More teachers to help close attainment gap

Staff numbers in schools increase

Sixteen additional teachers have been employed in Rutherglen and Cambuslang schools in a bid to close the attainment gap.

The teachers and a further five school support staff are working to improve pupils’ numeracy, literacy, health and wellbeing in primary and secondary schools in the 2017/18 academic year.

Staffing levels in local schools were revealed this week as the Scottish Government published the number of teachers employed through its £750m Attainment Scotland Fund.

Launched three years ago, the fund offers additional cash to schools operating in areas of high deprivation.

The money has been invested in initiatives that aim to close the attainment gap between children in those schools and their counterparts living in wealthier areas.

In September 2017, Burgh, Cathkin, Loch, James Aiton and St Mark’s primary schools each received approximately £100,000 to roll out initiatives that support learning both in school and at home.

Rutherglen and Cambuslang’s three high schools also received the same amount.

South Lanarkshire Council this week confirmed some of that cash and a portion of Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) - where every head teacher receives a cash sum reflecting the number of children in the school living in poverty - has been used to employ the additional teachers.

Stewart Nicolson, head of education at South Lanarkshire Council, said 11.3 full-time equivalent teaching posts and 4.5 full-time equivalent support staff had been created via the funding.

He added: “These posts have been identified by head teachers within their schools’ improvement planning process to deliver a range of activities, interventions and supports.

“These include individualised and group programmes to support pupils with literacy and numeracy as well as providing opportunities to promote pupil engagement and wellbeing, and are supported by additional resources and equipment.

“While each school has its own plans and priorities, the aim is to ensure equity of opportunity for all pupils resulting in happier, healthier young people who are thriving and achieving, with a particular focus on key skills in literacy and numeracy.

“Headteachers have welcomed the opportunity that this funding has provided to engage in discussion and consultation in their own communities, and to collaborate with their colleagues across South Lanarkshire.”

Scottish Government figures show South Lanarkshire Council is among the local authorities to fund the most teachers with the Attainment Fund cash. Across South Lanarkshire 53 full-time equivalent teachers were employed for the 2017/18 year in primary schools and a further nine in secondary schools.

Head teachers who control how the PEF money is spent in their schools employed a further 40 primary and five secondary teachers across the local authority area.