New Portobello High School- Where and how?

[Maria]

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Thanks P. My mistake cos I thought when you said "cue optician" that you were being facetious and I had to look somewhere.

Thanks also for your answer.

[Porty]

[quote="Dave Connelly"]


what I can do though as a last post, which no doubt will be edited is to put those who doubted St Johns School Board's intention of letting folk know whats going on in the picture. As a parent I received this, and if you are a parent at the school, so did you

[quote]St Johns School Board letter to Parents

22 September 06

Dear Parents

As you know, Edinburgh City Council have recently announced a public consultation to gather views regarding the proposals to rebuild St John’s (and also neighbouring Portobello High School). The proposal document, on which the consultation is based, is quite lengthy, but if you would like to read it in full, you can either view a copy outside the school office or you can download it from http://egfl.net/parents/ . The Council have also commissioned a feasibility study by a firm of architects. Unfortunately this is not available online, but can be viewed outside the school office, or in Portobello Library

In summary, the document suggests 3 options for a new PHS and 4 options for a new St John’s building . The options suggested by the Council for PHS are : rebuilt on current site (assuming St John’s moves elsewhere);rebuild on Portobello Golf Course ; rebuild on Portobello Park (the football pitches at the top of Portobello Golf Course)

For St John’s, the Council proposal document states:

St John’s Primary School Replacement

While the main generator for this project is the reprovision of Portobello High School, it would also be desirable to seek the replacement of St John’s Primary School given its fitness for purpose. The school building falls well short of the generic brief for primary schools, particularly with significantly undersized rooms and insufficient accommodation in the main building necessitating the use of Temporary Units. Nor does the school have outdoor sports facilities on-site.


One of the three options for the High School necessitates the relocation of St John’s as part of the proposal. The opportunity also exists for St John’s to be relocated alongside the High School with the other site options should sufficient funding exist.


The options for the redevelopment of St John’s are:


The site of the existing Portobello High School – should the high school relocate, then the surplus site could become available for the redevelopment of St John’s. This would represent the least long term implications for St John’s, with the school remaining central to its catchment.


Portobello Park pitches – either alongside a relocated High School, or as a stand alone facility should Portobello remain on its existing site. The main issue with this would be the loss of the existing park to the community – should both schools relocate here it would be difficult to retain any public pitches within the park area. This location is fairly central to the primary school’s catchment area.


Portobello Golf Course - either alongside a relocated High School, or as a stand alone facility should Portobello remain on its existing site. The main issue with this would be the loss of the golf course to the community. This location is central to the primary school’s catchment area.


Bingham Park – also requiring a loss of part of an existing park to the community, this site is poorly located within the catchment area and is more difficult to access given the narrow streets. The primary school will generate the requirement for more escorted trips to and from school for the younger pupils (whether by car, bus or walking) and thus its location is particularly important.


[b]As part of the consultation process, the Council have promised to listen to the views of parents. The Council have confirmed that contributors are welcome to bring other suggestions to the debate. St John’s School Board have already asked that the Council consider 2 brownfield sites for St John’s (the current Powerleague site on Portobello High Street, and the Scottish Power site near the Kings Road roundabout). This would allow the new Portobello High School to be rebuilt on the existing site. An advantage for St John’s of this is that St Johns would be relocated first, which means that St John’s would get its new school more quickly, but also that it would be guaranteed the first “biteâ€

[Maria]

From the EN letters Page 11 Oct. 2006 (7th letter down):

[Maria]

From the EN 12 October 2006:

[bellybabe]

From the EN 13th October:

[Porty]

Schools suffer from 'too many ideas and not enough money'
GARETH ROSE - EDUCATION REPORTER

EDINBURGH'S most senior education official today blamed the Scottish Executive for a funding crisis which is threatening to hit city schools.

City education director Roy Jobson also hit out at the "innovation fatigue" which he said was making it harder for teachers to do their jobs.

Mr Jobson spoke out as he announced plans to step down from his post next year. He described the funding which the council's children and families department receives from the Executive as "inadequate".

The children and families department is responsible for maintaining school buildings and providing support services to schools, as well as child protection work. The department is heading for a £3 million overspend this year and expects to face similar problems in future years. In August, city finance leader Councillor Maureen Child warned the funding crisis would force the council to make "difficult decisions", including considering a tougher stand on proposed school mergers and closures.
Today, Mr Jobson said he did not expect the funding crisis to force the city into extra school closures. But he said he did not know where the axe would fall across the work his department does in schools and social work.

The funding problems have arisen from the Executive failing to put enough money into child protection, said Mr Jobson.

That is now threatening to have a knock-on effect on schools funding since the council merged its education department with its child social work teams last year.

Mr Jobson, who will retire on May 31, a day before his 60th birthday, said he was working on a bid for more cash which the council will take to the Executive in November. "The children and families department needs to be funded in a different way to meet the objectives society and politicians want," he said.

"The council needs to continue to press the Scottish Executive for adequate funding, the current level is inadequate."

Mr Jobson said it was spending on vital child protection work which was throwing the whole department's budget into trouble.

He said: "The education department is not overspending, but we have had difficulties meeting the recommendations in the O'Brien report (into the death of baby Caleb Ness in Edinburgh) and dealing with larger numbers of referrals of vulnerable children.

"The First Minister believes, as I do, that there needs to be more foster placements so we can take children out of vulnerable positions."

Mr Jobson also accused ministers of introducing "too many innovations, too many ideas, that needed to be implemented on occasions too quickly".

Council leader councillor Ewan Aitken echoed Mr Jobson's concerns: "Local governments are asked to do more than they are resourced to do. Providing integrated children's services is the best way forward, but in the early years its more expensive. It's money we don't have and that's the pressure."

Councillor Andrew Burns, the city's education leader, said: "I've always been particularly impressed by Roy's focus on the positive development of young people and I'm certain that this has had a direct impact on the quality of many young people's life chances over the last decade.

"Of course, I look forward to continuing to work with Roy for the remainder of his time at the council but know he'll be a hard act to follow."



Roy Jobson Yesterday.

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