Timeline

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

The meeting in Feb only covered half of its planned agenda due to the discussions on St James, the halting of NW GME and the P1 enrolement problems for Aug 2023. As the meeting appraoched 2 hours duration it was decided to pick the remaining agenda items up at another meeting. Therefore topics like the NE and NW building projects and oversubscription were not part of this meeting:

• Jean Miller, Head of services North West now has responsibility for GME and will now chair this group
• Appointment of a GME Officer
  • The post of GME and Modern Languages Officer has been appointed, Jean will provide a description of the responsibilities of this role to a future meeting
• Gaelic Specific Grant
  • Jean listed what has been awarded from SG to GCC under the Gaelic Specific Grant, e.g.
  • funding for the posts of PT Gaelic Language at ASGG, PT Wider Achievement, Health and Wellbeing worker, Gaelic Family Learning Worker. Also funding for further translation of resources, Transport and for Adult and Family Gaelic learners classes.
  • It was asked if funding for transport to surrounding local authorities would be possible given the cap on P1 entry within Glasgow.
  • It was also asked if the applicaiton for the Gaelic Specific Grant could be presented as a paper to the group.
• Proposal to split this group into an Operaional GME Working Group and a Strategic GME Working Group
  • The idea would be for a larger Operational group to include parents, staff, elected representatives, etc and chaired by Kathryn Farrow. While a smaller Strategiv Group take forward the wider long term aims
  • Jean will put together a paper with remit and functions of the two groups for next meeting
• CnP Presentation of the potential make up of these two groups
  • The success story of GME has been parents and council officers working closely together, that shouldn’t be lost
  • If operational and strategic topics are discussed seperatly there needs to be tighter communicaion between the two groups.
  • There is a need to track and collate actions with accountable outcomes as far too often we raise the same thing year after year to be told someone will ‘look into that and get back to you’ – which doesn’t happen.
  • The depth and breadth of knowledge within the community is important as each GME context is facing different pressures.
  • The example of SLWG putting the cap in place for a limited time while the NW site was identified and developed was important example of working together and compromising – however with the suspension of NW GME this needs to be re-addressed.
  • The need for some policy review was highlighted as applying the same policy in differerent contexts may mean equal treatment but not an equal outcome, for example the appelas process applied within GME means no access to Gaelic not just not getting your preferred school.
• Other Discussions
  • It was raised that the current school roll for GME P1 across Glasgow was 130 despite the cap of 140 and oversubscription last year meaning that a numer of familes were denied a place in GME. The reasons why this happened were discussed but raised a missunderstanding within this group of how the ‘waiting list’ was being applied. Clarity on this and potential review of placing request process was discussed.
  • The annoncment at the Feb meeting that no further work was taking place on NW GME raised the question of what had happened since the potential sites were first discussed in Oct 2021. This had been asked and apparently in that time nothing has been done to develop a proposal for consultation or funding requests.

New Head Teacher at Àrd Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu:

Gillian Campbell-Thow appointed as acting Head Teacher of Àrd Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu.

Registration Numbers / Oversubscription:

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• NE GME / St James building – Delayed
  • Detailed update was given
  • Significant delays and increased cost are affecting this project due to a number of factors such as
    • Difficulty accessing the site (more clearing and prep work was required)
    • The building being in worse condition than expected
    • Increased demands of the energy targets in place as part of the Scottish Government funding
    • Changes in the economy due to Covid, Brexit, etc. which has increased building costs significantly
  • St James project has been started and will be completed but the cost is currently unknown and this has consequences on other capital projects across the city.
• North Kelvinside Annexe
  • The delay of moving the cohort currently at North Kelvinside to the NW school has implications on space within North Kelvinside as the growth of that EME school expected the space taken up by GME to be freed up.
  • A cap on P1 entry to the Annexe has been reduced to 10 with the other 15 (?) capacity being taken up by BSGG
  • It was questioned that BSGG has been prommised for many years to have its numbers reduced and again this is not happening, but no alternative as the 140 needs to be spread to where suitable classification can happen.
• NW GME / BSGG decant – Halted
  • For the same reason as NE is delayed, the work on a location for NW GME and the decant of BSGG has been halted. Until Education Services know what the costs of building a school will be in the current environment with increased energy efficiency and reduced budgets no further work can be carried out.
  • We were told that the first stage is securing funding (new information at this meeting)
  • It was explained that there is effectively a two step process – an informal approach to SG and CAC to know that funding requests would be favourably received, then informal engagement with the community to find out if the proposal would be well received and from that build the formal consultation and formal funding applications… we are currently not able to informally look for funding.
  • We pointed out that Scottish Government have already been informed that the decant of BSGG to expand ASGG was required (25 July 2018 meeting with the Deputy First Minister)
  • There is however no update on the timescale, a solution is still required by Aug 2027
  • There is also no Plan B if this doesn’t happen
• Enrolment for Aug 2023
  • Figures in table below
  • Reduced capacity at North Kelvinside Annexe (now 10) has been moved to BSGG (increased from 45 to 60)
  • All spaces now allocated but there can still be movement
  • There is confusion over how to apply for a P1 place when an older sibling has already been placed in a non-catchment school
  • With existing numbers of children in GME being so close to the 140 S1 cap we asked if it was known how many currently within GME primary education within Glasgow came from other Local Authorities and similarly if it is known how many Glasgow resident families have been placed at GME in neighbouring LAs as these numbers will affect the projected demand on S1 GME places.
  • Questions were raised about the placing criteria, when was this previously consulted on and whether a consultation can happen again.
• Recruitment and retention of GME Teachers
  • This came up in a number of way during the meeting, there is concern over retention of teachers who are worried about getting their own children into a Glasgow GME school and there are continued problems recruiting senior staff.
  • No real conclusion or action points however
• As the meeting approached 2 hours it was decided to stop and pick up the remaining agenda items in a few weeks

