcing the connections.  Yet despite our best efforts, the way we fund, govern and manage our schools all work against developing those connections.

 

So, with our schools increasingly seen as focal points by their local communities, we think we are well placed to build a system founded upon such a school, community and parental partnership. The community-based model would enable all stakeholders to work in partnership with others to improve the life chances of all children and the fundamental well-being of their own community.

 

5. What responsibilities do Local Authorities have for education?

 

Each Local Authority in Scotland has very clear responsibilities in relation to education.  These are set out in the Education Acts of 1980, 2000 and 2005 (Additional Support for Learning) and the 2006 Parental Involvement Bill.

 

 

 

The main responsibilities for education can be categorised as follows:

 

·         Educational Provision (duty to provide education, e.g. schools);

·         Raising Standards (e.g. Quality Improvement, school reviews, development planning)

·         Administrative (e.g. Parent Councils, Home to School Transport, Placing requests, Grants – clothing, free school meals, etc, Rights of appeal against exclusion);

·         Delegation schemes (E.g. devolving resources to schools)

·         Inspections (working with HMIE)

·         Additional Support for Learning

·         Home education

·         Provision of education for pre-school children

 

(These responsibilities are set out in Appendix 2)

 

Section 8 of the 2000 Standards in Scotland Act sets out the Delegation schemes whereby Local Authorities can delegate responsibility for managing the authority’s budget for a financial year to a headteacher 8 (1b).  The Local Authority can also delegate any other such functions in relation to the school that the authority think fit 8(2b), as long as the headteacher exercises these delegated functions consistent with 3(2) of the Act namely:

 

“A Local Authority shall endeavour to secure improvement in the quality of school education which is provided in the schools managed by them; and they shall exercise their functions in relation to such provision with a view to raising standards of education.

 

A Local Authority can therefore delegate any functions to a headteacher as long as it is satisfied that such delegation is not detrimental to the education process.

 

The range and extent of responsibilities delegated to schools varies considerably from one Local Authority to another.  Nevertheless, there is considerable opportunity to explore further delegation to schools particular in relation to budgets and raising standards.

 

Such a delegation model depends upon a clear system for the Local Authority to commission the school to deliver education on its behalf to an agreed standard.  In such an arrangement the Local Authority would have to maintain a central capacity to fulfil the other responsibilities set out in the various Acts.

 

If Local Authorities were to delegate more responsibilities to schools there would have to be some form of contractual agreement which set out the responsibilities of the school and the responsibilities of the Local Authority.  In order to comply with Section 3(2) of the 2000 Act the Local Authority would have to have some means of ensuring that the quality of education is maintained and that each school is engaged in raising standards and managing its budget.  In such circumstances there would be a need to retain some capacity at the Local Authority level to intervene and support any school which was not deemed to be fulfilling its agreed responsibilities.

 

Were such an extended delegation system to be developed, schools would need to develop their own abilities which, up to this point, may have been seen to lie elsewhere.  Undoubtedly any such move would require significant initial input from the Local Authority to build the capacity of the school to operate in a more self-determining manner.

 

 

6. What responsibilities are currently delegated to headteachers?

 

Headteacher responsibility and accountability

 

The responsibility for education in East Lothian is delegated by the Council to the Committee for Education.  In turn the Committee for Education delegate certain functions to headteachers.

 

In any proposed model of community based management of schools, the role of the headteacher is absolutely central to the effectiveness and success of any school.

 

How might things change?

 

There is nothing to prevent the headteacher from sharing some aspects of their responsibilities with others, (e.g. a Management Board) if this is deemed to be in the interest of the school.  In such circumstances the Board would be mutually accountable with the headteacher to the Executive Director for those functions which have been shared by the headteacher.

 

Were there to be concerns about the effectiveness of such an arrangement the Executive Director would increase the level of support and intervention being given to that school – in a proportionate manner – in order to resolve these concerns.

 

Parental Accountability: see (Appendix 3)

 

The following paragraphs are extracts from the Parental Involvement Bill 2006.  These extracts clearly demonstrate the existing expectation for partnership between schools and parents.

