Scottish Borders Local Association

Review may head off row

IN THE face of furious local opposition, Scottish Borders Council has agreed to review its plans for a shared headship covering the primary schools at Newcastleton and Stirches in Hawick.

“A compromise is being worked on.” Admitted Councillor Catriona Bhatia, the local authority’s executive member for education. “Options are currently being examined and will be discussed with the Newcastleton parent council to try to reach an agreed way forward.”

Anger in the Liddesdale village has been palpable since December 18 when the council approved, as part of its Transforming Children’s Services programme, the shared headship between the schools which are 20 miles apart.. Resentment was fuelled by the fact the arrangement had never been included in the TCS review when it went out to public consultation. Those plans proposed a dedicated head for Newcastleton and the pairing, in headship terms, of Stirches with nearby Wilton.

“That was a mistake on our part because it became clear that Wilton, which has specialist facilities for children with additional needs, required a dedicated head, and thus the Newcastleton parents were unaware in advance of what was eventually agreed.” Said Mrs Bhatia.

She said the rethink was in response to representations from Hawick councillors George Turnbull, Ron Smith and David Paterson, as well as the Newcastleton parent council. A petition of protest with nearly 300 signatures had also been submitted.

“I cannot say at the moment what the revised arrangement will be. It is possible a deputy headship can be created to provide a permanent presence at Newcastleton, while retaining the headship link to Stirches.”

Councillor Paterson told TheSouthern: “I am pleased Mrs Bhatia is admitting she and her administration got it wrong. It was an arrangement which would have done no favours to either school.”

The shared headship pairings, with 42 non class-committed heads serving 65 primaries, have been described as arbitrary by the Borders Party.

“No proper system for evaluating whether a shared headship is a good idea was ever presented,” said Councillor Sandy Aitchison. “They should only be implemented when clear educational benefits can be demonstrated. Unfortunately this has not happened.”

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