Registration Numbers / Oversubscription:

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• Transport Discussion
  • Glendale PC raised specific issues, this will be investigated with CITU & SPT
• NW GME / BSGG decant
  • Positive discussions with Glasgow Life have happened around Netherton Site
  • Next thing required is informal consultations which will form the official Consultation
  • Target date for opening remains Aug 2027
  • … still nothing really new since Jan meeting
• NE GME / St James building
  • update on building work – roof to be completed March 2023, site currently locked down for asbestos work
  • Timescale changed from Aug 2024 to Aug 2025
• Staffing
  • G Campbell-Thow appointed acting HT for ASGG
  • Govan HT advert before Dec 2022
  • NE GME HT advert around spring 2023
  • Gaelic Quality Improvement Officer still to be allocated
  • general staffing shortages at Govan and ongoing recruitment problems discussed.
• Future of this GME Working Group
  • Donnie proposed that this group changes form to a strategic working group made up of Councillors, Parents, HTs , Staff, Senior pupils. There would be a need for a more formalised structure…
  • this will return to the agenda of the next meeting

Meeting of Education, Skills and Early Years City Policy Committee:

Report by Executive Director of Education Services “Full assessment of Parental Request for Gaelic Medium Primary Education (GMPE) in Glasgow City Council”

Background: Under The Education (Scotland) Act 2016 parents of children under school age and who have not yet started primary school have the right to request an assessment of the need forGMPE from the education authority in which the family resides. This paper was the response to such a request by five families, in Education Serivces pointed to several ongoing commitments to expansion, including:
“.. opening a unit at the new North Kelvinside PS campus in August 2022, which will transfer into the new north east
provision in the current St James PS building from August 2024″
“…planning is underway to find a new site for another primary provision in the north west of the city which will support the plans to decant the current primary and early years provision from Berkley Street, to create the much-needed additional space to expand the number of places available across the GME estate. We hope to have the new provision open by August 2027. This will allow us to increase the number of places at secondary stages and therefore P1 intake numbers across the GME estate from the current 140 each year to a total intake of 180.”

North Kelvinside Annexe (which will become NE GME School) Opened:

Annexe of BSGG which will eventually become the NE GME School opened with a school roll of 29 children P1-P5.

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• Update on enrolment figures (see below), now 19 overcapacity
• NW GME / BSGG decant
  • No new update on 4 potential sites
  • Some discussion on sharing Primary school with Community Facilities
  • Confirmed again that pre-school provision would be part of the plans
  • Target date for opening remains Aug 2027, with work commencing Aug 2025
  • …nothing really new since Jan meeting
• North Kelvinside Annexe
  • PT not yet appointed, being re-advertised. other teaching appointments have been made and DHT interview coming up
• NW GME / St James building
  • discussion of the prep work being done, however overall not much to update us on
• Statutory Request for GMEP Provision
  • This is still underway, however it was reiterated that there would be no extension to the 140 cap due to staffing and lack of space at secondary school.

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• Catchment map has now been published on Council Web site.
• Update on enrolment figures (see table below), currently 48 overcapacity, still fluid and parents being contacted
• NW GME / St James – no further updates for this meeting, still early stages
• North Kelvinside Annexe – PT and DHT roles being advertised HT To be appointed by August 2023
• NW GME / BSGG decant – No progress to report, still in discussions with Glasgow Life there will be an update at next meeting. Funding request won’t happen till new GCC administration is in place following local authority elections May 2022
• Statutory Request for GMEP Provision has been received from five parents already on waiting list, the council has a time scale of 6 weeks for initial assessment then a further10 weeks for full assessment.

