morganacademyfp

At tonight's AGM, the Rector explained fully the reasoning behind the decision to reduce the number of Houses. He faced a largely hostile crowd - all 15 of us, but in the end I think we all had to accept that life at Morgan has to move on.
Today, Morgan Academy is a Comprehensive school in an area of high deprivation, with 24% of the pupils receiving free school meals.
The House system today is completely different to the one we remember. In the olden days it was about sporting and academic prowess. Today it's much more to do with the wellbeing of the individual pupil and their ongoing problems. Continuity of care is VERY important and that can only be provided by dedicated staff - dedicated, as in trained to deal with issues of bullying, violence in the home etc, as well as committed to liaising with outside agencies such as Social work, police, etc.
I went through 11 years at Morgan, as an AIRLIE girl, but I have no idea which member of staff looked after my welfare, or who would have been contacted if I had
crossed the line between right and wrong.
Sorry about the rant, but we need to move on. Glamis was the house where the axe fell, re staffing. It could have been any other House, but that's the way the dice fell in 2011.

It looks like the Morgan staff are faced with problems not of their own making. If 24 % of pupils are on free school meals it looks like they are victims of todays social values or rather the lack of. Teachers are not replacement parents or social workers. Dundee has a lot of economic problems no news industry to replace lost ones .Anyone away for a few years will be surprised how much is gone. Coming over the Tay road bridge you seldom see more than one or two ships in port.+-

I have just read in this morning's Courier that the Grove Academy have had to scrap their existing house system as well. Rather than lose one of their present houses they chose to consign all four of them to history and start afresh with three named after parks in Broughty Ferry. Had Morgan done the same would that have made jester happier?

I think the Rector and staff have made the best of a bad job. As he says in his letter, it may be possible at some time in the future to reinstate Glamis. It won't be forgotten. When we were at school there was no "pastoral care" for pupils at all. It is very important, now that the Morgan has so many pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, and this has been delivered through the house system.