We must get it right for every child
I want to start by making it clear that we are committed to delivering the right support, resources and staffing where and when it is needed to ensure that all children and young people in Edinburgh thrive at school, and we have a range of measures in place to support an inclusive education.
In recent months we’ve seen several reports published about the rise in behaviours of concern in schools, most recently a report last week from the Commission on School Reform highlighting an increase in “poor behaviour” in schools and calling for new guidance allowing teachers to exclude children who misbehave.
The hard truth is that a policy of presumption of mainstream, championed by the SNP Government, has led to an unprecedented rise in the number of children and young people with additional support needs (ASN), who are struggling with the demands of the school day – and teachers and school staff under-equipped with the resources needed to assist.
Almost half of our children and young people in Edinburgh have a recorded ASN, and as is the case across the country this figure has increased over the past decade. The reality is that we are where we are as a result of funding cuts over many years and failure of the current government to effectively plan and fund the vital support we want to put in place.
It is my duty as Education, Children and Families Convenor and for all Edinburgh councillors to respond to the challenges facing our education system and to drive forward the educational wellbeing and attainment of all young people. There is however no escaping that the SNP Government has failed to support local authorities adequately, with cuts to Edinburgh City Council’s budget totalling hundreds of millions of pounds over the past 10 years.
My call to all councillors across Edinburgh is that we need to be honest with our residents. We can pose for photos in papers, we can anoint ourselves with titles such as “City Leader”, we can try to simplify this sensitive issue into unhelpful terms such as “Ghost Children”, or we can work together to focus on solving this problem and show some political courage in calling out the Scottish Government for tying our hands behind our back with financial constraints which makes it difficult for us to fully solve this issue.
The council is making the current budget work as hard as we can and our recent inclusion review brings resource closer to those who need it. We offer enhanced support provision and wellbeing hubs within all of our secondary schools to meet the needs of learners who require support within school.
We must get it right for every child but a government that is failing to plan and provide appropriate financial support to help local authorities to fund and staff our schools is not setting us up to provide the right support to children and young people who need it.
James Dalgleish is Labour councillor for Leith Walk and Edinburgh City Council Education, Children and Families Committee Convener