Chagford Primary School parents were warned against starting a ‘rebellion’ in response to the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust’s (DMAT) staffing restucture proposal at a meeting last week (April 27).

Instead of voicing outrage across social media or arguing with the school, parents were encouraged to take a measured response to the situation and write individualised letters to DMAT’s board of trustees explaining how their child would be negatively impacted by the proposed staffing restucture.

A representative from Chagford Primary School’s board of stakeholders also attended the meeting at which she advised parents that an angry response to the restructuring proposals was unlikely to garner a positive response from DMAT leaders.

She said: ‘My advice is to make it as personal as you can. I base that on the trust’s core value - [every child succeeds] - and you demonstrate that the change does or doesn’t help, that’s where your power is.’

She also provided parents with the definitive facts about the restructuring in order to quell fears and combat rumours.

She explained that the staffing restructure was not a a foregone conclusion yet as the proposed restructure would first have to be approved by DMAT’s board of trustees.

It was also confirmed that the trust was currently in a consultation phase, which is due to end on May 15, and that all staff who may be affected by the proposed changes have been contacted including several senior employees.

At the meeting, parents also discussed other means of opposing the changes and voiced concerns that a reduction in teaching assistants would affect all children, not just those needing one-to-one support.

Several voiced worries that a lack of teaching assistants would force teachers to spend more time with those children needing extra support and less time teaching the rest of the class.

The meeting follows on from the news that DMAT is considering a major staffing restructure across the trust’s schools and was organised by concerned Chagford parent Earl Banner to address parents’ concerns and suggest effective ways of persuading DMAT to abandon the plans.

At the end of March, news broke that the DMAT’s restructuring could lead to up to nearly two-thirds of teaching assistants losing their jobs with teaching assistants limited to Reception and Key Stage 1 (Years One and Two) classes.

The restructuring could also see a small reduction in the number of teaching staff, reduced administration roles in schools, a reduction in the number of technicians across the three secondary schools run by DMAT (Okehampton, Tavistock and Holsworthy) and the removal of both the school improvement officer and the director of civic responsibility roles.

In a letter to parents and carers, deputy trust leader Susanne Kiff explained that the trust was considering the restructure ‘to ensure that across the whole trust, structures are fit for purpose, meet the needs of our students, and provide them all with the best possible educational experience.’