Parents claim poor test results are a ploy to undermine school

Published on Monday 3 November 2008 08:56

PARENTS of children at closure-threatened primaries claim education bosses have deliberately contributed to poor grades in their schools to fuel the argument for closing them.

Westburn Primary in Wester Hailes, Lismore in Bingham and Bonnington in Leith all recorded relatively low results in reading and writing this year, new council figures have revealed.

Parents claim the council has not put enough support into these schools to help drive up standards as part of a "deliberate ploy" to ensure the closure of the schools.

A group looking at the rationalisation of Edinburgh's school estate set criteria by which they judged schools in order to decide whether they would face closure, which included poor attainment, falling rolls and high running costs.

The school campaigners say allowing pupils to under-perform in these schools means they fit conveniently into the poor attainment category.

Nicky Scally, who has two children at Westburn, said the 2008 attainment figures make Westburn look "atrocious", but don't paint an accurate picture of the education the children receive there.

Mrs Scally said: "If there are children who are not up to standard, then really the school should be looking at ways to support them.

"I think the council has let this go on so it fits into their criteria.

"They want to show the poor grades because they want to close it."

At Westburn, only half of children are meeting the basic standards in reading, with less than half achieving the minimum writing skills.

Fifty-six per cent of pupils at Bonnington meet the basic standards in reading and 60 per cent in writing. At Lismore, the figure is 65 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.

Gail Ross, secretary of the Lismore Parents Action Group, said: "It's been a deliberate ploy and it's a scandal what they are doing to these children."

A council spokeswoman said: "Attainment was only one of the criteria used to identify the schools for proposed closure."

The council will make its decision on whether or not to close the three schools on November 20 following a public consultation.