“I want to get their perspective on Fife education” - Fife's new education chief

Donald Macleod has finally taken up his post as Fife’s new Executive Director of Education. It’s been two weeks since he’s stepped into the role, but he’s already met “a lot of interesting people” and been “welcomed really warmly”.

Prior to coming to Fife, Mr MacLeod was a head of service in Glasgow City Council. However, his career has spanned more than 30 years in Scottish education.

“I’ve worked right across all sectors – early years, primary, special education, secondary, and further education,” he said.

From his early career in the Scottish Borders in the 1990s to his time at two large secondary schools, to his time as an education inspector, Mr MacLeod said his career has all prepared him to sit at the helm of Fife Education.

“I’ve got a few decades of experience in education so I’m looking to grow on that and bring that into discussions that we have with colleagues across the council in different sectors and different forums,” Mr MacLeod said.

However, his number one priority is getting into as many schools as possible over the first school term and listening to frontline staff.

“My priority is to get out and speak to people – classroom practitioners, headteachers, and management teams. I want to get their perspective on Fife education: about what’s working well and what needs to improve,” he said.

“I have my own ideas, but I want to have my ideas shaped by the views of the people on the ground delivering day in and day out.”

He continued: “Ultimately, the priority for me over the next year, and certainly over the first couple terms, is to learn more about Fife education service and the people that deliver that on a day to day basis.”

FIFE EDUCATION: STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES

Fife Education is facing many challenges, such as attendance and engagement, but Mr MacLeod said the Kingdom also has many strengths working in its favour.

“I am pleasantly surprised about the size and scale of the education service in Fife Council which although not as large as the service in Glasgow, it feels and looks very similar and while the geography is very different the challenges and issues facing the service are very familiar,” he said.

According to Mr MacLeod, the challenges are not specifically unique to Fife.

They centre around engagement, attendance, achievement and supporting students with Additional Support Needs (ASN). Largely, these are all national challenges.

Mr MacLeod believes that there are also challenges – at both a national and local level – with equity and equality of education.

“All of these challenges are surrounded by our focus on equity and equality – of making sure we do our best to address the variability and inconsistencies within education so regardless of where people are educated in Fife there’s a similar, well understood standard that we’re delivering,” he said.

“We have to have an understanding to say ‘this is the minimum that we’re looking for across the authority’. It’s about reducing inconsistencies.”

However, he also praised what he sees as Fife Education’s greatest strengths: People.

“Ultimately, education comes down to the quality of the people delivering it and the quality of relationships day in and day out across the authority,” Mr MacLeod said.

“And I’ve met a number of individuals already who are clearly passionate about public service and about making a difference to ensure children and young people across Fife get the best possible experience we can deliver.”

He also highlighted Fife’s “good track record of investing in education”. Mr MacLeod said Fife has always had a “strong history of valuing, investing and protecting education services”.