“Headteachers have a vital role to play in how an education authority implements its strategy for promoting parental involvement in education and learning.  The headteacher must ensure that the school takes account of the authority's strategy and that objectives for the school include the involvement of a pupil's parents in the education provided to the pupil and the school's pupils generally.  Factors which can help promote successful involvement of parents include positive leadership and an open message that the school welcomes partnership with parents.  Headteachers and their staff should make every effort to reach out to parents who are not usually involved.” Para 1

“The headteacher must report at least once per year to the Parent Council, or the Parent Forum, if no council exists.  The report must cover the performance of the school and the headteacher's objectives and ambitions for the school as set out in the school development plan.  It must have regard to the most recent 12 month report on the school development plan, and the authority's measures and standards of performance for its schools as defined and published under s7(1) of the 2000 Act.  It must also have regard to equal opportunity requirements and how the school meets these.  The report can be in a format agreed with the Parent Council or Forum and the headteacher must prepare a summary of the report to be sent to every member of the Parent Forum.” Para 6

 

7. What alternative management models are available?

 

Community Based Management of Schools could work in a number of ways. 

 

Categories:

 

There are four alternatives of school governance to be considered:

 

A.      Consultative model – essentially these describe the current situation and then extend to include community representation and Cluster engagement.

 

B.       Partnership and shared-evaluation model – these models extends the relationship by including a clear expectation that the local accountability is enhanced by introducing a shared-evaluation responsibility. 

 

C.       Shared governance models – these models require a sharing of responsibility by the headteacher of some of the management functions with a group of stakeholders, e.g. parents, community representatives, young people, staff, etc.

 

D.      Co-operative trust models – these models take the shared governance model a stage further through the establishment of a co-operative trust which would employ the teachers and headteacher and deliver education on behalf of the Local Authority.

 

Options:

 

Within each of the above categories there are four possible options:

 

1.     Single schools with only parental involvement

 

2.     Single schools with parental and wider community involvement

 

3.     Cluster arrangements with parental involvement

 

4.     Cluster arrangements with parental and wider community involvement

 

Example: We could describe a model which combined Category C and Option 3, e.g. a Cluster parent partnership and shared evaluation model, such a model would have parent representatives from all cluster schools join a consultative forum to provide support and scrutiny of the Cluster’s policy and practice with a view to improving outcomes for children aged 3-18.

 

(See Appendix 1 for more detailed explanation of these various options)

 

8.    What are our next steps?

 

Despite the media coverage on our consideration of Community Based Management of Schools, there is no “master plan” to establish “trusts” to run education in East Lothian.

 

From the very outset we have sought to keep an open mind on the best management approaches to meet the needs of children, young people and the communities which make up East Lothian.

 

It must be emphasised again that the outcome of this exercise might be that very little change needs to take place and that community based management of schools – in any form – is not in the best interests of children, young people or the communities of East Lothian.

 

As identified in the original Committee Report presented in January 2010 there are a wide range of questions which need to be resolved before any shift towards community Based management of Schools could take place. These questions are complemented by the feedback received at the Conference held on the 22^nd April (see Conference Report)

 

It will be the responsibility of the Working Group to consider these questions and to attempt to identify solutions or clearly indicate where a problem appears irreconcilable.

 

The Working Group will have three formal meeting dates:

 

Ø       Monday 30 August   

Ø       Monday 4 October   

Ø       Monday 1 November  

 

The Working Group is due to report to East Lothian Council's Education Committee in December 2010 who will agree the next steps.

 

In addition to the Working Group we will be holding a series of cluster roadshows for parents and other stakeholders to learn more about the possible models of Community Based management and to contribute their own ideas and concerns - dates to follow in August.  The topic will also be a major item at the first East Lothian Headteacher conference to be held next term.  Finally, we hope to consider this issue, and others of relevance, at a proposed conference for young people in East Lothian to be held in October 2010.

