Inverness High School head's broadside at bosses

A SENIOR city headmaster has launched a stinging attack on his own bosses, accusing them of usurping his and other head teachers’ authority.

Speaking at the annual prize giving today, Inverness High School head Ritchie Cunningham also warned of tough financial times ahead directly impacting on the service provided to pupils.

He told parents, pupils and staff that for the last two years he had raised concerns about basic resources such as books and materials when prices rose faster than finance.

Mr Ritchie also reflected on the reductions in staffing which affected all schools, and reduced their ability to offer a wide range of courses.

"Sadly we are being squeezed even harder this year," he said. "The financial woes of the nation are having a direct impact on the service we provide our pupils."

All schools will face difficult decisions over the next few years, trying to maintain standards in a time of unprecedented public sector financial pressure, he predicted.

He added: "I’m long enough in the job to remember the government devolving school management to headteachers in 1993. A move that enabled schools to manage resources to provide local solutions that would benefit the pupils.

"Despite reviews of devolved school management, intended to reinvigorate it I’ve witnessed a creeping corporatism in recent years where the decision making of headteachers has been usurped and we have had little room for making real decisions, about the direction of our schools.

"Instead we seem to work with one arm tied behind our back and spend inordinate amounts of time trying to undo or ameliorate the corporate edicts which are made without adequate consultation or understanding of how schools work."

Mr Cunningham went on: "Even the cost of our printing and photocopying which was previously controlled by ourselves has been taken out of our hands. It will be no surprise to parents and pupils that schools are not offices and we do not function like offices – why don’t some people just get it! "We are here to provide a service to our young people and with decades of experience we are best placed to determine how that can be delivered.

"I wouldn’t presume to tell a doctor how best to treat a patient so why are some people trying to turn the clock back and micro-manage schools?"

He told his audience the school relied on all its staff and pupils to work together to move the school forward, and that teamwork and support they offered each other made it a very special place.