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STIRLING COUNCIL

SCHOOLS, LEARNING AND EDUCATION

CONSULTATION REPORT

REPORT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE CONSULTATION RELATING TO THE PROPOSAL TO AMALGAMATE DOUNE PRIMARY SCHOOL AND DOUNE

NURSERY

21 MARCH 2019

This Consultation Report has been issued by Stirling Council in accordance with the

Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

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Contents Page 4. INTRODUCTION 5. BACKGROUND 5. CONSIDERATIONS 6. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSAL 7. THE CONSULTATION PROCESS 8. THE PUBLIC MEETING 8. RESPONSES TO THE ONLINE CONSULATION EXERCISE 9. EDUCATION AUTHORITY RESPONSE TO WRITTEN AND ORAL

REPRESENTATIONS 9. EDUCATION SCOTLAND REPORT 11. EFFECT ON THE LOCAL COMMUNITY 11. ALLEGED OMISSIONS OR INACCURACIES 11. COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 9(1) OF THE SCHOOLS (CONSULTATION)

(SCOTLAND) ACT 2010 12. LEGAL ISSUES 12. PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS 12. CONCLUSION 13. RECOMMENDATIONS

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Appendices

Appendix 1 Minute of Public Meeting of 15 January 2019

Appendix 2 Summary of Consultation Responses

Appendix 3 Pupil and Staff Consultation

Appendix 4 Education Scotland Report

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STIRLING COUNCIL SCHOOLS, LEARNING AND EDUCATION This report has been prepared following consultation on the Council’s proposal that:

Education provision at Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery be formally amalgamated with effect from 19 August 2019.

Having had regard (in particular) to:

a. Relevant written representations received by the Council (from any person) during the consultation period;

b. Oral representations made to it (by any person) at the public meeting held

on 15 January 2019; and c. Education Scotland’s report on the proposal.

1. INTRODUCTION This is a Consultation Report prepared in compliance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act on the above proposal. 1.1 The purpose of this report is to:

Provide a record of the total number of written responses made during the statutory consultation period;

Provide a summary of the written responses;

Provide a summary of oral representations made at the public meeting held on 15 January 2019;

Provide a statement of the Council’s response to those written and oral representations;

Provide the full text of Education Scotland’s report and a statement of the Council’s response to this report;

State how the Council reviewed the above proposal following the representations received during the statutory consultation period and the report from Education Scotland;

Provide details of any omission from, or inaccuracy in, the Proposal Paper and state how the Council acted upon it; and

State how the Council has complied with Sections 11A to 13 of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 when reviewing the above proposals.

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2. BACKGROUND 2.1 In September 2016, a pilot was established to trial the shared headship of Doune

Nursery and Doune Primary School. The pilot has been in place for over two years and has been very successful.

2.2 The pilot has been monitored closely by staff within Schools, Learning and Education

and ongoing consultation has been undertaken with staff, parents and carers who have been fully supportive of the arrangement.

2.3 Doune Primary School was inspected by Education Scotland in November 2017 and

received gradings of ‘very good’ in all areas. The Care Inspectorate inspected the nursery in November 2017 and also awarded gradings of ‘very good’ in all areas inspected.

2.4 For session 2018-2019, the school has 7 classes with a roll of 177 children. The

nursery is registered for 32 children aged from 2-5 years of age. The nursery is in phase 1 of the roll out of the expansion of early learning and childcare and is open throughout the year along with other nurseries within primary schools. A Principal Early Childhood Educator has been appointed and is responsible for the nursery when the head teacher is on holiday.

2.5 On 27 November 2018, the Children and Young People Committee agreed to a

formal consultation being undertaken to propose the amalgamation of Doune Nursery and Doune Primary School.

2.6 The principal purpose of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 is to provide

strong, accountable statutory consultation practices and procedures that local authorities must apply to their handling of all proposals for school closures and other major changes to schools. These consultation processes are expected to be robust, open, transparent and fair, and seen to be so. They are also expected to be consistent across Scotland. The Act also applies to nurseries.

