Forthview Primary pupils will return to school next week – but in classroooms scattered across Edinburgh. Dealing with the temporary closure of seventeen schools has been a logistical nightmare for council officials and it’s proved impossible to keep the Forthview kids together. Continue reading Forthview: going forth across the city
The city council has confirmed that construction faults have been found at all seventeen buildings built during the first PPP contract. The degree of repairs required varies, but council leader Cllr Andrew Burns has conceded that some schools may be closed ‘longer term’. Continue reading PPP1 school closures: Faults found at ALL schools
Exciting adventures for Rowanfield
Half of displaced pupils now have temporary new homes
The majority of the pupils affected by school closures have now been allocated new school places by the city council. Arrangements made today now mean that over 4,400 pupils have alternative education provision in place.
Among these are Rowanfield Special School pupils, who will move from Drylaw and will be based at Pilton Youth & Children’s Project tomorrow and Friday.
Plans have also been put in place for Rowanfield pupils to have a full day of outings tomorrow thanks to offers from various Edinburgh organisations. They will be visiting Edinburgh Castle and Dynamic Earth in addition to a trip to the National Museum of Edinburgh (above).
Craig Fletcher, Senior Learning Manager at Historic Environment Scotland, who run Edinburgh Castle, said: “We were recently approached by Rowanfield to ask if we could accommodate a visit to the Castle for their pupils. We normally require 10 days notice but due to the exceptional circumstances our bookings team were able to accommodate them at short notice. We are happy to welcome them and hope they have an enjoyable time exploring this iconic place.”
Details for where Rowanfield will be next week and what they’ll be doing will be confirmed as soon as possible!
Other arrangements conformed include: S1, S2 and S3 pupils from Drummond Community High School will join their senior pupils back at the school tomorrow (14 April). This means all Drummond pupils are now back in their school.
S3 pupils at both Firrhill High and Royal High Schools will return to their schools tomorrow (14 April) and join senior year pupils.
Craigour Park Primary pupils will be going to various other primary schools from Friday (15 April).
All Craigroyston Primary pupils will now be going to Craigroyston High School on Friday.
Braidburn pupils will be relocating to several locations from Friday (15 April). Staff will be contacting parents directly to update them on the arrangements for their own individual child. Transport arrangements are being put in place that will allow children to be taken directly from their homes to their host schools.
Further information on nursery pupils from Craigroyston Primary will be put on the Council website and the Council is hoping to have arrangements for nursery pupils at Castleview Primary in place from Tuesday.
In the past three days the Council has now put in place alternative arrangements for the majority of pupils, with all the arrangements for the schools having been communicated to parents directly and are available on the Council website.
Work is ongoing to identify alternative arrangements for the remaining pupils. The Council anticipates all affected primary and special school pupils will be allocated new school places by Tuesday (19 April) next week as Monday is a Spring Bank Holiday.
Positive discussions have been taking place with the Scottish Qualifications Authority who have agreed that verification and examining visits for all subjects that were due to take place this week will be rescheduled with individual schools.
SQA continues to work with the five schools to provide advice and support, if they require any additional resources. All pupils taking exams will be in their schools with their teachers by tomorrow.
Council Leader Andrew Burns said: “Having rightly prioritised arrangements for those children taking examinations in the coming weeks, the two special schools were next to be addressed and I’m pleased that these are now in place. I want to pay credit to the Chief Executive and his team for their work since Friday on what has been a huge logistical challenge for the Council.
“We have now put in place alternative education arrangements for the majority of pupils, and work continues to identify alternative options for other primary and S1 to S3 pupils. We will communicate to parents as soon as we have further information.
“I fully recognise the significant inconvenience to parents caused by these closures and I want to thank them for their patience as we continue to work through this issue. I’m sure they understand the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of their children.
“The SQA have been very supportive to our situation and I must thank them for the steps they have taken regarding verification and examining visits and help with additional resources.
“I also want to pay tribute again to the response from the organisations, both public and private sector, who have come forward with offers of help and accommodation – most recently Historic Environment Scotland who have today agreed to give a tour of Edinburgh Castle for the children of Rowanfield Special School.”
The programme of structural surveys arranged by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership is continuing this week.
The Council will update parents directly, via text message, the Council website(www.edinburgh.gov.uk/
New activities programme for adults at Royston Wardieburn
A reminder that the Spring Chickens starts tomorrow (Wednesday) @ 12pm Lunch Provided. We have the Living Memory Association coming along to the first session … Continue reading Hatching tomorrow: Spring Chickens at Royston Wardieburn!
Back to school – at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre?
Royal High senior pupils to return on Wednesday
The City of Edinburgh Council has drawn up contingency plans to ensure all primary and special school pupils will be back in schools by Tuesday of next week (Monday, ironically, is a school Spring holiday). Continue reading Closed schools: contingency plans swing into action
‘The safety of children and our staff is our main priority’ – City Council Chief Executive Andrew Kerr
The Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council and senior education officials met with directors of the Edinburgh School Partnership (ESP) this afternoon (Sunday 10 April) to receive an update on the programme of detailed structural surveys which is underway on the PPP1 schools. Continue reading CLOSED SCHOOLS: DETAILED SURVEYS UNDERWAY
New creative project starts this Thursday evening
Want to see more magpies in Muirhouse? More robins in Royston? More tits in Telford? (We’ll stop there …)
Like to learn to build bird houses?
IF YOU BUILD THEM – THEY WILL COME!
“Public confidence needs rebuilt as well as school walls: and fast” – Green Candidate Andy Wightman
The Scottish Government’s resiliency committee has met to discuss the emergency closure of seventeen PPP schools across Edinburgh – but The Scottish Greens say the ‘fiasco’ highlights the need to expose private finance failures. Continue reading Closed schools update: Scottish government offers ‘full support’
Parents advised to make childcare arrangements for next week
Craigroyston, Forthview, Pirniehall and St David’s Primary Schools are among seventeen city schools which will all remain closed on Monday, the city council has announced. Continue reading Local schools to remain closed on Monday
What’s Total Craigroyston ever done for this community? Well, quite a lot, actually …
Total Craigroyston, the council-led agency formed to tackle deep-rooted children and family problems in North Edinburgh, wound up last week with a ‘Checking Out’ event at Pilton Youth & Children’s Project. Continue reading Total Craigroyston checks out
