Dundee City Council is to move ahead with the implementation of a faculty-based leadership structure in its secondary schools to better support pupils and improve educational outcomes.
The change, from the current system of a principal teacher for each subject area, was initially agreed by councillors three years ago but delayed due to the pandemic.
Faculty models are already in place in almost all of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, and bring a number of benefits for young people.
“A move to faculties is designed to improve the quality of learning and teaching by providing enhanced whole school leadership that can better support pupils and improve outcomes,” said children and families convener Stewart Hunter.
“Individual head teachers – in consultation with their teachers and in partnership with senior officers – are creating a faculty structure which best supports their school’s curriculum, leadership, and management requirements within delegated staffing budgets.
“Faculty structures will not mean any reduction in teacher FTE (full time equivalent) in any school. Quite the opposite, our staffing levels will be enhanced.”
The next stage of the implementation involves the recruitment of faculty heads. The job description for these posts is based on those used in other Scottish local authorities.
Secondary schools are moving to the new system on a phased basis from August, which is why these new posts are being advertised now.
There will be regular reviews with head teachers as part of the process.
“It has never been the intention to impose a ‘one size fits all’ model,” continued Councillor Hunter.
“Head teachers have been clear with us that this is what they want for their schools. They believe that faculties, tailored to their own schools, will benefit their young people.
“Over the past three years, council officers have met regularly with local trade union representatives to discuss, and consult on, the implementation of faculty structures in secondary schools.
“Ongoing changes have been made because of feedback from trade unions during these planned meetings, while updates were always shared with trade unions.
“Dundee City Council is hoping and willing to continue talks with the trade unions.
“We will also be talking to principal teaching staff about the options that will be available for them going forward, as well as updating families about what these changes will mean for their children’s education.”
Faculties bring together ‘families’ of subjects headed by curriculum leaders, rather than the current system of principal teachers for each individual subject.
A Dundee secondary school could feature faculties including:
- English and Literacy
- Languages
- Maths and Numeracy
- Sciences
- Technologies
- Expressive Arts
- Social Studies
- Health and Wellbeing
The EIS union has stated that it has set a day of industrial action in secondary schools on June 22.
Arrangements for secondaries on that date, prioritising provision for vulnerable young people and the children of key workers, are being finalised and will be communicated to school communities as soon as possible.
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