2.7 These duties are outlined in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and

the accompanying Statutory Guidance 2.8 The Children and Young People Committee reports and the Proposal Paper referred

to above are available on the Stirling Council website. 3. CONSIDERATIONS 3.1 Reasons for Formulating the Proposal

In order to provide and promote a seamless transition from nursery into school, the pilot of the amalgamation of Doune Nursery and Doune Primary reflects the current needs of the children and families and a modern approach to learning in the 21st century which will prepare children for life-long learning. Community learning and meaningful parental engagement feature strongly and we believe the amalgamation is a model which can support the latter. Both the nursery and the school provide a strong values based approach which is deeply rooted in the rights of the child, the amalgamation will bring this approach together to be more streamlined for the families who use the establishments.

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3.2 Educational Benefits Statement

Stirling Council believes the amalgamation will provide a range of educational benefits and enhance the Council’s efforts to meet the statutory duties enshrined in:

The Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000.

The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.

The Education Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 (Updated 2009).

The Equality Act 2010.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Specifically, the amalgamation will have the following educational benefits for children attending the school and nursery:

Development of a 3-18 curricular model in line with the principles of Curriculum for Excellence.

Improvements in self-evaluation across the early level within Curriculum for Excellence.

More opportunities for children to work together on early level experiences and outcomes within Curriculum for Excellence.

Development of a play based approach to early learning in the primary school, enhancing transition of learning from nursery to school.

Improved pastoral transition arrangements for the children moving from nursery to Primary 1.

Enhanced opportunities for collaborative working from nursery to primary 7 which will improve approaches to assessment and moderation.

Increased opportunities for peer support.

Increased understanding of children’s learning journey.

Enhanced opportunities for staff development, partnership working and collaboration.

Sharing of resources.

A broader range of partners to support both establishments.

Increased opportunities for wider achievement.

Development of approaches to outdoor learning with school and nursery staff learning from each other.

Increased opportunities for nursery children to be involved in citizen groups and for increased social interaction.

4. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSAL 4.1. The alternative to the proposal is for Doune Nursery to remain as a stand-alone

nursery, and with separate a management team. Given the close proximity of the nursery to the school and the relationships and educational benefits which have developed over the last 2 years as a shared headship, we believe this alternative would not be in the best interest of children and families.

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5. THE CONSULTATION PROCESS 5.1 On 27 November 2018, the Children and Young People Committee agreed to

commence a formal consultation on a proposal to amalgamate Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery in accordance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

5.2 A letter providing an electronic link to the Proposal Paper was issued on 28 November 2018 to staff parents/carers and community groups. The Proposal Paper was also published on the Stirling Council website.

5.3 The letter made clear to consultees that the consultation period would run from

Tuesday 4 December 2018 until Friday 8 February 2019 – a period of at least 30 schools days.

5.4 The proposal on which consultation took place was that:

Education provision at Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery would be permanently amalgamated from 19 August 2019.

5.5 The requirements for consulting on a relevant proposal relating to schools are set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and for this proposal the timeline was as follows;

A Proposal Paper was published on Friday 28 November 2018 on the Stirling Council website and was available in paper copy upon request.

Copies of the Proposal Paper were available in both Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery.

One public meeting was held to discuss the proposal on Tuesday 15 January 2019.

The Consultation period ended on Friday 8 February 2019.

Education Scotland’s involvement consisted of the proposal document being sent to them, attendance at the public meeting and visits to the site of Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery, including discussion with relevant consultees. Education Scotland also received a copy of all written representations and minute of the public meeting. They then prepared a report on the educational aspects of the proposal. This is attached as Appendix 4.

5.6 The following establishments are affected by the proposal:

Doune Primary School.

Doune Nursery.

5.7 In accordance with statutory requirements and good practice, the following persons were consulted.

The Parent Council of the affected establishment.

The parents of the pupils and children at the affected establishments.

The pupils at the affected establishments.

The teaching, early years and ancillary staff at the affected establishments.

The trade union and professional association representatives of the above staff.

The Community Council.

Relevant users of the affected establishments.

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Elected members of Stirling Council.

Lay members of the Children and Young People Committee.

Education Scotland.

5.8 During the consultation period, representations were sought from interested parties, either in oral or written form or electronically. A generic email account was set up by the Council to receive enquiries on the proposal or representations.

