Grove Academy's house structure falls victim to education cuts
Grove Academy's historic house system is one of the latest casualties of education cuts in Dundee.
- By Maura Bowman
- Published in the Courier : 08.07.11
- Published online : 08.07.11 @ 02.48pm
For generations pupils at the school have been assigned to one of four houses — Craigie, Grange, Balgillo or Dalhousie.
Now those four house names are to be consigned to history and from the start of next session new pupils and those already attending Grove will be placed in three new houses, which take their names from parks in Broughty Ferry — Reres, Dawson and Orchar.
The old houses have been scrapped because, under the new cost-cutting staff structure, there will not be enough senior teachers to head them.
Rather than ditch one house and transfer its members to the remaining three — raising the possibility of ill-feeling and mixed allegiances — the decision was taken to start afresh.
As part of its budget cuts for 2011-12 the city council decided to change the rules for allocating deputy head teachers and guidance teachers to secondary schools.
The effect was to cut the number of deputy heads by 10 and the number of guidance teachers by 21 — saving an estimated £844,000 this year and a further £1.3 million next year.
Grove Parent Council chairman Dr Allen Thurston said, "This is in relation to the reduction in the number of guidance teachers. The heads of the houses tended to be tied in with the guidance system.
"One of the cost-saving measures was an increase in the number of pupils per guidance member of staff from 150 to 200 and therefore they have lost people to run the houses. This is maybe one of the ways the cuts have started to affect schools.
"I think that maybe the house system is an important aspect of school life, building a sense of community both throughout the school and outside, and I would hope that this could continue under the new system," he added.
Labour education spokesman in Dundee Councillor Laurie Bidwell agreed, saying, "This is part of the cuts and an effect of the reduction in senior staff."
As The Courier reported last month, Morgan Academy has also had to change its house system as a result of the staffing changes, prompting expressions of regret from both former pupils and current parents.
There the decision has been made to retain the existing Airlie, Cortachy and Mains houses and to lose Glamis.
05.35pm - 08.07.2011 Elsa Garinierre - Forthill, Broughty Ferry Report This
This is no great loss. For many years, education has become overstaffed due to a generational lack of effective authority and discipline. A new refined system with contemporary leadership can only be positive and I convey my best wishes to the new acting-Rector, Ms Elder and all her Grove colleagues
06.08pm - 08.07.2011 Andrew Weir - Amherst, USA Report This
This isn't new. I was at Grove 1998-2004, and the houses were Dawson/Reres/Orchar then; they went back up to four after I left. Is the most important implication of staffing shortages really that the number of houses will go back down to three? What about the effect on pastoral care for pupils?
08.20pm - 11.07.2011 Jamie Alexander - Bridgend, Wales Report This
I was there in 2005 and never had any of the house names. The new house names were the current ones at my time.
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