Parents and teachers urged to give views on school reform proposals

Parents and teachers are being urged to have their say on radical reforms put forward by the Scottish Government to give more power to school headteachers.

The Education (Scotland) Bill proposes giving heads more say over key areas in their schools, including staffing, funding and how the Curriculum for Excellence is applied.

The Bill will be the “centrepiece” of the Scottish Government’s legislative programme for the coming year, ministers have said.

Now Education Secretary John Swinney has launched a 0 John Swinney is looking forward to constructive talks consultation to find out what parents, teachers and others involved in education think.

He said he was looking forward to a “constructive, informed and, no doubt, impassioned discussion” on the changes.

The bill sets out to give school head teachers more freedom in the choices that are made regarding the curriculum and funding at school level, as well as allowing them more power over selecting staff and leadership teams. Meanwhile Regional Improvement Collaboratives are proposed to provide “streamlined and strengthened support to teachers.

Headteachers could also be required to work together with other schools and organisations on the design of the curriculum and improving learning and teaching.