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• North Kelvinside Annexe
  • Development of cohort to move to North Kelvinside Annexe has begun with families already within GME from the NE catchment being approached about moving to the Annexe.
  • Leadership and staffing issues were discussed
  • NW options of site reduced, next tasks is for further assessments
  • Discussion of appeals process equity between GME and EME
• NW GME / BSGG decant
  • Map now showing 4 of the original 8 sites was shown for discussion and feedback. “Site A” was clearly ageed to have the best transport links, outdoor sports facilities, etc. and would seem to be the most favourable while not wanting to dismiss any of the options until further work had happened.
  • Cllr Cunningham asked if given the discussion any further instruction was required for the team to move ahead with whatever was required next. It was agreed to have more in depth conversations with Glasgow Life, carryout geotechnical work and a transport review and they “will come back with a deeper dive assessment of all of these sites”
• Appeals Process
  • We raised that the appeals process when applied to GME seemed inequitable with the EME (as there was an GME sector cap therefore no GME alternative). While it was argued that the process is clear and ‘black and white’ we felt that it wasn’t transparent or clear to those going through the process and this was expressed very clearly by a father who had just been through it and was able to say how it felt receiving the letters from GCC.
  • Cllr Cunningham said he understood the issue with the process but there was little alternative over the next couple of years until the move of BSGG out of Berkeley Street was underway… “This is not about waiting for the new school to open, it is the point at which we know with some certainty that it is going to be there”
• Registration / Oversubscriptions

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• MMK discussed the role of the group and the current position around numbers.
• NE GME / North Kelvinside Annexe
  • North Kelvinside building will be ready by spring 2022 and would be used to alleviate pressure on BSGG in Aug 2022. Education Services will engage with families of existing P1-4 who are in the NE catchment to move, again to alleviate pressure on BSGG.
  • The St James’ building (NE GME), work scheduled to start Jan 2022, building should be ready for Aug 2024.
  • Staffing: Recruitment of staff and in particular leadership continues to be a problem.
• NW GME / move of BSGG from Berkeley Street
  • MMK shared a map showing 8 potential sites and discussing the timescales, capacities, next steps, etc.
  • Next Steps: “Estate Team will complete more analysis on sites and will move to establish realistic options“
    “Discuss with Glasgow Life the options for one of the locations”
• Registration / Oversubscriptions:
  • Confirmation that the cap across Glasgow is now based on S1 intake and will be in place until BSGG can move out of Berkeley Street.

“August 2022 numbers from enrolment will be 140. This will be intake until we have a relocation of Berkeley St confirmed.”
i.e. the cap of 140 is linked to the relocation of BSGG

Meeting of Education, Skills and Early Years City Policy Committee:

Report by Executive Director of Education Services “Update on GEM”

[Berkeley Street] “The site was not designed for high numbers of pupils being transported, particularly younger pupils, and this will require to be kept under review.”

“The secondary needs an additional classroom but the primary needs all its classrooms with more P1 pupils coming in than P7s leaving. This could be accommodated through shared use of a general purpose room but it does restrict options for learning and teaching.”

“The current P5 is 118 across the primary schools. This means that for August 23 there is a need to reduce significantly the primary to accommodate the secondary and in each of the following years more classrooms will be needed to accommodate the secondary.”

Education Services GME Working Group meeting:

• MMK Presented a paper “Gaelic Medium Education March 2021” giving a detailed overview of the current position, including an update on numbers of placing requests, a detailed review of space at each school including the secondary school classroom requirements, staffing, progress on NE GME School (earliest estimate for opening Aug 2023).
• The following extract shows where the target of Aug 2027 for BSGG to move from Berkeley Street comes from:

3.3       A detailed analysis of the accommodation requirements show that for an S1 intake of 140 the secondary school would need two additional general classrooms when the pupils are in S1 increasing to six as the 140 move through school. One additional science lab would be needed (total of six) along with another art room (total of three) and another IT room (total of two) as 140 moves through school resulting in a school roll of around 830.

3.4       An S1 intake of 160 to 180 moving through would result in a school roll of around 950/1070. An intake/school of this size would require 10-12 additional general classrooms along with an increase in specialised rooms – additional two science labs (total of 7) one art room (total of three) and two IT rooms (total of three).