5.9 This Consultation Report is the Council’s response to the issues raised during the

consultation period regarding the Proposal Paper. 5.10 This Consultation Report was published on the Council’s website from Thursday 21

March 2019 to Wednesday 10 April 2019 prior to final consideration by Children and Young People Committee on 25 April 2019.

6. THE PUBLIC MEETING 6.1 The public meeting was held in Muir Hall, Doune on Tuesday 15 January 2019. Two

parents attended. A full note of the meeting is attached as Appendix 1 which details the question raised at the meeting.

6.2 The small number of attendees at the meeting and the fact that only one question

was asked, indicate that there are no significant concerns from parents or members of the public regarding the proposal.

7. REPONSES TO THE ONLINE CONSULATION EXERCISE 7.1 In all, three online comments were received. One response noted a concern about

communication between the school and the nursery and the other two responses agreed with the Council’s proposal. No written representations were received. The details of the online responses are contained within the Summary of Consultation Responses, attached as Appendix 2 and are noted below.

Comment 1 ‘Concerns the breakdown of communication, example of this was the confusion in regards to the harvest festival (2017), whilst the building is in the same campus, clear communication process pertinent’ Response This has been raised with the head teacher who has improved communication methods since this incident occurred. Comment 2 ‘I think it great, making the transition from nursery to school will be much smoother for the kids’

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Comment 3

‘I feel this is a great step forward for the aid in the transition from nursery to school. Having read the proposal, the financial saving is fantastic. Hopefully this could be put into other spending - health and wellbeing at the top of the list. More resources for sports etc within the school curriculum. Over the last two years it is clear that the school leadership team has managed the nursery extremely well and I see no reason it shouldn’t continue to do so even with the school having just been appointed a new head teacher’

Response The money saved will be put toward a budget saving for Stirling Council

8. EDUCATION AUTHORITY RESPONSE TO WRITTEN AND ORAL REPRESENTATIONS

8.1 Oral Question from the Public Meeting

‘If the nursery is open until 6pm, does that mean that the head teacher will need to be onsite until 6pm to cover for the longer hours, and during the holidays?’

Response As we were developing our plan for the expansion of early learning and childcare across Stirling Council, one of the things we wanted to do to support parents and families is to have the nursery open for longer hours. What parents are very clearly telling us is that a 3 hour and 10 minute session in the morning or afternoon does not meet their working requirements. When we were consulting on what the expansion would look like, the feedback we were getting is that we needed to be open longer hours. In order to do that, we opened up almost all of our nurseries across Stirling from 8am until 6pm. We have some standalone nurseries across Stirling at the moment, which aren’t attached to a primary school, and most of those were already open from 8:15am to 5.30pm. Again, parents were telling us that was a bit tight, and could do with those being opened a little bit longer, so they are moving to be open until 6pm, but that’s not such a big change for them. It is a bigger change for the nursery classes, for instance, Doune Nursery, which was term time only and used to close at 4.30pm. So once that decision was made, the next factor we had to consider was who was going to take responsibility for that, as it can’t be the head teacher. The head teacher is responsible for the nursery in the hours they are contracted to be there, but there needs to be someone else supporting that. For every nursery in Stirling, a Principal Early Childhood Educator has been appointed. In Doune Nursery, that’s Leanne Munnoch. Leanne was the Senior Early Childhood Educator previously, she is now the Principal. That post has been job sized accordingly, it means the postholder can provide the required management cover. That is her role when Andrew is not there, whether that be over holidays or at the start or the end of the day. She is in turn supported by other members of leadership team within the nursery who also have that management responsibility.

9. EDUCATION SCOTLAND REPORT 9.1 In accordance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, a report was

produced by Education Scotland on the educational aspects of the proposal.

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9.2 Education Scotland visited Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery on 19

February 2019 to speak to relevant consultees. Education Scotland did attend the public meeting held on 15 January 2019 in connection with the Council’s proposals.

