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Author
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Message
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Cllr David Alston
Moderated by: Stuart Downie
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Friday 07 May 2010 3:55:56 pm
Are we running too many schools? - Strand 2 (Topic now closed)
If we are to have fewer schools with better community facilities, what factors should we take into account? Examples might be: condition of the school building; whether the buiding is fit for purpose; number of pupils in the school in relation to the size of the building; the number of children likely to need school in the area in the next 5-10 years; and travel time to the nearest schools
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Mr J Auchenar
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Tuesday 11 May 2010 8:15:33 am
review
I think the review must take travel routes into consideration too. If families need a second car in order to get children to school, it adds a huge cost to some families. However if improved bus and cycle routes are added this would help justify the smaller, older schools closure.
spend it well
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John Boocock
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Tuesday 11 May 2010 9:36:41 am
Access to facilities
Mr Auchenar is correct, access to schools is of prime importance when considering other uses. School buildings are inoperative for a long period of time. Community use will not work, however, if access is not addressed. A new community wing at Milton is effectively barred to large numbers of people unless they have vehicles because of the artificial isolation of communities. Barbaraville is completely cut off to the walker who wishes to leave the village to go anywhere else because of the lack of footpath linkeage. Cyclists are equally debarred from safe access to Milton, Saltburn, Invergordon or Kildary. This also hinders people wishing to use the Polnicol Hall. You could have as many community activities as you wished in schools and halls locally but they are not easily accessible to people without vehicles. It also denies any of the health benefits of walking or cycling for people of all ages.
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D Mack
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Tuesday 11 May 2010 2:49:41 pm
Location of Schools
The condition of the school buildings should be immaterial. If a community needs a school then it should be there. Older buildings will have to be refurbished. Any strategy based on closing the "old" schools would be ridiculous as it would be based on an assessment of fabric and not education or community need.
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Linda Malik
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Tuesday 11 May 2010 11:02:48 pm
Too many schools
Yes you are running too many schools however small rural schools should not be an easy target for cuts.
This brings the headache of long term transport costs and the need to find more decent transport providers.
Amalgamation of town schools is a way forward no transport costs involved. Dispose of many of the older schools within towns and investing in newer bigger town schools offering services to the larger towns communities would be a step in the right direction.
Short term thinking has long term effects !
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John Inkster
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Thursday 13 May 2010 2:35:06 pm
Strand 2
A new school with appropriate community facilities would provide an attractive incentive for the encouragement of economic development within a particular area. This factor should be included within the capital investment-strategic planning model which was adopted by the Education Committee on the 13th March2009. This model which gives double weighting to roll pressure needs to be look at again as some of the roll pressure can be overcome by using the accomodation in a more efficient manner.
Viking
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Cllr David Alston
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Thursday 13 May 2010 5:10:11 pm
Feedback on comments so far.
Thank you for taking part in the discussion so far. A variety of factors are highlighted in the responses so far: travel routes and accessibility for people who do not have cars and transport provision; not relying on school condition as the only criterion; and amalgamation of schools in towns. These comments will all be taken into account.
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John Henderson
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Thursday 13 May 2010 6:26:25 pm
School closures - lets sum things up fairly please
Councillor Alstons review of the comments so far concerns me as he appears to identify the idea that what the people who have contrributed to the site want is the closure of town schools. What they have actually said is they think the closure of town schools would be the best idea if either new schools were built or the amalgamated schools were to have much better facilities. there is a significant difference and i think it important that highland council do not simply do an accounting exercise with numbers - pushing one school in to another with little change in facilities. My understanding is that there must be some educational benefit for the pupils, who attend schools which close, and will be then placed in another school.
John Boy
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Timothy Rule
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Thursday 13 May 2010 9:59:52 pm
Fit for purpose
Look at what a community needs. A very small school with under 10 students may be better amalgamated with another school, at least from an economic stand point, however a small school with 20 students would seem to be viable at least on the simplistic pupil/teacher ratio.
Travel is important. At what point is travel too far for primary students, 5 miles, 10 miles. Obviously a school with a role of 3 or 5 may well have to close with the pupils needing to travel a larger distance than might be desirable.
Then the condition of the school. A small school with 20 students in a very poor state or repair, or capacity issues, whilst viable may still be better amalgamated with a school in a better state of repair. But would the cost of the amalgamation be any less that the cost of repairing or extending the existing building?
How about larger schools and town schools. Closing smaller schools might offer savings if the pupil/teacher ratio is quite low however large savings can only come from closing large schools. At that point teaching costs are somewhat static however building costs, especially for older schools, may well offer the best opportunities for savings. A modern energy efficient school may be significantly cheaper to run than an older school and have less ongoing maintenance costs. The newer school might also offer better community facilities.
Tim
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Beth Kendall
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Friday 14 May 2010 8:37:53 pm
Are we running too many schools? - Strand 2
Which one of you really thinks that it is acceptable to place a 6 or 7 year old child on a bus for 30 - 45 minutes twice a day? Surely we have the vision to see beyond this. Small primaries are the heart of the community and provide a great sense of security for the children (oh, sorry! - the CLIENTS). No problem. So let's keep paying out absolutely emormous sums of tax money or tiers and tiers of management, fact-finding tours, catered meetings and special-interest projects in ALL sectors, while we place near-toddlers on long commutes every day. How does that work for you? All right? Good, glad to hear it.
Stopthewaste
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c elder
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Friday 14 May 2010 10:19:13 pm
pushing schools one into another
Totally agree with one forum member - yes the council can do some simple number crunching and place one school into another but they must be able to demonstrate that there is a significant educational benefit for the child. Many schools will need major upgrades to ensure that they can provide a better learning experience for our children if this is a serious idea to close and amalgamate . More capital expenditure !!
Schools are the heart for all communities - whether they be in a rural or town setting. They generate activity and energy, they contribute to the the wider community in many ways. They are also a community in their own right. They channel thought and creativity bringing out the very best in our children.
Bureaucracy,its cost and endless managers of this and that are killing education.
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