3.5       The current P1 is 138, therefore, in the next six years we need to find an additional six classrooms to enable them to be accommodated when they reach S1.

Paper from Educational Services to GME Working Group “GME Overview March 2021”

SGG – Parent Council splits into BSGG and ASGG:

In line with the recent restructure of the school it was decided that the Parent Council would form two groups, for BSGG and ASGG.

Registration Numbers / Oversubscription:

GME NE: St James’ building Funding Confirmed:

Funding for a new GME school in the former St James’ building has been confirmed in December 2020. Planning for the new school is now able to be taken forward positively.

A project such as this, needs 18 months of planning to enable it to go through the necessary governance within the Council, including statutory planning permissions with a further 18 months of construction. This would mean that the school would not be able to be opened until session 2023/24 at the earliest.

Dr Donalda McComb retires as Head Teacher of Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu:

Donalda’s departure and the future plans for decanting the Bun Sgoil to a new location meant that two head teachers were appointed. Nellie MacIntyre was appointed Head teacher for the Bun Sgoil and Sgoil Araich and Catriona Chaimbeul was appointed Acting Head Teacher for the Ard Sgoil.

Bun Sgoil Ghàidhlig Bhaile a’ Ghobhainn Opened:

After two years in Ladywell, Whitinch, the school building in Govan opened with 165 children across P1-7.

Consultation on Govan School, a North East GME School & GME Catchment Areas:

A statutory consultation was held 2019-20 which agreed the establishment of Govan Annexe as a school in its own right and the development of a fourth primary school in the north east of the city. This consultation also defined catchment areas for each of the current and the proposed GME primary school in the city.

SGG – Parent Council meeting with update from Maureen McKenna:

“..foresees in 5-10 years, that with sufficient growth the Bun Sgoil may need to move out of the Berkeley St Campus”
“the next site for GME education in Glasgow should be in the East End.”
The old St James’ Primary School was highlighted as a possible location with space for 12 teaching spaces,

Àrd Sgoil Games Hall Opened:

Sports hall opened to improve physical education facilities at ASGG Berkeley Street using funding from the Scottish Government

First meeting of the (ongoing) GME Working Group:

SGG – Parent Council meeting with update from Cllr Chris Cunningham:

“GCC has been reacting over the years since 1999 and this needs to change – we need to plan.”
“The Secondary School is successful, but how many Primaries do we need?”
“Continuing to look at a third primary with two streams and then moving Berkeley Street to another building.”

Meeting of Education, Skills and Early Years City Policy Committee:

Report by Executive Director of Education Services “Update on GEM Short-Life Working Group”

“After this date [2025] the increased size of the secondary would mean that the primary department would need to transition to another building”
“The working group agreed that, in order to meet demand for GME, the most desirable option going forward would be for two additional 2-stream primary schools in the city”

Ladywell Annex of BSGG Opened:

The Annex that would eventually become Govan Gaelic opened with a school roll of 93 children P1-P5

Meeting with the Deputy First Minister:

Councillor Cunningham met with the Deputy First Minister, along with the Executive Director of Education and Scottish Government officials from Scottish Futures Trust and Gaelic. The meeting was to update the Deputy First Minister on the success of GME in the city and the recommendations from the Short-Life Working Group.
 
The Deputy First Minister was positive about GME developments in the city. He asked officials from Scottish Futures Trust and Gaelic to work with Glasgow City Council to scope out different ways in which at least one new primary school could be funded.

Meeting of the GME Short Life Working Group:

At the Short Life Working Group held in May 2018, consensus was reached that consideration should be given to one school should be situated in the East of the City close to the City Centre and the other in an area of the North West of the City. A school in the North West would be preferred if the whole of the Berkeley St campus was to be a secondary school.

SGG – Parent Council meeting:

Update from SLWG
Currently, the SLWG are looking at sustainable numbers and how many streams we should have.  They are looking at 200 a year for Secondary school into the 2020/2030’s, but to get that we need a further 2x 2stream primaries.

Continuing on this path – potentially a 2nd secondary would be required by 2036.  Current hope is a new primary school 2022/2023 and a second coming in 2025/2026 to lead to current SGG becoming a standalone secondary school.
We discussed where these schools should be?  It was agreed  – that north west and north east as potential areas. 

Meeting of Education, Skills and Early Years City Policy Committee:

Report by Executive Director of Education Services “Update on GEM Short-Life Working Group”

Meeting of the GME Short Life Working Group:

Meeting of the GME Short Life Working Group:

SGG – Parent Council meeting:

Update from the SLWG: Currently there have been 146 requests for GME enrolment for 2018 across SGG and Glendale. The sustainable intake for SGG is set at 70 and 33 for Glendale 33 for 2018 intake.

