“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
Dear Editor
The Conservatives have been in power for six years: in that time they have made the majority of people pay in so many ways for the financial crisis that was not of their making. The financial institutions, unscrupulous investors and some very dodgy dealers were the culprits – and they have got away with it.
The Conservatives have not only made the people pay but have also taken the opportunity to pursue their cherished aims of privatising as much as possible, changing society in favour of investors once again. Their main political objective is the breaking of local authority control of public services, initially financially – followed by privately-run services.
Their latest move in England – making all schools into ‘free’ Academies without any reference to the democratic principle of local council elections determined by the people.
Changing a school name is meaningless, but ‘free’ is a very divisive move. It will pit school against school for staff, grants and finding; it will be divisive on pay and conditions offered, divisive on schools in poorer and better-off areas.
So far this applies only to schools in England, but it is better to be forewarned.
This step into the past is very dangerous to all that has been struggled for over generations of activity to make society fair and caring, able to exercise it’s right to decision-making.
The Conservatives are proving over and over again they can never represent the interests of the majority of people.
A. Delahoy, Silverknowes Gardens
Edinburgh Western MSP Colin Keir has welcomed the ‘fantastic news’ that The City of Edinburgh Council will receive a share of £230 million from the Scottish Government to rebuild Queensferry High School. Continue reading Keir welcomes funding for High School rebuild
Road safety scheme set for three more schools
A trial car ban around some schools in Edinburgh is to be extended. Three new schools will take part in the scheme that prohibits traffic on surrounding roads at the start and end of the school day. Continue reading School streets car ban to be extended
Saturday 5 December 10am – 1pm
New facilities for Cramond Primary School
Designs have been revealed for the new accommodation being built by the City of Edinburgh Council to cater for increased free primary school meal provision. Continue reading New school buildings on the menu!
Schools violence prevention initiative ‘goes from strength to strength’
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson yesterday announced a further £450,000 of funding to provide extra training staff for the innovative Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Scotland programme. Mr Matheson made the announcement during a visit to Tynecastle High School, where he met the programme’s American founder Jackson Katz (above) and some of the young people benefitting from the scheme. Continue reading More government funding to support MVP programme
A few minutes of physical activity aids health and boosts performance
The Education and Health Secretaries have written to all primary schools in Scotland to encourage them to implement daily physical exercise as part of the school routine, through the roll out of the Daily Mile or other initiatives. Continue reading Primary kids get set for Daily Mile
Council clamping down on school place cheats
Six families have lost their school places after being caught giving false statements to get their children into popular city primaries in a crackdown by the City of Edinburgh Council.
As a result of the investigations by the Council’s fraud team, the offer of places was withdrawn and several other families dropped their requests when they discovered they were being investigated.
In some cases, families were also found to be fraudulently claiming housing and council tax benefits and were then forced to repay the money. In one instance, where a tenant was discovered to be sub-letting their council house, they lost their tenancy.
Councillor Paul Godzik, Convener of Education, Children and Families, said: “We know this is an issue that concerns many parents and we take it very seriously.
“If we believe there is a possibility that fraud is being committed, we will investigate. If we discover this to be the case we will withdraw the school place.
“By working with the Council’s fraud team, we are able to access a greater range of information, including credit checks, and this has allowed us to identify instances of fraud. Anecdotally we believe there are a number of schools in the city where this is likely to be a greater issue than others and we investigate all potential cases. This year we plan to put these schools under greater scrutiny with spot checks at different stages of the process.”
When registering for a school place for the first time, parents need to provide a council tax demand notice and recent utility bill. If someone is moving house they need to provide proof of purchase and their tenancy agreement. If they are moving to a different Edinburgh address they will also need to provide proof of sale or termination of lease.
When pupils move from primary to secondary school they are allocated a place based on the current address information held by their school. Spot checks will be carried out to ensure this is accurate.
The Corporate Fraud Team can carry out credit checks, check council tax records and carry out unannounced home visits to establish whether or not someone is actually living at the address they claim to be at. If nobody is at home when they visit, they will speak to neighbours to try and find out if they know who was living in the house.
And the fraud team will continue their address checks during the school registration process which starts in November.
Anyone who believes a parent has given false information to register for a school place can contact the school placing team on 0131 469 3033 or email school.placements@edinburgh.
