Pupils at a Stewartry secondary have gone on strike over an “awful” timetable.
Students at Dalry Secondary had agreed their subject choices for the new term – but last week were presented with a new timetable which sees different year groups taught in the same class and triple sessions of the same subject.
And that led to pupils skipping school on Monday to protest about the situation, with The News understanding that only one student attended classes.
Rosa Seiffert, who is moving up to S3, said: “We’re striking because we were offered an awful timetable and we want to change that.
“All the years were in the same class and the timetable was all triples. We weren’t OK with that and we wanted to change that. We were offered options but then told we couldn’t have them any more.”
(Image: Les Snowdon)
Dalry School had been targeted for mothballing after the summer holidays as the roll was expected to fall to 15, with secondary pupils going to Castle Douglas High.
But parents opposed the move and councillors agreed to halt the move pending a new mothballing policy to take into account wider impacts of secondary school closures on communities.
That meant secondary classes would continue after the school holidays – but parents and pupils claim they aren’t being offered what they thought they would be given.
Dalry School parent council depute chair, Emily Wall, said: “Firstly, I would like to say that this strike action doesn’t come from parents and certainly not the parent council – it has come directly from the students at Dalry Secondary, who quite clearly feel they are not being heard by school management or the education department.
(Image: Les Snowdon)
“When they received next year’s timetable, students – and parents – were shocked and dismayed at the poor offering. All students from S1-3 are being lumped into single classes with blocks of subjects two to three periods long.
“This strike illustrates the strong feelings of students with regard to Dalry Secondary – they love and value their school, with its small classes, rural setting and family-like atmosphere.
“It’s a sad state of affairs when pupils feel so alienated from the school management that the only way they feel they may be listened to is by calling a strike. They have watched the series of events over the last few months, and I imagine, just like for their parents and the community around them, frustration has built up due to the glaring lack of any real engagement from management.
The mothballing process was paused thanks to a motion from Dee and Glenkens councillors Dougie Campbell and Andy McFarlane.
Councillor Campbell said: “The pupils at Dalry Secondary are entitled to the same range of subject choices and quality of education provision as pupils in Castle Douglas and along with Councillor McFarlane I have raised my concerns directly with the chief executive and council leader.
“I recently met with all political group leaders and they agreed with me that the education department has to fully engage with the pupils and parent council to ensure that councillors expectations on the implementation of the motion are fully met and with the wider community who want to work in partnership with the education department on the future of secondary education in the Glenkens.”
A council spokesman said: “While the views of parents/carers and school communities are included in the design of the curriculum rationale they are not ordinarily consulted or engaged in the practicalities of the timetabling process.
“In all secondary schools, management teams within the secondary school prepare a timetable that best meets the learning needs, resources and budget available.
“This is complex work that has to be completed in a timeous fashion to meet the timescales, to allow each of the new secondary years to begin their new timetable in June.
“The timetable produced for Dalry is the best fit for the number of learners involved. Classes will be made up of cross-year learners due to the small number of pupils involved in the school.
“It is also worth noting that Dalry Secondary school will be operating at a significantly increased cost per pupil ratio to other schools in the region, and indeed the national average.
“We are working with some learners within Dalry secondary school to provide bespoke timetabling arrangements to best meet their educational needs and expectations.”