9.3 The Education Scotland report is reproduced in full in Appendix 4. 9.4 The report supports the proposal and is summarised below:

Educational aspects of proposal

9.4.1 Stirling Council outlined the educational benefits which it believes will result from the implementation of the proposal. As part of a trial arrangement, the school and nursery have been managed for the last two years by the headteacher of the primary school. The council wishes to make this a permanent arrangement as it believes this has brought about improved experiences for children in both establishments. HM Inspectors agree that transition between nursery and primary has improved, as has the development of the 3-18 curriculum with improved planning and self-evaluation particularly at the early level. The council believes that the arrangements now are of benefit to parents with a joint management team across both schools.

9.4.2 All Stakeholders are in favour of the proposal. They see advantages in now

formalising the current arrangements. Parents, including those who met with HM Inspectors, believe this will strengthen further the transition between the nursery and primary. They see the increased use of the primary school by nursery children as helpful. Children in both settings enjoy the increased opportunities to share their learning. Paired reading and buddying are improving children’s health and wellbeing with improved confidence and resilience. Staff are now experiencing greater opportunities for joint professional learning. They feel this is improving their understanding and practice.

Summary

9.4.3 HM Inspectors agree that the proposal will bring about educational benefit to

the children in the nursery and the primary school. Improved transition and curriculum planning are already improving children’s experiences. Parents are fully supportive and recognise the improvements for them and their children. Staff are confident that their professional learning and practice is developing further.

9.5 Stirling Council’s Response to Education Scotland’s Report

The Council welcomes the report from Education Scotland, accepts its findings and notes that pupils, parents and staff have raised no objections to the Council’s proposal. In response to the findings contained within the Education Scotland report, Stirling Council’s response is as follows:

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Given clear support from Education Scotland regarding the amalgamation, we intend to proceed to seek approval from the Children and Young People Committee on 25 April for the formal amalgamation to take effect as of 19 August 2019.

10. EFFECT ON THE LOCAL COMMUNITY 10.1 There is no evidence to suggest there will be any impact on the local community. 11. ALLEGED OMISSIONS OR INACCURACIES 11.1 Section (10) (3) of the 2010 Act also places a requirement on the Council to provide

details of any inaccuracy or omission within the Proposal Paper which has either been identified by the Council or raised by consultees.

This section of the 2010 Act also requires the Council to provide a statement on the

action taken in respect of the inaccuracy or omission, or, if no action was taken, to state that face and why.

11.2 In the course of the consultation exercise, there were no areas identified by

respondents as being inaccurate or omitted from the Proposal Paper during the consultation period.

12. COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 9(1) OF THE SCHOOLS (CONSULTATION)

(SCOTLAND) ACT 2010 12.1 Section 9(1) of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 states that: After the

Education Authority has received Education Scotland’s report, the Authority is to review the relevant proposal having regard (in particular) to:

(i) written representations received by the Authority (from any person) during the consultation period,

(ii) oral representations made to it (by any person) at the public meeting, and

(iii) Education Scotland’s report.

12.2 Following receipt of the Education Scotland report, three online representations and the oral representation made at a public meeting held during the consultation period, officers reviewed the proposals.

12.3 The feedback from the consultation was considered by officers. This ensured that the

Council met the requirements to review the proposal under section 9(1) and 13(5) of the 2010 Act.

12.4 Officers of the Education Authority have listened carefully to the point made at the

public meeting and have considered equally carefully the Education Scotland report and the online representations.

12.5 The proposal was reviewed to consider whether any of the representations led to the

Council to reconsider other options as being reasonable alternatives to the proposal to amalgamate Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery. None of the representations led officers to conclude that any of these options should be

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reconsidered as reasonable alternatives. 12.6 The educational benefits were reviewed in respect of the Education Scotland report

and representations made. 12.7 There were no factors included in the Education Scotland report or representations

made requiring any aspect of the Educational Benefits to be reconsidered. 12.8 There were no aspects included in the representations made which provided a

different conclusion in relation to the rural school factors. 12.9 Having reviewed the Education Scotland report and feedback from consultees,

officers have concluded that the basis of the original proposal continues to be the most appropriate action to take to ensure the education provision reflects the current needs of the children and families and a modern approach to learning in the 21st century which will prepare children for life-long learning.

13. LEGAL ISSUES 13.1 The Council has complied in full with the requirements of the Schools (Consultation)

(Scotland) Act 2010 throughout this statutory consultation. 13.2 The Council is mindful of its duties in respect of equality and the Equality Impact

Assessment did not identify that any parent, child or young person would be treated less favorably as a result of this proposal.

