‘Delighted’ parents force U-turn over shared headteacher
DELIGHTED parents have forced council bosses into a U-turn over controversial plans to use a shared headteacher for a primary and secondary school.
As previously told in the Glasgow Times, Chryston Primary School’s headteacher retired last year and North Lanarkshire Council failed to recruit a replacement.
The local authority then announced plans to merge the role into a Multi Leadership Establishment Model (MELM) – causing outrage among parents and carers.
Now a report going before councillors next week reveals the scheme has been ditched due to “business case grounds”.
Levi White, from the Parents Against MELM action group, said “common sense had prevailed”.
She said: “We are absolutely delighted to hear our children will now get a dedicated headteacher.
“This has been so emotional for everyone involved – we’ve always only wanted the best for our children. We cannot thank the staff at the primary school enough for all their hard work throughout this difficult period. Common sense has prevailed and we’re delighted the council has listened to the views of everyone involved.
“The strength of community in Chryston is strong and we can’t wait to welcome our new headteacher.”
North Lanarkshire Council consulted over the plans and has now published the results, which showed all four parent councils from Chryston High’s cluster primaries rejected the proposal.
Of the community stakeholders who responded, 100% did not think the MELM was suitable for Chryston, while of the 113 staff who responded, 84% said they did not agree. Some 84% of pupils who responded also said they did not agree with the plan.
In his report to the council, Derek Brown, depute chief executive, wrote: “As can be seen from the appendix, the MELM proposal was considered not to be appropriate for Chryston by the majority of parents, pupils and staff who responded.”
Mr Brown added that projected pupil numbers are expected to increase to such a level that the MELM will no longer suit.
The report states: “With increased housebuilding planned within the area there is a risk of a negative impact on access to services and, ultimately, learning and teaching. A report setting out the options to deal with this projected increase will be submitted to a future meeting of the Education and Families Committee.
“However, it is considered inappropriate to implement a MELM in Chryston while the school rolls are projected to grow to such an extent. It is considered particularly important that headteachers are fully focused on these potential impacts within an individual school setting.”
The council will now recruit a primary and a secondary headteacher for the Chryston community.