Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Councillor blasts education cuts in wake of damning inspection of Dundee school

Councillor Kevin Keenan
Councillor Kevin Keenan

A city councillor has blasted education budget cuts after inspectors published a “damning and upsetting” report into failing standards at a Dundee school.

Education Scotland visited Sidlaw View Primary in Kirkton earlier this year and rated the school “weak” in three out of four quality indicators.

In a report published on Tuesday, inspectors called for “prompt action” to improve leadership across the school.

Bosses were told they must raise standards in learning, teaching and assessment after visitors found children at Sidlaw View are not yet making sufficient progress across the broad curriculum.

Councillor Kevin Keenan, the leader of Dundee City Council’s Labour group, said the report illustrated the “failings” of the local authority’s education policies and a lack of resources made available to Dundee schools.

He accused the ruling SNP administration of “letting down everyone in our learning community right across the city”.

Mr Keenan said: “A report with three weaks and one satisfactory is far less than what our parents, guardians, teachers and most of all children should expect.

“We have never had one report within the last five years that gives a grade of very good. Most grades have fallen into the following categories: weak, unsatisfactory, satisfactory, and at best we have received good.”

Mr Keenan said cuts introduced in this year’s budget will result in the loss of 26 teachers and 30 support staff.

“This is far from any kind of glowing report and if anticipated more should have been done to support the school,” he said.

“The SNP should start to treat education as a demand-led service and resource it appropriately.”

Dundee City Council’s children and families services convener Stewart Hunter insisted the department had “already started making the changes necessary to get the school to where we all want it to be”.

He said: “We shouldn’t forget that in the last 10 years we have received far more positive inspections of our schools than negative ones, and in all that time not once have I seen an elected Labour politician in this city actually praise our schools and our staff when they do well.

“What a kick in the teeth to our schools and staff that have seen those positive reports that Councillor Keenan uses his statement to attack them rather than praise the good work that they have done.

“It is a reminder to those of us who were there during his disastrous time as leader of the administration that his concept of leadership is to blame others, throw people under the bus and try and find scapegoats.”

Mr Hunter added: “We still have a lot more to do and we have had some setbacks recently but the data shows the clear progress that we have made.”