Teachers at James Hamilton Academy accused of acting like teenagers

The teachers at James Hamilton Academy in Kilmarnock have been accused of acting like the teenagers they teach after a row over fundraising.

Senior pupils were told they weren't allowed to hold a non-uniform day to raise cash for Clic Sargent for a fellow pupil who's younger sister has cancer - they felt they were being unfairly treated and took to social media to vent.

Now staff are refusing to attend their end of year prom because it.

We spoke to Head Boy Murray McCrone...

Alan Ward Head of Education, East Ayrshire Council said: “The Prom event for the school is not organised under the auspices of either James Hamilton Academy or the Education Service. The prom is organised and run by a committee of volunteers, both pupils and staff, and as such Education has no role in any of the decisions made. “The Prom is not cancelled. The Prom committee will need to organise and arrange to have responsible adults, who could be parent volunteers, to supervise the evening. We would expect that these arrangements can be easily made and that the Prom event will again be a success for all concerned. In response to the enquiry about the current status of the fundraising efforts, Alan Ward confirmed that the agreement reached last week would be upheld. He explained: “James Hamilton Academy has an established policy for charitable fundraising which has been agreed through both Pupil and Parent Councils. “Both parents and pupils had agreed that there were too many fundraising events held within the school. An agreement was reached between all parties that a limit of 3 charities - 1 local, 1 national and 1 International – would be supported each year. “The school’s chosen charities for this year were decided at the beginning of the school session and so far £5761.00 has been raised with a further event being held on Wednesday 16 March for Yorkhill Children’s Hospital. “Pupils approached the Headteacher and Senior Management Team (SMT) recently with a request for a further fundraising event. This issue was discussed fully by the SMT and the Headteacher also held discussions directly with the pupils making the request. “The SMT agreed to make an exception in this case and to allow senior pupils to raise awareness of the charity at all assemblies the week before the Easter Service. The senior pupils will also be the only group allowed to carry out a collection for their charity at this time. “This is a sensible and sensitive compromise to allow the pupil body to support a fellow pupil. The school has not refused to allow pupils to fundraise and in fact has taken positive steps to support this additional fundraising activity.”

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