13.3 Under the terms of the Schools (Scotland) (Consultation) Act 2010, it is a legal

requirement that the Council should not reach any formal decision without waiting until a period of three weeks starting on the day on which this Consultation Report is published in electronic and printed form has expired.

13.4 The Consultation Report was published, both electronically and in written form, if

required, on 21 March 2019 until Wednesday 10 April 2019, this met the statutory requirement to publish this report for more than three weeks before consideration of the proposal by the Children and Young People Committee.

14. PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS 14.1 There are no staffing implications relating to the proposal. In terms of Care

Inspectorate regulations, appropriate management cover has been provided to ensure this meets requirements at all times. When the head teacher is on holiday, management cover will be provided by a Principal Early Childhood Educator and 2 Senior Early Childhood Educators.

15. CONCLUSION 15.1 If the Council adopts the proposal, it is understood that the educational benefits set

out in the Proposal Paper will materialise. 15.2 The key points that have been highlighted during the consultation period are as

follows:

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The Council’s proposals have been supported by parents/carers, staff and the wider community.

The report from Education Scotland acknowledges that the proposal has led to clear and well-founded educational benefits for pupils.

16. RECOMMENDATIONS 16.1 On the basis of the feedback received and taking account of the educational and

social benefits of the proposal, it is concluded that the following proposal is the most suitable option and it is recommended that the Council:

Approves the formal amalgamation of Doune Primary School with Doune Nursery as of 19 August 2019.

Kevin Kelman, Chief Education Officer Stirling Council 1 March 2019

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Appendix 1

Stirling Council Schools, Learning and Education

Amalgamation of Doune Primary and Doune Nursery Statutory Consultation Public Meeting

Tuesday 15 January 2019, 6.30-7.30

Present: Judy Edwards Stirling Council, Service Manager - Early Years and Early

Intervention Kevin Kelman Stirling Council, Chief Education Officer Michelle Flynn Stirling Council, Community Link Officer Emma Scott Doune Primary School Parent Council Nichola Meikle Doune Primary School Parent Council Andrew Clark Headteacher for shared headship, Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery Gary Johnstone Education Scotland

1. Welcome and Introductions Judy thanked everyone in attendance. She stated that she would go over went the Proposal Paper and the consultation process and welcome any questions or comments.

2. The Proposal In September 2017, a pilot was established to trial the shared headship of Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery. Prior to that, the primary school and nursery had separate leadership teams. This was working effectively, however, when the head of establishment of the nursery moved on to take on another role, the decision was taken by Schools, Learning and Education to trial a shared headship between the school and the nursery. In order to provide and promote a seamless transition from nursery into school, the pilot of the amalgamation of Doune Nursery and Doune Primary reflects the current needs of the children and families and a modern approach to learning in the 21st century which will prepare children for life-long learning. Community learning and meaningful parental engagement feature strongly and we believe the amalgamation is a model which can support the latter. Both the nursery and the school provide a strong values based approach which is deeply rooted in the rights of the child, the amalgamation will bring this approach together to be more streamlined for the families who use the establishments. Doune Primary School was inspected by Education Scotland in November 2017 and received gradings of ‘very good’ in all areas. The Care Inspectorate inspected the nursery in November 2017 and also awarded gradings of ‘very good’ in all areas inspected. The nursery is in phase 1 of the roll out of the expansion of early learning and childcare and will be open throughout the year along with many other nurseries within primary schools. The pilot has been monitored closely by staff within Schools, Learning and Education and ongoing consultation has been undertaken with staff, parents and carers who have been

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fully supportive of the arrangement. Feedback from families regarding the expansion has been well received and has been identified as working well for them. The additional hours are allowing parents to go back into work or get training. The longer days have also been beneficial for the children.

