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Renfrewshire Council plans new school
Wednesday, 19 July 2000

enfrewshire Council hopes to build a new £19million secondary school in Paisley after reaching the end of a six-month consultation on the future of the town's schools.

A special meeting of the Education and Leisure Committee on June 27 agreed to seek extra funding to build a new school to replace St Andrew's Academy and St Mirin's High School.

The Committee approved the closure of Merksworth High School and the transfer of pupils to Castlehead High School and Paisley Grammar School, and the closure of St Mirin's High School and the transfer of the pupils either to an extended St Andrew's Academy or, if additional funding is is made available, to a new school.

The Council will ask for extra funding from the Scottish Executive in order to set a 'level playing field' for the Council in order to make the construction of a new school through the Private Public Partnership scheme compatible with the Best Value criteria, so the project will be the most efficient use of the Council's resources.

During the consultation process more than 50 different meetings were held with parents, staff, the public, school boards and pupils, and almost 10,000 copies of the report of the informal consultation process and the options for change were sent out by the Education Department.

Councillor Brian Oldrey, Convener of Education and Leisure Services, said, "I am delighted to be able to announce that we hope to build a new school in Paisley.
"We shall pursue this plan vigorously and I am reasonably confident that we will be successful when we approach the Scottish Executive with our proposals.
"The idea to seek extra funding to allow us to build a new school was a direct result of our consultation exercise, during which parents and the Catholic Church expressed support for the idea.
He continued, "The consultation has been a long but very valuable process and I am grateful to everyone who took the trouble to participate.
"I would to like to thank the people who made many helpful suggestions and constructive criticisms during this process and who accepted that we entered this debate because we see the pressing need for change and are committed to providing the best educational opportunities for Paisley pupils.
"It has been an exhaustive process and I am confident that, with this crucial input from the parents, public, pupils and staff, we have made the right decision for the future."

Shelagh Rae, Director of Education and Leisure Services, said: "We will now get to work on detailed plans to make the transition period as smooth as possible for pupils and staff. We will make sure that pupils receive the necessary support to adapt to a new learning environment and ensure that practical issues, such as school accommodation and transport to school, are resolved with as little disruption as possible for children and parents.
"In addition we shall now also be looking at implementing our plans for the New Community School in the north of Paisley, for which we have secured £½million of government money and committed a total of £1million of Council resources over the next three years."

The New Community School will be established for the Ferguslie and Shortroods communities and, as well as providing a joined-up approach for the pupils' education and welfare, will be particularly geared towards helping children make a successful transition from primary to secondary schools.

Renfrewshire Council undertook the review of secondary education in Paisley because of concerns over educational opportunities and achievement levels in St Mirin's and Merksworth High Schools and with the intention of finding ways to raise attainment and attendance.

It has been acknowledged that, despite the hard work of staff and pupils at both schools, achievement levels have not been rising.

In addition, St Mirin's has a capacity of 819 places and only 329 pupils while at Merksworth 289 pupils are taught in a building which can take up to 1,180 pupils. The size of a school is significant in educational terms because a small size limits the number of subjects which can be taught at different stages. It also means that there are a large number of departments with just one member of staff which has an obvious impact on curriculum development and staff workloads.

During the informal consultation period from January to April there were five public meetings, 12 meetings with secondary and primary school boards, and responses were received from staff, pupils, parents and local organisations and churches. This process changed the options and reduced them from five to four which the Council decided to consider in the formal consultation process from April to June.

Under the formal consultation process the parents of every child at a school which could be affected were given the report and the proposals for change; more than 9,900 copies were issued. Copies of the document were also placed in libraries. Other interested parties, such as MPs, MSPs, trade unions and churches were also supplied with the document and adverts were placed in the local paper.

Public meetings were held at the 11 schools most significantly affected by the proposals with a total of 477 people attending. The largest attendance at a meeting was 135, and the lowest was five.Each public meeting was preceded by a School Board meeting and an additional five School Board meetings were also arranged.

Around 250 pupils attended meetings in the 11 schools, there were liaison meetings with the teachers' trade unions, and staff at St Andrew's Academy held a staff meeting. In addition a number of written responses, in the form of letters, questionnaires and a petition, were sent to the education department.

The committee also approved a staffing policy for the schools rationalisation. The committee's decisions will now go forward to the full Council meeting on Thursday, June 29, 2000, for final approval.

Contact: Lucy Janes, Communications,
. 0141 840 3637

INFORMATION:

Merksworth High School
The school will close completely in summer 2002 and pupils will transfer to Castlehead High School and Paisley Grammar School.
Third year pupils will start at their new school in August 2001.
Extension work at Paisley Grammar School will provide new facilities for PE, social areas, information technology, staff accommodation and additional teaching areas.
At Castlehead High School classroom accommodation will be extended to provide for extra pupils. In August 2002 primary seven pupils from Gallowhill and Mossvale Primary Schools will go direct to Paisley Grammar School, and Ferguslie Primary pupils will go to Castlehead High School

St Mirin's High School and St Andrew's Academy - if there is to be a new school
If the council is successful in obtaining additional money for a new school, there will be further consultation with parents, staff and pupils on the timescales for transfer and the location of the new school

St Mirin's High School - if no new school
The school will close completely in summer 2002 and pupil will transfer to St Andrew's Academy. Third year pupils will move to St Andrew's in August 2001 and primary seven pupils from St Fergus Primary, St James' Primary and St Mary's Primary schools will start at St Andrew's in August 2001.

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