PARENTS claim their children's education is being jeopardised following the introduction of a "controversial" new scheme to place multiple schools in the hands of a single headteacher.

Chryston Primary and Chryston High School became a default pilot project for the introduction of North Lanarkshire Council's Multi Establishment Leadership Model (MELM) when the head retired and a replacement could not be found.

Deeply concerned parents of primary pupils are petitioning the council to stop the MELM system over fears it is harming children's learning experience.

They say their school has been used as a "guinea pig" for the introduction of MELMs across the authority - but the council claims the system works well elsewhere.

Glasgow Times: Parents and pupils at Chryston Primary School Picture: Gordon Terris

Chryston's MELM, however, is the only example of a mixed mainstream primary and secondary system and, when a new build campus opens, it will see around 2500 pupils share one headteacher across two locations.

Mothers Levi White and Lesley Graham are among a group, Parents Against North Lanarkshire MELM, who are protesting the change.

They are particularly concerned about the effect on children's education following the two years of coronavirus disruption.

Lesley said: "We've had this model for the past 15 months without knowing that this was the model the council was moving to, and education in the school has gone downhill.

"Our kids are not at the forefront of it and it's horrible.

"No continuity and different staff all the time.

"Running with a depute and a PT.

"There's nobody steering the ship, there's nobody in charge, it's just being done in a piecemeal fashion.

Glasgow Times: Parent Levi White with from left, Alba White (6), Jada White (9) and Martha Fraser (6) and pupils at Chryston Primary School Picture: Gordon Terris

"A headteacher is not just there to run the school, they are there to know the families and the children, and currently that's not happening and that's a big child protection risk right there.

"This is all coming at the detriment of health and wellbeing for the children and I don't know how the staff are functioning among all this, it must be terrible for them."

The parents said they were compelled to organise due to the lack of thorough engagement and communication from North Lanarkshire Council, saying they felt they "had no voice".

When former head teacher of Chryston Primary, Audrey Burke, retired in 2020, the council says only two candidates applied for the post and neither was of suitable calibre.

It was then decided to appoint the secondary school's principal as head of the primary.

Meanwhile, multiple staffing changes meant that the school experienced multiple different heads as interim leaders were appointed to the role, left and were then replaced.

Glasgow Times: Chryston School complex in North Lanarkshire Picture: Gordon Terris

While parents are complimentary of the other staff, who they say are "trying as hard as they can" but are "on a sinking ship".

In 13 months, Chryston Primary has had two headteachers leave, two acting deputes return to substantive posts, then another depute head start at Chryston primary on a temporary basis only to be replaced a short time later by another temporary head teacher across both school communities.

Lesley and her husband returned from living overseas and moved to the area specifically to be near Chryston primary, which had a strong reputation.

Lesley said: "It was initially a good choice but I can see the change in my son since Mrs Burke left. He was thriving under her leadership."

Levi added: "Audrey would be at that front gate every single day so if you had any issues whatsoever that headteacher was standing at that front gate saying hi to all the parents and hi to all the pupils coming in.

"She was very, very visible and if you had any concerns then she had time for you and if she felt you needed additional time, she would make it.

"She put forward that we were a Chryston family who all looked after one another and that we are a Chryston community - doesn't exist any more.

"Genuinely there is no community any more.

"Our kids deserve a headteacher. They deserve to have somebody standing up for them.

"You can say this is a big cost saver but the kids are not being put first and primary school is the basis for the rest of the school years, and they should not be minimising that."

Parents complain the pupils have no extra curricular activities and are missing out on a holistic primary school experience.

In May 2020, the council’s education and families committee approved plans to introduce the multi-establishment leadership model, a move that received cross-party approval.

A spokesperson for the authority said: "Like many councils, we have found head teacher recruitment challenging and such leadership models are a way to attract high quality candidates.

"There are numerous examples of such models being successful across the UK, and national documents from Education Scotland have stressed the value of a more integrated approach to the five to 18 curricular journey.

"We are currently undertaking a consultation process to explore the possibility of implementing the full multi-establishment headship model across the two schools.

"This proposal is subject to a current and ongoing consultation, which involves engaging with parents/carers, pupils, staff, partner services and community members.

"Importantly, no decisions will be taken on the future leadership of the two schools until the consultation closes."

The council also points to an analysis of Achievement of a Curriculum for Excellence level data, based on teacher judgements, for 2020/21 that shows the primary performing well.

However, this data does not cover the full period marked by the disruption at the school.

Lesley added: "There is no evidence, no data, that this is educationally feasible.

"We do not want this. The council is prioritising saving money rather than putting children first."