By Grant Smith, education reporter

DUNDEE CITY Council yesterday said it was “working on the details” of setting up an independent inquiry into troubled Sidlaw View Primary School.

No details were available of how the inquiry would operate or what its remit would be. An education department spokes-man issued a brief statement saying the council was seeking to take forward the proposal made by administration leader Kevin Keenan earlier this week.

The move came amid a flurry of activity yesterday, with angry mothers starting to knock on doors seeking support for a petition to reinstate suspended deputy head teacher Linda Ross and other parents saying they were considering withdrawing their children from the school.

The Courier submitted several questions to the council regarding the independent inquiry, but the spokesman said he was not able to answer them at present.

The questions included who would run the inquiry, the timescale it would be given to investigate and report back and to whom it would report—the administration only or to the all-party education committee?

Also unanswered are questions about the scope of the inquiry, whether it will look only at Sidlaw View or take in other city schools and whether setting the inquiry’s remit will fall solely to the administration or if the education committee will be asked to approve the details.

Yesterday parents were continuing to express their concern about what has been going on at the school.

The organiser of the petition said, “I was speaking to a woman who lives across the road from the school and she can’t believe the council did not initially believe what was said was going on.

“She witnesses this stuff on a daily basis, children running out of the school, shouting, swearing and fighting with teachers trying to get them back into the school.”

Another parent said, “These problems have been here for years,” and two mothers said they were thinking about trying to get their daughters moved to another school.

According to council figures, in the year to June there were 10 applications by parents to have their children transferred out of the school and a further three have been received since.

There were also a total of 20 applications for children to be registered at the school.

Sidlaw View is officially classed as an “integrated community school”.

These are supposed to “encourage closer and better joint working among education, health and social work agencies and professionals, greater pupil and parental involvement in schools, and improved support and service provision for vulnerable children and young people.”

The school’s catchment area takes in one of Dundee’s most deprived areas, with above- average levels of crime, anti-social behaviour and poverty.

It has not always been possible to keep those problems beyond the school gates.

One recent incident saw three parents given fixed penalties by police after a dispute got out of hand, though a spokeswoman yesterday said that was the only time officers have been called to the school this year.

It was after Mrs Ross’s husband Vic told The Courier of his worries about her safety and the problems at the school that she was suspended, pending a disciplinary hearing. At no point has Mrs Ross, or any other teacher or member of staff, spoken to the paper.

Among parents willing to speak out was Diane Dunbar, whose daughter is in P1.

She said, “I am already considering taking her out of the school.

“I don’t think it’s fair Mrs Ross was suspended. She was making a point that something was happening.

“Everyone has the right to talk about problems when they get home from work and speak to their families.”

Katherine Tait said, “I have a boy in P7 and my daughter has just started in P1.

“Mrs Ross should never have been suspended. She was just telling the truth. She has not been here that long but she is a good teacher.

“I am seriously considering moving my daughter to another school.”

The mother of a former pupil also spoke out, saying she felt left with no choice but to remove her son from the school after he was attacked.

She said, “He’d come home with black eyes and scratches on his face. The school just said it was kids being kids.

“I am glad my son has gone because I have heard things have got worse since he left.”

A former teacher last night said she was not surprised to hear of unruly behaviour at Sidlaw View, because it was happening when she taught there two decades ago.

“When I taught at the school 20 years ago the behaviour of pupils was the same,” she said.

“Teachers were very reluctant to make a fuss because it would reflect badly on them.

“I witnessed assaults on teaching staff and violent behaviour but action was seldom taken.

“If teachers suspend, exclude or report too many pupils it looks like they can’t control them—that they are not able to do their job—so they just keep quiet.

“I’ve no doubt that’s still what is happening today.

“In my day we got very little help or support from the council either.

“I feel very sad for the parents and teachers but it’s been going on so long.”

For one man the Sidlaw View situation seems all too reminiscent of the problems at Madras College in St Andrews, where his wife was one of 12 teachers who complained about discipline issues.

During the dispute, one male teacher was suspended but later reinstated. The rector retired before the issues were resolved and the school is now under new leadership.

He said the same reluctance to have issues aired in public that affected his wife’s situation was evident in the way the concerns about Sidlaw View were being handled.

“There seems to be a policy among local education authorities of keeping teachers quiet and keeping the lid on things.

“Dundee council seemed to have a policy of bullying teachers and not letting them speak out about things. Exactly the same happened in Fife.

“There’s something sinister about it. It seems the establishment doesn’t want the boat rocked.

“That shouldn’t be allowed to happen. When it comes to freedom of speech, there is none.

“My concern is those who end up with the problems are the pupils. They are the ones who suffer if there is no discipline or safe environment.”