 

D.J.Ledingham

Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services

East Lothian Council

Appendix 1

 

A.    Consultative Models

 

1. The single school parent consultative model (status quo): The role of the Parent Council would be to act a consultative panel, to support and be advised by the Headteacher of the school
2. The single school parent / community consultative model: Parent Councils of individual schools seek to extend their membership to include community representatives.  The role of the Parent Council would be to act as a consultative panel, to support and be advised by the Headteacher of the school.
3. The Cluster parent consultative model: This would have parent representatives from all cluster schools to act as a consultative forum to support coherent delivery of 3-18 education within all partner schools.
4. The Cluster school parent / community consultative model: The Forum would seek to extend their membership by extending their membership to include Community and other stakeholder representatives.  The forum would support coherent delivery of 3-18 education within all partner schools and seek to capitalise on community links to the mutual benefit of all partners.

 

B.     Partnership and Shared Evaluation Models

 

1. The single school parent partnership and shared evaluation model: The role of the Parent Council would be to work in partnership with the school to provide support and scrutiny of school policy and practice with a view to improving outcomes for children.
2. The single school parent / community partnership and shared evaluation model: Parent Councils of individual schools seek to extend their representation to include community representatives.  The role of the Parent Council would be to work in partnership with the school to provide support and shared evaluation of school policy and practice with a view to improving outcomes for children.
3. The Cluster parent partnership and shared evaluation model: This would have parent representatives from all cluster schools to join a consultative forum to provide support and shared evaluation of the Cluster’s policy and practice with a view to improving outcomes for children aged 3-18.
4. The Cluster school parent / community partnership and shared evaluation model: The Forum would seek to extend their membership by extending their membership to include Community representatives.  The forum would support coherent delivery of 3-18 education within all partner schools.  It would also seek to provide support and shared evaluationof Cluster policy and practice with a view to improving outcomes for all children and young people while capitalising on community links to the mutual benefit of all partners.

 

C.     Shared Governance Models

 

1. Single School Parental Governance Model: The Headteacher would share some of their responsibilities with a Parent Council, e.g. strategic planning and evaluation.  Operational management would continue to lie with the Headteacher.

 

1. Single school Parental / Community Governance Model: The Headteacher would share some of their responsibilities with a Board made up of Parents and members of the community, e.g. strategic planning and evaluation.  Operational management would continue to lie with the Headteacher.

 

1. Cluster Parental Governance Model: The Headteachers in the Cluster would share some of their responsibilities with a Board made up of Parents representing all schools in the Cluster.

 

1. Cluster Parental / Community Governance Model: The Headteachers in the Cluster would share some of their responsibilities with a Board made up of Parents, representing all schools in the Cluster, and community representatives and stakeholders.

 

D.     Co-operative trust models

 

1. Single School Co-operative trust: Individual schools would establish a Charitable Trust to run and operate the school, with Board members being drawn from the parents.
2. Single school Parental / Community Co-operative Trust: Individual schools would establish a charitable Trust to run and operate the school, with Board members coming from parents, community members and other stakeholders.
3. Cluster Based Parental Co-operative Trust: Clusters would establish a Charitable Trust to take responsibility for educational delivery in a community, with Board members being drawn from parents representing all schools.
4. Cluster Based Parental / Community Co-operative Trust: Clusters would establish a Charitable Trust to take responsibility for educational delivery in a community, with Board members being drawn from parents representing all schools and a wide range of community representatives and stakeholders.

 

 

Appendix 2

 

EAST LOTHIAN COUNCIL COMMITTEE FOR EDUCATION

 

The following business and functions are delegated by the Council to the Council Committee for Education.

