View Full Version : Protest Cancelled
Scarybiscuits03
09-Feb-11, 23:16
Just had a message to say that the council had a meeting today and have done a U-turn and decided that the classroom assistants will not lose their jobs,
Well done to everyone that made the effort to let the council know how we feel.
Tilly Teckel
09-Feb-11, 23:24
Wow, people power in action! I have to admit I'm shocked but pleased :)
Just shows you that nothings wrote in stone. Well done the Highland Council. Mind you, someone else is in for a shock.
Stack Rock
09-Feb-11, 23:37
Well done - people power. Being cynical probably more schools will be targeted for closure now as something else has to take the 'hit'
Being more cynical...it will still be done stealthily without people noticing...peoples contracts not getting renewed etc...
I thought they were only reviewing it and that there jobs are not guaranteed but they will look at it again???
Just had a message to say that the council had a meeting today and have done a U-turn and decided that the classroom assistants will not lose their jobs,
Well done to everyone that made the effort to let the council know how we feel.
Possibly contracts will not be renewed - believe many are on temporary contracts! The fight to protect education is far from over! Can see school closures happening as well.
Bottom Line £56 Million to go from somewhere thank you to the bankers for creating this mess all councils and public bodies are in the same boat
Bottom Line £56 Million to go from somewhere thank you to the bankers for creating this mess all councils and public bodies are in the same boat
You are absolutely right. But the very last people to pay for this mess has to be our children and their education. We have to give them as many tools as we can because their taxes will still be paying for our mess.
and, we just have to keep fighting and be vigilant for any sneaky maneuvering! thank God for the wick grape vine! at least we usually know when things are afoot!
Thats fine Brandy where do you suggest saving the money !! its an awful lot
I remember when Classroom assistants were introduced the same people where shouting against it because it was getting teaching on the cheap thats what parents unions and teachers were all saying at the time !!! Perhaps if we cut down the annual holidays cut out the sporradic in service days then there would be less need for much of the assistance. Perhaps going back to some of the old ideas when we used to have roving PE Teachers, Music Teacher and Art Teachers from the high school all carrying out some of the functions done by Classroom assistants
do the schools now have reg. pe teachers, art teachers and music teachers?
who goes out with the children at play time?
who gives the extra help to the children that need extra help on a daily basis?
who makes it possible for there to be school outings to the park, panto.. ect?
personally,, i dont care what they are called.
my concern is that we do not take away from our children.
its not like they are bounding with resources in their education.
im not a politician, i dont know where we should get the money from, or where to take it from.
im a mom, who is concerned for her children's future.
i honestly dont know a lot of the goings on or inner workings..
im very new to this, but am eager and willing to do what i can to make sure my children and the children of our community get as much help and
resources as we can give them.
Just had a message to say that the council had a meeting today and have done a U-turn and decided that the classroom assistants will not lose their jobs,
Well done to everyone that made the effort to let the council know how we feel.
FRONT PAGE OF PRESS AND JOURNAL TODAY
Council bows to ‘enormous’ outcry and agrees on rethink
North plan to axe 344 classroom posts lifted
By Cheryl Livingstone and Mel Fairhurst
Published: 10/02/2011
Plans to get rid of more than 300 classroom assistants were put on hold last night after Highland councillors bowed to “enormous” public pressure.
The 11th-hour stay of execution was proposed at emergency talks on the eve of today’s crunch budget meeting.
The local authority’s education, sport and culture committee chairman, Bill Fernie, revealed that “no jobs would be going at the moment”.
He said the council could not ignore the strength of public feeling on the issue.
Mr Fernie said the plan now was to set up a cross-party group to look at how assistance was provided in classrooms, and the findings would be reported back to his committee before the summer. He said he hoped a final decision would be implemented in August.
He added: “This afternoon’s decision is in response to the enormous representation we have received from classroom assistants, parents and school groups.
“We have listened to the response and one of the things we are doing is taking out people’s fear of losing their jobs imminently.
“We cannot ignore the large number of representation we have received. Clearly, this is a service that is highly regarded by many.
“We remain committed to ensuring that assistance in the classroom is targeted where it is most needed.”
