Primary Schools battle against an impossible burden of regulation
30th January 2010
Margot James visited Cradley Church of England Primary School with school governor Cllr. Jennie Dunn and was very impressed by the ethos of the school.
But the visit confirmed the terrible struggle such schools have to survive under the the increasing burden of regulation. Money is so tight that the administrative overload falls directly on the head and deputy head. Just as with secondary schools it is becoming more and more difficult to find people who are willing to take on leadership roles in schools as the jobs seem increasingly impossible to fulfil with the resources available.
Most of the requirements are well intended and have to do with child protection. But the safeguarding of children duties, criminal record bureau checks and endless risk assessment forms for every day activities are undermining the quality of the school experience for teachers and children alike.
And there is never any extra money for all this extra work. Ultimately the time has to be found from teaching time and what should be the personal time of those who run schools. Budgets are so tight that there not even spare money for supply teachers if teachers fall ill or go on maternity leave.
Absurd pieces of regulation come down from the Department for Children, Schools and Families that have nothing to do with child protection. Like the requirement that children as young as four should be able to go outside whenever they like. So the teacher can be facilitating a class and children can just wander in and out! A teacher therefore had to be taken out of the classroom to be outside all the time so that any child who fancied playing outside instead of being in class could be supervised.
Cradley Primary School none the less provides a wonderful primary education. Margot attended the School Assembly where the school’s Christian values were to the fore. The focus was on friendship, helping others and it was announced that in the previous week children and staff had raised £500.00 for the Haiti relief appeal.
Photos: Margot with Janeen Slack, Headteacher and some of the posters in the school