 

The development, determination and implementation of policy and associated matters relating to:-

 

1. Education

a.       Head Teacher appointments and Depute and Assistant Head Teacher appointments are delegated to the Appointment Committees under the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.

b.       Consideration of requests from parents to have a child placed in a specific school (under Section 28A of the Education (Scotland) Act 1981 and Section 38 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000);

c.       Consideration of requests from parents to have a child placed in a school (under Section 38 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. (Scotland) Act 2000.);

d.       Securing that school education is directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of children or young persons to their fullest potential;

e.       Endeavouring to secure improvement in, and raise the standards of, the quality of school education in conjunction with the Education and Children’s Services PPRP;

f.       Preparing and publishing an annual statement of education improvement objectives and a Quality and Standards Report under Section 5 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000;

g.       Ensuring that all schools provide the education authority with an annual school development plan under Section 6 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000;

h.       Preparing, publishing and reviewing measures and standards of performance for the schools under its management in consultation with the Education & Children’s Services Policy & Performance Review Panel;

i.         Ensuring that there is made, for East Lothian, adequate and efficient provision of school education and further education in so far as remaining with the remit of the Council and a duty to secure the provision of community education;

j.        Securing appropriate provision for a child or young person who has special educational needs;

k.       Providing psychological services;

l.         Educating all children in mainstream schools unless there are circumstances which would justify education being provided elsewhere;

m.      Providing, maintaining and equipping schools and other educational establishments to enable them to perform their functions;

n.       Carrying out detailed consultation where it is intended to discontinue, amalgamate or change the site of the school;

o.       Providing free transport to and from school for children living beyond the “statutory walking distance” from school;

p.       Providing books, materials and stationery free of charge;

q.       Providing, where appropriate, education elsewhere than at an educational establishment;

r.        Fixing a date(s) for the start of attendance at primary schools and fixing the date by which a child must have reached the age of five in order to start school;

s.        Providing grants for school clothing;

t.        Providing higher school bursaries and bursaries for attendance at appropriate FE Colleges;

u.       Complying with the statutory provisions regarding the appointment, retirement, employment and dismissal of teachers;

v.        Providing reports and returns and giving such information to the Minister for Education as may be required;

w.      Preparing a scheme of arrangements for the election of school board members;

x.       Giving advice to Parent Councils;

y.       Making available funds to cover the Parent Council’s expenses;

z.       Making grants/payments to approved organisations and individuals;

aa.    Putting in place schemes for the staff development and review of Head Teachers and teachers;

bb.   Advertising nationally promoted posts and to comply with regulations governing the selection of teachers;

cc.    Providing a Scheme of Devolved School Management;

dd.   Ensuring that all schools provide the education authority with an annual school development plan;

 

Appendix 3

 

Role of the Headteacher: Parental Involvement Act 2006

Role of headteacher

1.        Headteachers have a vital role to play in how an education authority implements its strategy for promoting parental involvement in education and learning.  The headteacher must ensure that the school takes account of the authority's strategy and that objectives for the school include the involvement of a pupil's parents in the education provided to the pupil and the school's pupils generally.  Factors which can help promote successful involvement of parents include positive leadership and an open message that the school welcomes partnership with parents.  Headteachers and their staff should make every effort to reach out to parents who are not usually involved.

2.       The headteacher and school staff must be available to give advice and information to parents in respect of their own children at the school.  Schools are already required to produce a brochure for parents giving basic information about the school.  This could be reviewed regularly with the Parent Council to ensure that it provides information that is useful to parents in a form that they find accessible and readable.

3.       Parents often value face to face discussion with their child's teacher and this can be provided formally at a parents evening but also in more informal ways. Some teachers and primary schools make time available at the beginning or end of the day to be available to discuss any particular issues of concern to parents or staff.  Social and cultural events can provide opportunities for parents and staff to develop good relationships that often make subsequent discussions more fruitful.

4.       The headteacher has both a right and a duty to attend, or to be represented at, meetings of the Parent Council.  The presumption is that the headteacher will normally attend. On occasion, another member of the school staff may attend if the headteacher is unavailable, or if they have more knowledge of, or expertise in, the subject being discussed.  The headteacher will be expected to take part in council discussions and offer advice to the council on what is being done within the school to promote parental involvement.  The headteacher, if requested to do so, must give advice and information to the Parent Council on any matter falling within the headteacher's area of responsibility.  This can cover all aspects of the work of the school, such as matters relating to the school curriculum, policies on uniform or discipline, etc.

