Teenager organises protest over cuts to pupil support in Highland

Skye Hawkins from Glen Urquart High claims it took her less than an hour to decide to campaign against the changes to Pupil Support Assistants.

She tells MFR News she got sick in High School and ended up taking a year out of school, and was helped by PSA's when she returned.

And without the extra help, she said would not be leaving school with Higher qualifications or be able to go study in college.

Highland Council announced in their budget agreed in February 2019 that children classed as level 3 and level four would continue to receive support from Pupil Support Assistants, but levels 1 and 2 would not, and it is all part of a restructure of the Additional Support Needs services.

A Highland Council spokesperson gave the following statement:

'On 14 February, the Council agreed proposals for the transformation of ASN services as part of a Change Programme.

'The need to review how the Council delivers additional support in schools was recognised through a redesign review carried out in 2016. The implementation of changes arising from this was agreed within the budget proposals for 2019-22 on 14 February 2019.

'The Highland Council currently spends a budget of £36.1M on ASN, with a staffing establishment of 1,253 FTE. Highland currently has approximately 12,500 pupils* with at least one ASN need and stage. (Quarter 3 of 2018-19)'

'In Highland, we have the highest reported levels of ASN in Scotland. Comparative Councils have much lower levels identified and are achieving improved outcomes. The % of Highland primary pupils identified as ASN is 37.2% compared with a national average of 23.5%. The % of Highland secondary pupils with ASN is 40.6% compared with a national average of 29.9%. This tells us that we need to closely examine our model and practices.

'In addition to public and staff engagement, there has been extensive engagement with Head Teachers both in November and again in the new year. In discussions with Head Teachers it has been recognised that the current allocation process requires to be reviewed to ensure there is a fit for purpose process in place that also meets the changing needs of both our children and our school settings.

'The Council’s focus is on embedding professional practice and skills within the school system, enabling Highland schools to build capacity in the classroom and support staff at all levels to identify and respond appropriately to needs in an inclusive and appropriate way that recognises the evolving knowledge we have around the variety of complex needs that exist in 21st century society.

'A phased approach will be taken to resource allocation so that it is equitable and targeted to where it is most needed. To avoid the need for redundancies, vacancy controls, reallocations, retraining and internal deployment will be used to reconfigure the workforce to a more efficient and effective model which will continue to provide the appropriate levels of support to children to enable them to achieve their best potential.

'Pupils with lower levels of identified needs (at levels 1&2) will usually be appropriately supported within the classroom by the class teacher, who will use differentiated materials or a range of other identified strategies to make learning accessible. We will continue to target support to those pupils with significant and complex support needs. An evaluation of how we meet needs will result in better consistency across Highland.

'An ASN Transformation Project is being set up as part of the Change Programme and progress will be regularly monitored and reported to members. A training programme for teachers and PSAs is currently being developed for implementation from May 2019. Briefing packs have been prepared for staff and information on the process of change will be communicated over the coming days.

'Budget savings have been phased over three years to allow sufficient time to make the necessary changes and Teachers and PSAs will be supported through the change process. The Council is committed to protecting jobs, making changes without the need for redundancies wherever possible while continuing to meet the needs of all pupils.

'The delivery and evaluation of the service is ongoing already. Moving staffing resource between schools in “teams” is business as usual, as ASN needs change on a regular basis from school to school, as pupils are identified, or change or leave school. It is important to have a responsive, flexible and fit for purpose model in place to make best use of the resources available.'