Bucksburn School Parent Council

To All Parents
Minute of the Bucksburn Parent Council Meeting 3rd November 2008 – 19:00
In Attendance: Anne Stewart, Billy Fagan, Lynn Swinton, Angela Joss, Mrs Clark(HT), Laura Arnott, Nick Simpson, Sarah Crombie, Anne Darling(Education Officer) Ronnie Wright, Mrs Deacon

Apologies: Clair Burbridge

1. Formal Consultation at Bankhead Academy – Anne Darling was asked along to the meeting in regards to the upcoming consultation event to be held in Bankhead Academy on Thursday 6th November. Anne let us know that she was not in attendance to make any presentation but was happy to answer questions as far as she could.

Angela asked if the closure of Bucksburn is already a done deal and the consultation is just a legal requirement that Aberdeen City Council needs to meet. Anne responded with an emphatic “No”. The consultation is the result of the informal consultation night held at Bankhead previously and the outcomes are the two proposals laid out in the consultation document. Concern was raised at the preference being given to the Newhills site and Anne put that this was only a proposal, nothing has been finalised yet. Angela asked if this was to go ahead would there be any chance of Newhills simply absorbing the Bucksburn roll into the existing school building with the additions of portacabins if necessary. Again an emphatic “No” was given. The proposal is for a new build school and the absorption into Newhills would not even be considered. Newhills School is also in no suitable condition to accommodate this.

Bucksburn and Newhills Schools are both listed as being in Category C (poor) condition.

The question was raised as to whether the effects of the current financial climate would be considered with regards to the forecast increase in roll of Bucksburn School. Several developments considered in the initial plans have still not broken soil and it was asked if there was any indication that these developments were in fact to go ahead. If these were not to happen then the forecast school rolls and proposed re-zoning may be fundamentally flawed.

It was discussed that the decision to keep Stoneywood School open with such a large out of zone roll seems unfair when Bucksburn is left to fight with a large in-zone roll. If the in-zone figures given were incorrect or provided by Stoneywood as part of their fight then this is a cause for concern.

The site of the proposed school at Newhills is a real concern with regards to routes to school, the time taken and safety of the journey for many Bucksburn parents who will be subjected to increased lengths of travel, often by foot with small children along the A96 trunk road.

Angela raised concerns that there seems to have been a step in the process missed. The closure of Bucksburn was never taken to consultation. The decision to save Stoneywood was taken and the issues were changed. The consultation should then have been on the new proposals and not the initial rezoning proposals from informal consultations. The parent body of Bucksburn plan to address this at the meeting.

Sarah asked where the results of the research for the figures pertaining to class and, more importantly, school roll size could be found. She wondered if there is a loss of quality with a larger school size as the current community aspect of Bucksburn School would be hard to replicate in a school of 300 pupils. This should be encouraged as much as possible as good foundations in community inclusion are vital for well adjusted citizens who feel part of their community in later life. Bucksburn has a real village community spirit around it and much of this is attributed to the smaller sizes of the schools. Every pupil gets to know every other pupil throughout their time at school and this reflects well in their progression through life. Many ex-Bucksburn pupils are still playing a huge part in the community to this day. It would be a very great loss if this went with a new school.

This gave rise to the question of whether re-zoned children would automatically be allowed to continue their education with their peers at the new school or if this would risk some children being split off into another school such as Stoneywood. Anne said that the parent charter would of course allow for a placement request to be made for Stoneywood but that if a child was already ‘in the system’ as a Bucksburn pupil they would be considered a pupil of the new school until the end of their primary years. Discussion was also had on whether the transparency of the placing request system stood up to possible fraudulent requests as exhibited recently in some English schools. Mrs Clark insisted that the integrity of the system in place in Aberdeen is very solid, backed up by Anne Darling.

Bucksburn was shown to be a high attaining school with some figures close to 90%. When the Special Educational Needs base is removed from the figures, bringing them on a like-for-like basis with Stoneywood, which does not provide such a valuable service, they actually rise by 5%.

Anne Darling encouraged us to view as many options as possible for Thursday’s meeting and suggested that we make sure our points are listened to and acted upon. She made it very clear that she was NOT directing us into any particular course of action.

We asked who decided on the Newhills site as the preferred location and if any tests had been done as to the condition of the ground for building. Anne said she would have thought that it would simply be the footprint of the proposed school laid against available sites that made it the most viable and would not have thought at this stage any technical details had been worked out.

If the new build was to go ahead a status quo of the existing schools would be held for as long as possible to help prevent disruption to pupils. The build would be next to the current Newhills School allowing at least near-completion before the ‘move-in’. Issues about the loss of staff through rationalisation in an amalgamation would be mostly restricted to non-teaching support staff and top level management. The amount of teachers would be very similar so no real savings are made in respect to salary efficiencies. The only efficiency savings would be those of the running of the building.

Any existing provisions would be kept such as the nursery places and SEN base/provisions. There would be no loss of services within the school environment arising from the amalgamation.

The Parent Council wondered where the funding for the new school was coming from. If the housing developments were not to go ahead there may be no ‘buy out’ of certain clauses available. The sale of Bucksburn or Newhills sites couldn’t happen whilst the schools were still being run. Anne told us that the money would need to be in place to fund the project before any work began. The parents wondered what the alternative course of action would be if the funding did fall through. Is there a ‘plan B’? The schools have already been categorised as in poor condition so would remedial works be done instead and if so how much would this cost? Would this cost be sustainable in the first place allowing the schools to remain?

Ronnie asked who sold the initial Bucksburn site to the Local Authority in the first instance as that person would be entitled to first refusal for purchasing it back. If it was sold as arable land this may also present a shortfall in funding if not considered in the strategy.

We asked if the outcome was indeed that the amalgamation go ahead how far the parental involvement with the planning of the new school would reach. Anne Darling said that there is a large input from parents with these projects. Parents would be consulted on most issues, including open/closed/semi-open/partition-able classrooms.

We mentioned that it would be a good idea to contact other schools such as Airyhall & Braeside who have already undergone similar amalgamations and closures. Having spoken to parents of Newhills it was suggested that the main points the parents there have are ones surrounding the actual building works as they would not be moving the location of their school, seeming to gain a new building with no worries. Angela felt that Bucksburn throughout the entire process seems to have been the only one with anything to lose.

2. Treasurer’s Post - Anne Stewart said she would give up the vice-chair position on the council and take up the now-free treasurer’s post from Katrina who’s had to step down due to work commitments.

3. Actions Arising:

Parents will be lettered requesting their attendance at the consultation to go home with the children in their schoolbags.
A set of standardised letters or petition will be created to allow maximum parental involvement with minimum effort required, again to ensure the involvement of parents who might otherwise feel overpowered by the technical aspects of the proposals. We do not wish parents feel left out or helpless but informed and united.
Billy will find out what rooms are available for parents for Thursday from Les Mackie.
List of key-points will be made up for distribution to attending parents to help keep the meeting on track.