3. The Consultation Process Since the pilot started there has been no evidence to suggest any issues or concerns and the arrangement has been working very well. In order to formalise the amalgamation of Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery a process has to be followed which included talking to staff, parents and children to inform them that a report was going to be taken to Children and Young People Committee to seek their approval to undertake a formal consultation with regard to formalising the amalgamation. Those discussions took place in September 2019 and the report was taken to Committee on 27 November 2018. Approval was given to undertake a formal consultation. Further discussion took place in December 2018 with staff, parents and children to inform them of the Committee decision and the consultation process. Since 4 December 2018, an online consultation has been available on the Stirling Council website, the Proposal Paper was also available online. Parents of both the school and the nursery were sent a letter with a link to the consultation. Copies of the Proposal Paper are available in the school and the nursery. The consultation closes on 8 February 2019. Once the consultation has been completed, Education Scotland will create a report on the educational benefits of the merger. A Consultation Report, detailing the outcome of the consultation, will then be written by myself and will be presented to the Children and Young People Committee on 25 April 2019 to seek approval to formally amalgamate the school and the nursery.

4. Papers Judy distributed the educational benefits summary paper and asked if there were any comments or questions.

5. Questions Question - ‘So the nursery is open until 6pm, does that mean that the head teacher will need to be onsite until 6pm to cover for the longer hours, and during the holidays?’ Response - As we were developing our plan for the expansion of early learning and childcare across Stirling Council, one of the things we wanted to do to support parents and families is to have the nursery open for longer hours. What parents are very clearly telling us is that a 3 hour and 10 minute session in the morning or afternoon does not meet their working requirements. When we were consulting on what the expansion would look like, the feedback we were getting is that we needed to be open longer hours. In order to do that, we opened up almost all of our nurseries across Stirling from 8am until 6pm. We have some standalone nurseries across Stirling at the moment, which aren’t attached to a primary school, and most of those were already open from 8:15am to 5.30pm. Again, parents were

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telling us that was a bit tight, and could do with those being opened a little bit longer, so they are moving to be open until 6pm, but that’s not such a big change for them. It is a bigger change for the nursery classes, for instance, Doune Nursery, which was term time only and used to close at 4.30pm. So once that decision was made, the next factor we had to consider was who was going to take responsibility for that, as it can’t be the head teacher. The head teacher is responsible for the nursery in the hours they are contracted to be there, but there needs to be someone else supporting that. For every nursery in Stirling, a Principal Early Childhood Educator has been appointed. In Doune Nursery, that’s Leanne Munnoch. Leanne was the Senior Early Childhood Educator previously, she is now the Principal. That post has been job sized accordingly, it means the postholder can provide the required management cover. That is her role when Andrew is not there, whether that be over holidays or at the start or the end of the day. She is in turn supported by other members of leadership team within the nursery who also have that management responsibility. There were no comments.

6. Close Kevin Kelman thanked everyone for coming along and brought the meeting to a close.

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APPENDIX 2 AMALGAMATION OF DOUNE NURSERY AND DOUNE PRIMARY SCHOOL (CONSULTATION) (SCOTLAND) ACT 2010

Responses Respondent

I feel this is a great step forward for the aid in the transition from nursery to school. Having read the proposal - the financial saving is fantastic. Hopefully this could be put into other spending - health and wellbeing at the top of the list. More resources for sports etc within the school curriculum. Over the last two years it is clear that the school leadership team has managed the nursery extremely well and I see no reason it shouldn’t continue to do so even with the school having just been appointed a new head teacher. Parent

I think it great, making the transition from nursery to school will be much smoother for the kids Parent

Concerns the breakdown of communication, example of this was the confusion in regards the harvest festival (2017), whilst the budding is in the same campus clear communication process pertinent. Grandparent

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Appendix 3

Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 Amalgamation of Doune Primary School and Doune Nursery

11 December 2018 Pupil Council Consultation

Feedback to proposal from Pupil Council Members It will be more interactive between the school children and the nursery children.

It will help nursery children to become more familiar with the school building and the staff.

We will be able to share the playground and the dining room which will be good for the

nursery children and us as we will get to see them more.

We will get to see our brothers and sisters more.

It will be better for children with disabilities to be more prepared for school.

I do not have any worries (x2).

The children were also given the chance to ask questions or make a comment. There were no questions but there was one comment - I would like to spend more time in nursery as it is only the P6 buddies who get to go. I have not been back since I left there. Feedback to proposal from Staff It will support improved transitions.