Proposal for Revised Placing Request Criteria was shared, it was pointed out that the proposal introduces “affiliation to GME” in the revised criteria. Parents and the wider GME community were encouraged to engage in the consultation process

Meeting of the GME Short Life Working Group:

“Councillor Cunningham stated that having a 10 year plan is important to aid discussion on ambition and aspiration for the future whilst looking at realistic constraints.  For example, if Berkeley Street was to be considered as a stand-alone secondary, what would need to be done at primary level to populate it and how would we grow the primary and pre-5 estates across the city too?  Teacher capacity would also be a challenge.  This shows that a 10 year plan needs to be developed alongside a short-term plan which can be shared with parents.  Berkeley Street originally had a capacity of 1200 but, with modifications over the years, this is now approximately 800 capacity”

First meeting of the GME Short Life Working Group:

The immediate objective of the group was to ensure that all who sought GME provision for August 2018 would be able to do so. Various papers were presented, including:

• List of vacant school estate (produced by GCC)
• Role Projections to show possible future configurations of schools and class sizes (produced by parent body)
• A Summary of options for possible solutions to the immediate oversubscription for Aug 2018 (produced by parent body)
• Parents Summary document (produced by parent body)

City Administration Committee established SLWG:

A report was given to this committee giving the response to the consultation on Gowanbank becoming the 3rd GME Primary school. Since this consultation had rejected that option and facing a substantial oversubscription for 2018 P1 spaces the committee approved the establishment of a short-life working group to explore options for the future of GME in Glasgow.

Registration Numbers / Oversubscription:

Gowanbank Consultation which led to the forming of the SLWG:

GCC carried out a statutory consultation under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 on a proposal to open a third GME primary in the former Gowanbank Primary which had moved to a new-build school. The council received 205 responses to this with 155 (75.6%) against the proposal for a number of reasons. In particular, the majority who responded did not agree with the proposed catchment area in the consultation.

Although most respondents objected to the proposal, they did not wish the Council to be put in the position of having to refuse children access to GME. Many respondents felt that further engagement was needed in order to be able to reach a solution which the majority of parents would support.

Education Services agreed that there was a need for further engagement with parents and representative groups to ensure that a solution was identified that would meet the needs of the community and would be supported by parents.

The recommended formation of this working group aligned with many responses received during the consultation that suggested that a working group was needed to develop a five and ten year plan for GME in the City.  However, in the first instance, the Short-Life Working Group was tasked with developing a proposal which would allow more children to access primary GME by August 2018. Thereafter, the group would consider the medium to longer term issues for GME across the city.

SGG – Parent Council meeting:

82 requests for P1 entry in Aug 2017

Bun Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghleann Dail opened:

The second GME primary school opened in Pollockshields with an initial school roll of 108 children P1-P6. This cohort had already been grown as a ‘school within a school’ housed on Level 3 of Berkely Street for the previous year.

SGG – Parent Council meeting:

130 requests for P1 entry 2016 – 80 for BSGG and 50 requests for a P1 place at BSGGD which has a P1 capacity of 25!

This is only round one and there will be fluctuation and further opportunity to enrol in Jan 2016. Accurate numbers have been requested from GCC to monitor this.

SGG – Parent Council meeting attended by Maureen McKenna, Director of Education GCC:

This meeting was the latest concerning the proposed English-medium/Gaelic-medium shared campus development at Glendale, Pollokshields.
Lack of Nursery provision was discussed: “Experience to date suggested that robust nursery provision vital to successful growth of Gaelic-medium schools. Desirability of extended day provision also highlighted. MMK emphatic that resources not there to establish new Gaelic-medium nursery near new school.”
Teaching Provision: “Concerns about present shortfall in numbers of Gaelic-medium secondary teachers, which new school will only exacerbate: this the critical choke point in the system.”
Gaelic Advisory Group: “suggested that the evident need for coherent strategic thinking and co-ordination with regard to Gaelic-medium education in Glasgow would be advanced by setting up such a group: a forum for representatives from Gaelic community and GCC to resurrect and pursue a Gaelic plan for Glasgow, liaising with BnaG etc.”

SGG – Moved to berkeley street – first Àrd Sgoil opened:

As the roll grew, it became necessary to relocate to a larger building, the former Woodside Secondary in Berkeley Street (built 1972). Opening a pre-school and secondary on the same campus.

SGG – First dedicated GME Primary in Glasgow:

In 1999 Glasgow opened its first primary GME provision, prior to that GME was delivered to very small numbers through a unit based in a primary.