I WAS saddened but not surprised to read of the travails of our schools ("'A feeling of dread': Exhaustion and suffering highlighted as real cost of Glasgow's school cuts", October 20). Budget cuts have seen support for schools systematically stripped out over recent years. This has severely compromised the abilities of schools to meet the needs of Scotland’s pupils.
Factor in the damage caused by the Covid pandemic, then things are pretty desperate. There was far more support on hand when I was in my early years of secondary teaching. For a start there was a national staffing standard.
My generation was brought up in the era of the famous Red Book. This was a very detailed set of calculations prepared by the then HMI that enabled schools and local authorities to work out a customised staffing for each establishment. On top of a basic staffing entitlement based on pupil numbers, additional staff allocations were funded by the government to support, for example, probationary teachers and what were then referred to as “remedial pupils”.
Local authorities could, if they so wished, staff schools above nationally-funded Red Book levels but this would be paid for by an individual local authority. For the classroom teacher there was the support of a local authority advisory service comprising a team of experienced teachers who offered valuable advice and support. In addition, the advisors provided a programme of in-service courses designed to keep staff up to date with changes.