Top Scottish schools chief warns: ‘snake oil salesmen’ are chasing after millions from education funding pot
BY PAUL HUTCHEON
ONE of Scotland’s top education official has issued a warning about “snake oil salesmen” trying to get their hands on £21 million of extra school funding coming to the nation’s biggest city. Maureen McKenna, who is in charge of education services at Glasgow city council, said schools had been “inundated” with requests from individuals eyeing up the new funding pot for head teachers.
The Scottish Government’s new flagship Pupil Equity Fund (PEF), which comes into effect in April, gives over £120m to head teachers, not councils, to help close the attainment gap.
John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, is rethinking the current role of local authorities in delivering the school service and believes heads are better placed to make key spending decisions.
Glasgow will get £21.6m of the pot – the biggest chunk of the new funding – and the council gave this newspaper access to key education figures on the eve of the money becoming available.
Mary McNulty, the head teacher of St Roch’s primary which serves the deprived Royston area, supports the PEF and her school will be getting around £160,000.
At the school, pupils in P1 are above the Glasgow-wide levels in reading, writing and numeracy, but by P4 the school is behind in these areas.
McNulty said the “main focus” of the new funding will be on “early intervention” focusing on pupils in P1-3. She said parental involvement in the first year at school is high, but tails off, and so the PEF won’t just be about helping pupils.
“This money is going to help me get staff in to support children and parents,” she said.
The head teacher intends to hire a child development officer and said: “We are wanting to raise the children’s attainment that is measurable and we are wanting to raise our children’s confidence.”
Jean Miller, the head teacher of Smithycroft secondary in Glasgow, is also optimistic about the scheme.
Her school, which is yards away from Barlinnie prison and serves pupils in the city’s east end, will be getting around £140,000 in PEF.
In 2013, Education Scotland’s inspection report awarded the school “very good” grades in all areas. However, it also pointed to scope for improvement. By the end of fourth year, pupils were ahead of so-called “comparator” schools, but behind nationally on some indicators, a gap that grew in fifth year.
Miller said her school is “still not there yet” in some areas between S4S6, but is planning to use the PEF to build on initiatives she believes have already led to improvements.
She cited digital learning, study support, investment in one-to-one mentoring and literacy development as areas that could be accelerated.
Miller also said targeting a small number of pupils can be beneficial: “It doesn’t always reach huge numbers of young people, but it can not only have an impact on that individual young person, but can actually have an impact on the rest of the peer group. These are the kinds of initiative we are looking at.”
However, the local council will still have a key role in the PEF.
The local authority has circulated a 44-page guidance document advising head teachers on spending the extra cash.
IN Glasgow, schools in receipt of PEF money will have to submit a proposal to the council on how their decisions will improve literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. Targeted outcomes, such as on raising attainment and attendance levels, or reducing exclusions, will be specified. Schools will also hand over a summary report to the council at the end of each academic year that evaluates progress in meeting these outcomes.
Speaking to the Sunday Herald, McKenna, who is the executive director of education services at the council, said her department is “very relaxed” about the extra money going to schools.
However, she said the role of head teachers cannot be seen in isolation: “It makes sense that additional funding goes directly to the head teachers, as long as it is a team approach that is taken. Benefiting from the new funding to the sum of £140,000, Smithycroft secondary head teacher Jean Miller is confident the money can make a real difference to pupil attainment if spent in areas such as digital learning and one-toone mentoring
“It is not head teachers’ money. It is local communities’ money.”
McKenna added: “The funding is a partnership between the schools, the local authority and the Scottish Government – and it is the head teachers who are just leading the process because they know their communities.”
On the council’s role in monitoring how the public money is spent, she said: “It is about making sure that what they are doing does add value. There’s a quality assurance element to it.” McKenna also issued a warning about outside interests trying to get their hands on a chunk of the £21m. “We have to beware of the snake oil salesmen because they are coming out from every corner,” she said.
She said head teachers should be mindful of people who say “I can fix your literacy problems, just give me a huge wad of money”. McKenna added: “My inbox is full of them and our schools are inundated with them. It is very attractive, particularly in Glasgow where we’ve got £21m coming in.” She pointed out: “Audit Scotland will be auditing our books, not individual head teachers.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said heads should work with each other and their local authority to agree the use of the funding.
It is about making sure that what (head teachers) are doing does add value. There’s a quality assurance element to it