Testing times are an 'opportunity' for new Garnock head

With its largest union the Educational Institute of Scotland saying teachers are at ‘breaking point’ over increased work loads and the introduction of a new curriculum, many at the chalkface are said to be facing stress and health problems.

A recent EIS survey of 7000 teachers found stress levels across the profession very high and satisfaction low.

Sixty-one per cent said they were more stressed this year than last while 15 per cent described themselves as “extremely stressed”.

Just under half said stress affected them all the time and three-quarters said they were unhappy with their workload.

Spare a thought then for the new head teacher at Garnock Academy Allan Dick, who as well as these national issues has had not one but two local stooshies to contend with in his first term.

The first – over the process of his selection – arose before he was even appointed and currently safety concerns over the site of the new supercampus at Longbar led to a protest march by worried parents.

As an ex-rugby player, Mr Dick might find a pair of broad shoulders useful to cope with these challenges. However, he was very upbeat about his first six months.

“The challenges are about getting to know the staff and the ethos of the school and getting yourself known to them and allowing them the opportunity to get to know you and how you work.

“In terms of the challenges, one of the things we’re always trying to do is develop the curriculum from S1 right the way through into the senior phase, so it’s about working with the leadership team, working with the expertise of my colleagues to make sure we’re moulding the curriculum to the needs of the pupils.

“So I would say the Curriculum for Excellence is not so much a challenge as an opportunity.” The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) restructures examinations by replacing Standard Grades with National 4 and 5 exams. The ethos behind it is that learners will move from one level to the next at their own pace.

However, teachers say the introduction of CfE has increased their workload and some parents are worried the first cohort to sit the exam are being treated as ‘guinea pigs’. Mr Dick rejected this.

“Not at all. We’ve been working in depth with parents in terms of the preparation for CfE.

"There has been a lot of consultation work with parents prior to my arrival. There are fantastic opportunities there.

"I know this is the first year of the new Nationals but with the amount of work and the preparation that my teachers and pupils have been put through in order to get to this stage, we are fully prepared for the National examinations and I’m confident that all the pupils will succeed.

“CfE is about providing the appropriate pathways for pupils to make sure we offer them flexibility and choice depending on the stage they are at in terms of ability.

“It is about personalisation and choice right the way through from when you move into the senior phase, so it’s very much geared towards meeting the individual needs of the pupil and the new National qualifications allow us to do that and provide us with the framework and flexibility.

The recent Wood Report has highlighted the need for employers to engage more closely with educators to prepare young people for work and cut youth unemployment.

“The key thing about the Wood Report is about working in partnership with the local authority, with employers and with the colleges.

“I go back to my point about personalisation and providing opportunities for learning.

“Schools are there to provide skills for lifelong learning and collaborate with colleges and employers in the area to offer flexibility – courses that will provide positive and sustained destinations as they leave Garnock.

Does that mean there will be more vocational learning than academic available at Garnock?

“It’s about saying what is best for the pupil and what is going to up-skill them when they leave school.

“It will provide for those pupils where appropriate a more vocational education.

“For some pupils it will be a ‘mixed economy’ and for them that will be wholly appropriate and right that we do that and for others it will be based on the traditional academic subjects.

“I see it as a great opportunity and will give us the framework to work collaboratively with our colleagues in the surrounding community to make sure we are preparing our students for lifelong learning.” North Ayrshire has traditionally been near the top of the league tables for youth unemployment.

Does that detract from their aspirations to see such poor employment prospects?

“It’s the responsibility of the school if there are employment issues to provide pupils with the qualifications, background skills and confidence to go into employment.

“It’s not about pigeon-holing them into one area it’s about making sure they haves a breadth of skills and qualifications.

“We work with our pupils from S3 onwards to prepare them for employment, looking at employability skills and producing quality CV and giving them confidence.

“We work with the Chamber of Commerce to put them through work experience which really alleviates some of the stresses and strains about leaving school and moving into employment.

“We are constantly reviewing our curriculum to make sure that we provide the courses and the areas that the pupils will need in the next five to ten years.

“It’s a dynamic environment that the pupils are moving into as they leave school but it’s a welcome opportunity.

The Cfe is the most radical change to the examinations system Scottish education has witnessed.

Where do traditional values such as the ‘3Rs’ sit within this?

“One of the key focusses within CfE is ‘responsibility of all’ looking at literacy and numeracy and health and wellbeing from age three right the way through until they leave school.

“One of the key focusses that we are looking at here at Garnock is making sure pupils have the basic skills of literacy and numeracy and there are national benchmarks associated with that.

“We make sure that the pupils are learning those skills in a context that’s real and appropriate within every subject and not just in isolation but across the the whole board.

On the subject of high stress levels being reported Mr Dick said: “We have provided a huge amount of opportunuty for staff to develop the curriculum and we’ve provided additional inset days in order to support them in that.

“It is a huge amount of work, and our colleagues have been working extremeny hard and diligently to make sure we’re at this stage of readiness for the National qualifications.” “With every new curriculum there is a period of intensity in terms of developmental work.

"As that goes through nationally, the intensity and focus shift and I would assume that next year my teachers will be more comfortable with it in terms of the delivery.

“So perhaps the intensity of the development work will decrease but the work rate of a teacher nowadays is extremely high.

“I am realy proud of the sheer amount of work that my teachers are putting in to provide a quality education for the pupils of Garnock.

“My vision for Garnock is that pupils are all striving for excellence and are always looking for attainment and that pupils can attain at the highest possible level.

“It’s a competitive world out there.

"My role and remit and my responsibility is that pupils leave Garnock Academy with as great qualifications as they possibly can.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity the new campus provides.

"One of the key reasons I was so positive about the job is the opportunity the ‘all-through’ campus provides and I’m relising the opportunity to work with my colleagues and the local authority to make sure that the campus is as fit for purpose and as visionary as possible. I’m really excited about it.

“I want to make sure people know what a good school this is.

"I’m really excited about the future of Garnock.” Mr Dick has certainly won the endorsement of the school’s parent council. Chairman Brent Norris said: “In the short time Mr Dick has been at the school there have been some noticeable changes.

“He is working hard with pupils, staff and the Parent Council to make Garnock Academy a centre of learning excellence.

"It is obvious from the meetings that the Parent Council has had with him that he has high expectations for the school both in its current location and the planned new campus.

“The Parent Council have found him to be a pleasure to work with and share in his ideas for the future and at the same time he is willing to listen and embrace the Parent Council’s suggestions.” BIOGRAPHY Age: 37 Early life: Originally from Motherwell where all his family still live. His father was head teacher at Strathaven Academy.

Education: Studied Physics at Strathclyde University then a PGCE from Jordanhill.

Career: Spent seven years in Kent then moved up to Darlington for eight years before heading back to Scotland. Prior to moving to Garnock he was deputy headteacher at Mearns Castle High School in Newton Mearns.

Family life: Married with two children living in Glasgow.

Outside of work: Enjoys running and cycling recently completing London to Paris in under 24 hours. Played rugby from the age of 10 but had to give it up recently due to injury. Very supportive of Garnock Academy’s School of Rugby