Highland Education Chairman speaks out on Brora Primary School staffing

The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee Chairman, Councillor Bill Fernie has spoken critically over comments on teacher staffing at Brora Primary School.

Councillor Fernie said: “Comments about Highland Council putting a cap on the pupil roll of Brora Primary School are totally unfounded. We are currently planning the staffing for all Highland primary schools for the next school session. This is an exercise which is carried out annually in all local authorities. The staffing allocation takes account of the number of pupils in the school and follows a set formula.

“I am aware that it has been suggested that we could apply discretion in the case of Brora. This would be totally unfair as it would mean that we were providing more resources to one school than to another in the same pupil banding.

“The pupil numbers are maintained very carefully and additional staffing will be provided at the start of the new school session if the pupil numbers increase, taking the school into the next teacher staffing banding.”