Councillors had been due to consider axeing 156 full-time equivalent jobs – which are filled by 344 people – from August to save £1.4million for the year. In their place, 60 full-time equivalent jobs as learning support auxiliaries would have been created and filled by 150 people on a part-time basis.
The proposals were met with a wave of objections from across the Highlands after they were unveiled last week. Parents in Skye even took their children out of school in protest.
At yesterday’s emergency meeting of councillors and officials, additional funds were identified to allow a significant reduction in the number of classroom assistant posts which will be lost.
If the plan is backed by the council today, the net saving from the proposed changes in classroom assistance would be reduced in 2011-12 from £883,000 to £319,000.
In future years the full saving would be set at £751,000 rather than £1.47million.
The administration’s budget leader, David Alston, said the reduction in cuts would be made in part by taking £10,000 from each council ward’s discretionary budget for one year and by investigating options for taking money from the budget’s contingency funds.
Bruce Crabtree, an official with the GMB union, said he was delighted the council had taken on board the concerns of communities and his union’s members.
He added: “We would be happy to participate in any process, and I know members would engage positively.”
Dingwall Primary School Parents’ Association chairman Paul White said: “I would be delighted if classroom assistants are saved. They provide a vital part of the education system both educationally and socially. I took issue with Councillor Alston about the tactless way the news had been delivered without the dignity classroom assistants deserve.”
Karen Mackay, treasurer of Park Primary Parent Council at Invergordon, said: “It is brilliant news. Parents and teachers were devastated by the previous proposals.
“Classroom assistants don’t just help in class. We have a lot of kids with behavioural problems and they are disruptive in class and the assistants help with these children. They monitor the playground and the bullying rate has gone down.
“They also help to supervise trips.”
Councillor John Finnie, leader of the opposition group on the council, said last night: “The Lib Dem-led administration's proposal to do away with 344 classroom assistants has provoked an understandable outcry.
“You can't remove all those valuable staff from classrooms without adversely affecting children's education.
“Councillor Michael Foxley, leader of the council, has told me that there will be job losses in the primary sector and the public will not be fooled by any fudge to delay decisions until after the May Scottish election.
“The SNP remain totally opposed to the loss of those 344 classroom assistants.”
Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2129977#ixzz1DYc32uZ4
I remember when Classroom assistants were introduced the same people where shouting against it because it was getting teaching on the cheap thats what parents unions and teachers were all saying at the time !!!
Spot on! I made the same point in a similar thread - ignorant people have a tendency to get hyped up about change, no matter what it is. When the train of reason goes round a bend, the simpletons fall off.
The whole idea of Classroom Assistants is a nonsense, and regardless of budget cuts is something that should probably never have been introduced and should have been considered for ditching anyway. They are an unqualified inconvenience in most classrooms.
so anyone who has a dif. opinion other than your own is ignorant?
do you have school age children?
i did have a look at your previous posts on the org to see if it was purely as a parents opinion coming forwards.. but all i could find was that the majority of your posts seem to be negative in some light or another.
obviously, i do not know if you are a parent of a school age child, and you are entitled to your opinion, but it shouts of ignorance to me, when someone belittles moms and dads who are trying their best to make the best of their children's childhood and education. kids only get one shot at a good education. Therefore as parents we should be bending over backwards to do what ever we can to make sure that they get it.
it wasn't long ago, that without the outcry of the public.. moms and dads again.. that we would have lost our consultant led maternity unit.
just because your cousin is a primary teacher it does not make you an expert on the subject.
i normally dont like to gurn at people on here personally.. but you just seem to belittle everything about the subject.
as parents we shouldn't be saying.. oh it was done this way 30 years ago.. we should be saying.. this is how it should be done today.. and what we want to see tomorrow.
What is in the best interest for all of our children .. not just in the oncoming weeks and months.. but 5-10-20 years down the road.
education is always changing, as the world, the people and the children themselves are changing around us.
we have to keep up with that, and make sure we make the right choices.
Personally, i dont think taking away from them is the right choice.
things do need to change, but as a community we need to work together and figure out what those changes need to be and to stop arguing with each other about how things use to be.
Spot on! I made the same point in a similar thread - ignorant people have a tendency to get hyped up about change, no matter what it is. When the train of reason goes round a bend, the simpletons fall off.