Good for families.

Great for the nursery to be part of the school community

It makes sense to share space and resources.

We can all learn from each other.

The staff were also given the chance to ask questions or make a comment. There were no questions but there was one comment - I hope there is adequate staffing in the school while the head teacher is supporting the nursery.

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The response given was - Additional management time has been allocated to the school/nursery to ensure appropriate management cover in line with the devolved school management policy and Care Inspectorate requirements.

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Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010

Report by Education Scotland addressing educational aspects of the proposal by Stirling Council to amalgamate Doune Primary and Nursery Schools.

February 2019

Appendix 4

1 | Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 Stirling Council © Crown Copyright

1. Introduction 1.1 This report from Education Scotland has been prepared by Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education (HM Inspectors) in accordance with the terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”). The purpose of the report is to provide an independent and impartial consideration of Stirling Council’s proposal to amalgamate Doune Primary and Nursery Schools. Section 2 of the report sets out brief details of the consultation process. Section 3 of the report sets out HM Inspectors’ consideration of the educational aspects of the proposal, including significant views expressed by consultees. Section 4 summarises HM Inspectors’ overall view of the proposal. Upon receipt of this report, the Act requires the council to consider it and then prepare its final consultation report. The council’s final consultation report should include this report and must contain an explanation of how, in finalising the proposal, it has reviewed the initial proposal, including a summary of points raised during the consultation process and the council’s response to them. The council has to publish its final consultation report three weeks before it takes its final decision. Where a council is proposing to close a school, it needs to follow all statutory obligations set out in the 2010 Act, including notifying Ministers within six working days of making its final decision and explaining to consultees the opportunity they have to make representations to Ministers. 1.2 HM Inspectors considered:

the likely effects of the proposal for children and young people of the nursery and school; any other users; children likely to become pupils within two years of the date of publication of the proposal paper; and other children in the council area;

any other likely effects of the proposal;

how the council intends to minimise or avoid any adverse effects that may arise from the proposal; and

the educational benefits the council believes will result from implementation of the proposal, and the council’s reasons for coming to these beliefs.

1.3 In preparing this report, HM Inspectors undertook the following activities:

attendance at the public meeting held on 15 January 2019 in connection with the council’s proposal;

consideration of all relevant documentation provided by the council in relation to the proposal, specifically the educational benefits statement and related consultation documents, written and oral submissions from parents and others; and

visits to the site of Doune Primary and Nursery Schools, including discussion with relevant consultees.

2. Consultation process 2.1 Stirling Council undertook the consultation on its proposal(s) with reference to the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. 2.2 The consultation process ran from 4 December 2018 until 8 February 2019. Two parents attended the public meeting on 15 January 2019 and there were three respondents to the council’s online questionnaire. Parents were supportive of the proposal.

2 | Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 Stirling Council © Crown Copyright

3. Educational aspects of proposal 3.1 Stirling Council outlined the educational benefits which it believes will result from the implementation of the proposal. As part of a trial arrangement, the school and nursery have been managed for the last two years by the headteacher of the primary school. The council wishes to make this a permanent arrangement as it believes this has brought about improved experiences for children in both establishments. HM Inspectors agree that transition between nursery and primary has improved, as has the development of the 3-18 curriculum with improved planning and self-evaluation particularly at the early level. The council believes that the arrangements now are of benefit to parents with a joint management team across both schools. 3.2 All Stakeholders are in favour of the proposal. They see advantages in now formalising the current arrangements. Parents, including those who met with HM Inspectors, believe this will strengthen further the transition between the nursery and primary. They see the increased use of the primary school by nursery children as helpful. Children in both settings enjoy the increased opportunities to share their learning. Paired reading and buddying are improving children’s health and wellbeing with improved confidence and resilience. Staff are now experiencing greater opportunities for joint professional learning. They feel this is improving their understanding and practice.

4. Summary HM Inspectors agree that the proposal will bring about educational benefit to the children in the nursery and primary schools. Improved transition and curriculum planning are already improving children’s experiences. Parents are fully supportive and recognise the improvements for them and their children. Staff are confident that their professional learning and practice is developing further. HM Inspectors February 2019