Class sizes of 40+ beckon for Edinburgh's schools

Primary one pupils are set to be taught in classes of more than 40 in the city's most popular schools, it emerged today.

At least one school has already been told by the city's education chief that it is facing a class with at least 41 pupils and it is likely a number of others will be in similar situation.

New Scottish Government legislation coming into force after the summer holidays means P1 classes will be limited to 25 pupils, but one way to get round the new law is to have a class of up to 50 children with two teachers, keeping the pupil-teacher ratio at legal limits.

• Poll: Are primary school classes of more than 40 pupils too big?

Seven popular schools - Towerbank in Portobello, St Mary's in Leith, Corstorphine, Stockbridge, St Catherine's in Gracemount, St Joseph's in Broomhouse and St Peter's in Morningside - have all been identified by education bosses as having "accommodation issues".

Trinity Primary, which was forced to take extra pupils when nearby Fort Primary closed last year, has already been warned by education director Gillian Tee that it faces having one class of 25 and another of 41.

Paul Jeffrey, chairman of Trinity's parent council, believes that there could actually be as many as 49 in a class if all the catchment children take up their place and is calling on the council to instead have two team-teaching classes in order to create a more even split.

He said: "The numbers just now intimate that we are going to end up with one class of 25 and one of 49. A class of 49 is madness and a class of 41 is not far off madness. At what point does the council think that two team-teaching classes would be more appropriate?

"Where we have two teachers teaching a class in the low-30s then we actually have what is likely to be a very good teaching arrangement.

"Where we are straying into the 40s then clearly it becomes a silly situation and one which parents would be concerned about, particularly where some children require additional help and support."

Councillor Paul Godzik, Labour's education spokesman, said: "I do not believe that cramming 41 pupils into a class is an acceptable solution.

"When parents are given a commitment to classes of 25 or less, then that is exactly what they expect - one classroom, one teacher and 25 children."

Alison Thornton, of the EIS teaching union, said a class of 40-plus pupils was "not the norm" and she would like to have discussions with education bosses about their proposals. She said: "The idea of team teaching is something the EIS has never been opposed to. I would be interested in seeing whether this is a concrete proposal and what the experience is going to be."

City education leader Marilyne MacLaren is a strong supporter of team teaching.

She said: "I am entirely confident that Trinity Primary School has the capacity to accommodate all its catchment pupils this year. Team teaching in schools such as St Peter's and Sciennes primaries leads to lower pupil-teacher ratios than in stand-alone classes.

"Having observed team teaching in practice, I know it can lead to really effective teaching and learning, and can benefit both staff and pupils. I am saddened to see opposition politicians scaremongering team teaching, as it is a well-proven method of education."