The whole idea of Classroom Assistants is a nonsense, and regardless of budget cuts is something that should probably never have been introduced and should have been considered for ditching anyway. They are an unqualified inconvenience in most classrooms. Why do you feel the need to call people ignorant and simpletons just because YOU dont agree? Everyone is entitled to an opinion on this and name calling IMO shows your faults not theirs!x
In relation to the last two excitable posters - Q.E.D.
fingalmacool
10-Feb-11, 14:12
The classroom assistants were the test to what will eventually happen in education and a lot of other Council run services, it seems that it's classic shinny coin in the one hand and the other hand will produce the blade that will cut deeper than first thought. And of course the bonus would have been if there wasn't so much uproar and the classroom assistants got the chop, the other bigger cut is still on its way, so its win win for the people in charge of our future,(but who would envy their predicament! there's lots to come, don't pat yourselves on the back yet, because somethings have to go and we are all looking over our shoulders:confused
The classroom assistants were the test to what will eventually happen in education and a lot of other Council run services, it seems that it's classic shinny coin in the one hand and the other hand will produce the blade that will cut deeper than first thought. And of course the bonus would have been if there wasn't so much uproar and the classroom assistants got the chop, the other bigger cut is still on its way, so its win win for the people in charge of our future,(but who would envy their predicament! there's lots to come, don't pat yourselves on the back yet, because somethings have to go and we are all looking over our shoulders:confused
Well said with hundreds of thousands of jobs to go to and £200 billion hole in finances uk wide the pain is just beginning. for every cause saved or won means others will loose In the scottish budget yesterday there was a real cut of 1.6 billion it has to come from somewhere and with Education making up 50% of councils budgets thats where the bulk of savings will come from.
Perhaps swimming pool closures and library closures will be back in the melting pot in a year or two as further budhget cuts are required I read on one of the news sites that these cuts could continue and get more severe for the next 10 years it has only just begun
thank you so much for saying im proving myself ignorant by my own post.
i can be philosophical with the best of them.
however, as i have said.. i do not know all the ins and outs of the powers that be.
I simply want what is best for our children and thier futures.
if that is being ignorant.. then i am happy to be.
being passionate in what you belive in is how the world is changed.
i also agree with the above poster.. things are going to be going.. and they are going to cut as much as possible.
i just think that as a community it is our responsibility to say how much we sit back and allow to be taken away and
what things we need to fight for.
more than likey there will be school closures and amalgamation of schools.
we know theres not much we can do about that.. however, we do have a voice of how it is going to happen.
In relation to the last two excitable posters - Q.E.D.
You have demonstrated what? That people have disagreed with you for their percieved reasons? Is that no longer allowed? Are you so all seeing that you know the situation these people are in and how classroom assistants have helped their child? Or do you just dismiss everyone that disagrees with you as being hysterical or exiteable?
Right now I am going to conform to your definition of simpleton by disagreeing with you. I have seen composite classes in action and without classroom assistants they would leave children behind.
So....if I am a simpleton/idiot ( which actually comes from the greek root word for idea), I will share with you what I call a person who in silence accepts what is heeped onto them, does not question anything and does not fight for what they believe in: a sheep.
[evil] The cuts are a coming and my bet is once they take out a few schools they will get rid of some staff then.They have lost this battle but will definitely try toi win the war [disgust]
In relation to the last two excitable posters - Q.E.D.
Why thank you so much,for proving that yet again you are really rude,arrogant and downright ignorant,and yes I can say that,afterall you have called me the same! Everyone on this forum is entitled to an opinion whether it is right or wrong,they are also entitled to be able to post without being called names!Living in the past will not solve the problem,quipping at others will not solve it either,perhaps you should put some of your energy and venom into doing something that wil? Or are you just all talk?Oh and for the record,I havent said I agree with not paying off classroom assistants,all I have said is I dont agree with how this forum is now allowing certain bigots to say whatever they like no matter what it is,if I wanted to read drivel,and personal attacks on people that have done nothing wrong, I would pick up the sun or something like that,not log on here!
Scarybiscuits03
10-Feb-11, 16:34
OK I started this thread to let folk know the protest was cancelled, I never expected a "slagging" match to come of it - but then again it does seem that this is the way the Org has now gone!
Closed!!!!
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