Children and Families Property ReviewThis page gives details of proposals to get best value by reorganising Edinburgh's Children and Families properties. Possible closure for four primary schools16 June 2009Education, Children and Families CommitteeMembers agreed that consultation should start in August 2009 on the possible closure in July 2010 of Fort Primary, Burdiehouse Primary, Royston Primary and Drumbrae Primary. Committee did ask for some additions to the original report and these can be seen below. Important note:
What happens next?Officers will prepare full consultation papers over the summer. These will be published when when the consultation starts in late August. You’ll be able to find details on this page then. We'll include key meeting dates and tell you how to put your views and questions forward. Early design work startingIf the closures were to go ahead work would need to be done for nurseries at Clermiston Primary, Gracemount Primary and Granton Primary. Committee members took the view that design and planning work should start now so that any new facilities are ready in time if they are needed. This doesn't mean that any closure decisions have been taken: they haven’t. Plans will be withdrawn and work stopped immediately if it becomes clear that the work is not needed because the closure proposal will not go ahead. Additional requests from the Committee on 16 JuneThe Committee agreed the following amendment to recommendation 7.1 (iii): Delegate authority to the Director to develop detailed consultation papers on the basis of the options outlined in this report with the papers: • providing additional information, if possible, in relation to the GRO projections relating to actual numbers to date (compared with the previous projections) and the expected estate capacity in future years; Committee agreed the following additional recommendations: (ix) Agree the immediate commencement of the design stage for the new nursery provision as identified in the report (x) Information regarding the condition of the receiving schools and any investment implications to be provided to Council in an accompanying report. 9 June 2009The latest council figures on Edinburgh's school population show that there are 8,600 empty places in the city's primaries. This means the council is forced to spend scarce funds on running and maintaining schools that are well below capacity. A report to the Council's Education, Children & Families Committee on 16th June recommends that a consultation process should start in August over proposals to close Burdiehouse, Drumbrae, Fort and Royston Primary Schools. The report can be viewed here (PDF) or via Council Papers Online (choose Committee Search then select the Education, Children and Families committee meeting, specifying the date of 16 June 2009). Each of these schools is less than half full, running at between 33-41% occupancy. Closing them would be a step towards matching the number of school places to the number of children in Edinburgh's schools as closely as possible. Read more in the press release from 9th June 09. Stockbridge Primary School catchment reviewThe Council recently held a public consultation on proposals to more than double the size of the Stockbridge catchment by making a corresponding reduction to the Flora Stevenson catchment area. Previous Primary School Estate ReviewDecision on school closures at Council Meeting on 20 NovemberAt the Council meeting on 20 November the following decisions were taken:
BackgroundSchool Estate Review/Investment in SchoolsThe Council has a duty to continually review its buildings' estate and make sure it has the right number of school places in the right locations of the City. As the population across the City naturally changes and shifts location over the years, the Council needs to review the number of places available for each local area. To ensure that the Council can continue to invest in school buildings, it must make sure that its estate operates as efficiently as possible. Overall, the City has experienced a 19% fall in its primary pupils numbers over the last decade, and there are now 9,500 spare places in the primary school estate. The Government's grant for education is linked to the number of pupils in schools, and accordingly the City's share of national funding has fallen in real terms. A supporting paper 'Investing in Schools' provides more detailed information on the investment in schools in Edinburgh and more detailed information on school capacities and school roll predictions.
The Cross Party ForumForum members comprised representatives from each political party and parental, teaching and religious representatives. The Forum has been meeting since the start of 2008. The Forum has agreed a set of broad criteria to be used in the evaluation of the school estate. The criteria fall under three main headings: educational outcomes, parental choice, and value for money. It was also agreed that use of the criteria would be a guide and that the Forum would take account of a fourth criterion comprising wider qualitative information when detailed proposals are being discussed. The primary school estate was assessed against these criteria and the Forum subsequently considered detailed information for selected schools. Following this detailed assessment the Forum then recommended to the Council's Education Committee that it consider options for the closure of three schools - Bonnington, Lismore and Westburn Primary Schools. Council approval was given on the 18th June to undertake a public consultation process on these proposals in Autumn 2008. To view the report go to Council Papers Online and use the Committee Search button, entering the date and title of the meeting (18th June 2008, the Education, Children and Families Committee). ReportsFollowing the consultations, a report went to the Council Meeting on 20 November recommending the closure of Bonnington, Lismore and Westburn Primary Schools.
The reports follow a decrease in the primary sector which has dropped by 6,000 pupils in the last ten years. There are currently 9,500 spare primary school places in Edinburgh. The situation is compounded by the fact that the spare capacity is concentrated in specific areas of the city. Central government funding is linked to pupil numbers which means a reduced sum to be shared by schools across the city. These documents can also be found via Council Papers Online. Use the Committee Search button and enter the date and title of the meeting (20th November 2008, City of Edinburgh Council). RecommendationsIt was recommended that pupils from Lismore Primary transfer to Brunstane Primary and pupils from Bonnington Primary transfer to Leith Primary for the start of the new term in January 2009. The other recommendation were that Westburn Primary School closes at the end of the school year in June 2009 with pupils transferring to either Murrayburn, Sighthill or Canal View Primary Schools, based on where they live in the current school catchment area. Reasons for recommending closure of Bonnington Primary school
Reasons for recommending closure of Lismore Primary school
Reasons for recommending closure of Westburn Primary school
Contacts
Name: Children and Families
Address: Waverley Court, Level 1/2, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh EH8 8BG
Tel: 0131 469 3312
Did you know ?
Edinburgh has experienced a 19% fall in its primary pupils numbers over the last decade.
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