5.       The headteacher must have regard to any representations received from the Parent Council (in so far as it is reasonable and practical to do so) in carrying out the duties of the headteacher post and must reply to the council.  In some circumstances, the extent to which a headteacher can offer advice and information may be restricted.  For example, issues such as the education of an individual child, or the performance of an individual teacher, are not regarded as matters which would be discussed at the Parent Council.  Matters pertaining to individuals should be taken through the school's usual arrangements for dealing with complaints or grievances.  Where an issue falls outwith the headteacher's remit, for example, school closures, re-design of catchment areas etc, the Parent Council can make representations to the education authority.

6.       The headteacher must report at least once per year to the Parent Council, or the Parent Forum, if no council exists.  The report must cover the performance of the school and the headteacher's objectives and ambitions for the school as set out in the school development plan.  It must have regard to the most recent 12 month report on the school development plan, and the authority's measures and standards of performance for its schools as defined and published under s7(1) of the 2000 Act.  It must also have regard to equal opportunity requirements and how the school meets these.  The report can be in a format agreed with the Parent Council or Forum and the headteacher must prepare a summary of the report to be sent to every member of the Parent Forum.

I asked for some more info about a job on Gumtree and got this rather odd reply...

"

I have grown my own leafs with some help from my mummy. You can see my garden tools and my barrow that helped me. I'm 21 months which is almost nearly 2.

What is the One Pot Pledge?

The One Pot Pledge® is an exciting new grow your own campaign from leading gardening charity Garden Organic. Our aim is to get 30,000 people who have never grown anything before to give growing a go.

Growing your own food can be fun, it tastes great and you don’t even need a garden – one pot on a window ledge is all you need to get started.

Garden Organic is the UK's leading organic growing charity and we can help you by providing useful information to get you growing, with handy tips along the way.

So why not ‘give it a grow’ and make your One Pot Pledge® today to grow something tasty you can eat.

www.onepotpledge.org

Open Group Sessions

Hypnotherapy and NLP can benefit almost everyone, but finding
(and giving yourself) the time can be difficult.  Small group
sessions can be the answer!  As well as being cost effective,
these are full, specific sessions aimed at specific problems or aims.
Groups currently available - Confidence, Weight loss, Fears and releasing the past.
Cost - £20, please see www.happy-hyps.com for details or email liz@happy-hyps.com

Ne'er cast a cloot, till May is oot

(Don’t pack away your winter woollies just yet)

May Day is the traditional day for rioting and demonstrating for workers rights.  A slightly older tradition is for young maidens to get up early and wash their face in the morning dew while the blokes danced round a may pole.  This particular young maiden is going halfway and go guerrilla gardening. 

Specifically, I’m going to plant some sunflower seeds around the 'Pans and lob some seedbombs into the police station.  (Handily, officers from Lothian and Borders police will be at Lidl Prestonpans hosting a personal safety roadshow 10-1).

May 1^st is also notable as being only 22 days until the Edinburgh Marathon - which coincidentally is how long it would take me to complete a Marathon.  Actually, that is not true, I once completed a Marathon in under 3 hours but it was 1982 and they weren’t yet rebranded Snickers.  On 23^rd May, I will be handing out supplies from one of the Hydration Stations.  If you haven’t done so before, I really recommend volunteering.  There’s something really rewarding about helping people achieve their goals.

May 3^rd is a bank holiday and many businesses and all local authority schools are closed.

Over the May Bank Holiday Weekend, Prestongrange Industrial Museum is holding an event called The ‘Art’ of Production.  This event will involve creating huge salt sculptures, making some industrial music with the Prestongrange ‘Pipe’ band and throwing your own bricks. Local storytellers and tour guides will also be on hand to bring the site to life! Free, drop-in event.

This event is part of the Show Scotland programme and is supported by Museums Galleries Scotland. Go to www.showscotland.com for details.

