Running a school requires access to a lot of resources including staffs. There need to be sufficient staffs to teach the number of students in the school efficiently. An increment or reduction in the number of students would also mean an increment or reduction in the number of staff respectively. It is the desire of every school that they continue to grow every year. This is however always not the case as some factors could sometimes lead to falling rolls. When falling rolls occur in a school, it also directly affects the staff as action would need to be taken concerning them.

Falling rolls in preschool

The normal age for children to start attending school in most cases is the age of 5. A lot of people however send their kids to school much earlier than this due to a number of reasons. The reason could be that they want the child to learn one or two things before they are ready for school officially (ready to start primary 1) or because their job is demanding and they believe the best place the child should be during those period should be a school as opposed to leaving them elsewhere, which could be with friends or family. Schools that offer preschool services are referred to as preschool. The preschool management normally have a number of kids and based on enrolment over the years, could have the number of children they are expecting. They therefore prepare for this number of children in terms of staff, teaching aids and other resources. There are however cases when the number of children reduce or when they do not meet the expected number of children. This situation is referred to as falling roll. When this happens, it directly affects the plans put in place by the school including the staff.

Impact of falling rolls on preschool staff

When the number of preschool enrolment reduces or is not up to the target, the preschool management would have to decide between keeping their staff strength and reducing their number. Either way, these have a direct effect on the staff. When the staff strength is maintained, it would lead to under-utilization of the staff as 4 staff for instance, would be carrying out tasks that 2 or 3 tasks can do comfortably. The alternative would be reducing their number, which would lead to some of the preschool staff losing their job alongside the challenge of finding a new job and adopting to the new job when they eventually get one.

Steps the preschool management is expected to take

When a falling roll is experienced in a preschool, the management could first consult with their records to see if any staff had retired or resigned. If there are, it is possible that won’t need to downsize any further as the new staff strength would have balanced the falling roll. This is known as reduction by attrition. If this is not sufficient, the school can now decide to keep the excess staff or as some of them to voluntarily resign. If there are no voluntary resignations, a new curriculum could be developed and redundant staff can now be laid off.

Summary

When the number of children in a preschool reduces, which is known as falling roll, the staffs are also affected as they might be downsized or under-utilized.