May 6th is of course election day.  What colour of government will we be waking up to on May 7th?  (Which coincidentally is when a new six-week series of stress control classes starts in Prestonpans Library on Friday May 7th 10:30am to 12 - details at http://bit.ly/9TQSXJ)

May 8th is World Fair Trade Day.  Fairtrade aims to help tackle poverty in developing countries by making sure that farmers have access to the developed world's markets and receive a fair price for their products and decent working conditions.  It also allows for investment in safe water supplies, sanitation, health care, environmental improvements and education.  Fairtrade is not about charity - it's about equity.

You can help relieve word poverty by taking action!  To find out how to get your school, village or town to be fairtrade please, read East Lothian Council’s document on Fairtrade Status.

If you would like to find out where to buy different fairtrade products in East Lothian, please visit our East Lothian Fairtrade Directory.

To celebrate, please come to the Small World, 9A Orchard Crescent, Prestonpans, where samples of chutneys, sauces, jams and marmalade from Malawi and Swaziland will be available 10-12.

Oh no!  I have a diary clash on Saturday 8^th May.  Hmmm.  Should I celebrate World Fair Trade Day or World Naked Gardening Day? 

12^th May is Limerick Day.  If you fancy making up your own, take a look at http://www.limerickmaker.com/

There once was a woman called Carol

Who sailed to Kesley’s in a barrel

She had a nice glass of wine

Bought the “Hand that first held mine”

By a writer named Maggie O’Farrell,

The Seafood Festival on Friday 28th & Sunday 30th kicks off the 3 Harbours Arts Festival (which ends Sunday 6th June 2010). 

You can download the entire 3H brochure here

And a couple of bits and bobs you might have missed…

Floris, publisher of Prestonpans author Annemarie Allan’s Hox, Breaker and Ushig novels, is running an art competition - just for East Lothian children.

Inspired by the folklore theme of Ushig the competition asks you to draw your favourite mythical beast (or make up your own fabled creature) and describe it in about 250 words. 

One lucky winner will receive signed copies of all three of Annemarie Allan’s books plus become the guest of honour at an author event in their local library. Three runners-up will win signed copies of Ushig.  Entries can be handed in to your local East Lothian library (with your name, age and address) or can be posted directly to Floris at Ushig Competition, Floris Books, 15 Harrison Gardens, Edinburgh, EH11 1SH. The deadline is 28th May 2010.

Finally, people who are plagued with dog fouling in their street or local park can contact the council via a dedicated email address or telephone 01875 824305 and pass on their complaints. Wardens can then go out to problem areas to advise dog walkers of their responsibilities.

I love April.  The garden comes alive.  Coffee Morning season begins.  Best of all, the visitor centres like Prestongrange Museum, which are only open seasonally, open their doors again.

 

National Autism Awareness month is celebrated annually in April. It is an opportunity for local communities to raise awareness about autism - are you hosting an event?

 

The Toddle Waddle is a fun way for the under 5s to do their bit to promote awareness of Meningitis with their very own sponsored walk. It is the Meningitis Trust's largest annual fundraising event - is your local playgroup waddling?

 

April is also National Pet Month - just to take a look at some of the Buzz member's profile pictures to see what a nation of animal lovers we are.  If you want to treat your pooch, why not contact SplashDogGrooming?

East Lothian Buzz lists over 100 local events:  here's a taster:

 

11th - Lochend Woods, Dunbar, from around 11.30am. Music, storytelling, woodland walks, renga poetry, art in the woods, tree seed planting.

12^th - Drop Everything and Read Day

13^{th -} National Library Workers Day

22^nd  -  Earth Day & Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day - The theme for 2010 is "1 Youth, 1 Dream, 2Morrrow's Leader."

23^rd      Cool Green Market - Frugal Cool will set up a pop-up shop of cool green design at Loretto Gallery from 23 to 25 April 2010.  Everying is a one-off and is made using found objects and/or natural materials.

25^th         The second Free Shop and Rainforest Café takes place 2-4 at Harlaw Hill Day Centre, Prestonpans.  Bring what you can, take what you need - for free.  

28^th      QMU Postgrad open evening

30^th      2010 Beer Fest Belhaven Fruit Farm – end of the month kicks off the start of the Beer Festivals