New Portobello High School- Where and how?

[seanie]

[Dadaist]

You tell me. I'll pass your comments on - it would be nicer if one of them was here because it sounds like you deserve each other!

[seanie]

[wangi]

[seanie]

[Dadaist]

[Epykat]

[seanie]

[Epykat]

<look into my eyes> It never happened, it was all a dream.........

[Maria]

[Gemini]

[Bob Jefferson]

Back on topic, here are copies of two important documents. The first is the official submission to the Council from Portobello High School Board, the second from Portobello Community Council:

[Maria]

[Epykat]

[Bob Jefferson]

Works for me.

It's a pretty long document and I was trying to avoid the copy and paste job, but here goes:

[quote]SUBMISSION FROM PORTOBELLO HIGH SCHOOL BOARD TO THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL EXECUTIVE, APRIL 2006

Outline Plan for Replacement of Portobello High School and Associated Strategic Change in the Portobello/Duddingston Area

The Board of Portobello High School submits its views on outline plans to replace Portobello High School, adjacent to a new St John's Primary School; in its own park grounds; adjacent to public parkland of equivalent area to existing football pitches; with displacement and relocation of the 9 hole municipal golf course to larger grounds between Brunstane and New Hailes. There are to be associated housing developments on the existing school sites, a portion of Portobello park and a portion of ground adjacent to future golf developments.

These plans were presented to Portobello High School Board by the Councillor Rev Ewan Aitken, Mr Roy Jobson and Mr Andrew Holmes, respectively the Executive member for Children and Families, the Director of Children and Families, and the Director of City Development, City of Edinburgh Council, on 30 January 2006. Ewan Aitken and Councillor Ian Perry have subsequently participated, with others, in several public and campaigners' meetings in the interim, including a meeting held for parents by the School Board on 16 March.

Portobello High School Needs a New School Building Urgently

The greater part of the existing Portobello High School was built in the early 1960s, on an area of playing fields by Duddingston Road. At the time of opening, and along with its Annexe which constituted the former High School building, Portobello High School was the largest secondary school in Scotland, achieving notoriety in the Guinness Book of Records. On reducing size, the Annexe was sold off and the School remains the largest secondary school in Edinburgh, with a school roll stable at over 1,400 young people, and almost 100 teaching and support staff. The building had a design life of 50 years. With heavy use, an evident high rate of deterioration, and lack of ongoing maintenance during its stewardship by Lothian Regional Council the establishment has, in the opinion of most experts and commentators, reached the end of its life.

In the school year 2002-03, there were 3 failures of fundamental systems in the tower block - water, drainage and power. These failures necessitated complete days off school for all pupils. Prompt repairs were made, but no systems renewed. Inspection of all systems by consulting engineers and our own property professional shows persisting fundamental weaknesses and evidence indicating potential failure. The school today regularly experiences problems with its lifts, drainage and other services

In the assessment of the consulting engineers at the time of the PPP2 assessment of the state of candidate schools, there was a recommendation to allocate a sum in the region of £1m to refurbish the school in the first year to an acceptable standard, if it failed selection. Continued lack of maintenance now means that, should a major failure occur, staff, pupils and parents face the prospect of school closure without notice, and alternative measures for upwards of 6 months.

Portobello High School was duly not selected in 2004 for replacement in the PPP2 tranche of school investment. Future failure of the school building is bound to recur, and not at a time of our choosing. Meantime, there have been roof and window repairs, with escalating costs for maintenance necessary to maintain the establishment for staff and pupils there now, and until there is closure of the school with replacement. There is consensus between Council officials and ourselves, who have both been quoted in the context of school maintenance plans, that such expenditure is tantamount to "throwing good money after bad". There is futility in doing so and a general acceptance that replacement of the school is urgent; that failure of the current building is an urgent and present threat.

We call on the City of Edinburgh Council to:

1. maintain the school for pupils and staff to work and learn safely, in an adequate environment until a replacement is built; and

2. to replace the school at the earliest opportunity to offer local children opportunities in education that meets modern standards in the light of the shocking state of the current building's fabric.


There is a Strong Educational Case for Building a New Portobello High School in Parkland Grounds

All agree that there is a continuing need for a large secondary school in the Portobello/Duddingston area. This Eastern suburb of the City of Edinburgh attracts and retains families from all social backgrounds in thriving and distinct communities. While there may be relatively modest current housing development plans in the area, the vast scale of accommodation developments in all neighbouring catchments will necessitate the construction and maintenance of a large secondary school for the foreseeable future for the next generation of children and parents.

In educational terms, the current accommodation is unacceptable:

National Policy:

(a) Specifies reducing class size for English and Maths for S1 and S2 years.

(b) Specifies supervised physical activity for 2 hours per week for all years. The school is unable to deliver this target with the current building and any envisaged replacement plan on the current site, and will require both adequate on-site indoor facilities (which it currently does not have) and outdoor facilities.

(c) Specifies increased curriculum flexibility. Portobello High School is a truly comprehensive school, with an ethos to match. It does not have teaching facilities to match, such as those for teaching support for children with particular needs.

Standards of Modern Education, Health and Safety:

(a) A school should have the capability to respond to widely accepted trends of increasing information and communication technology - it cannot due to the complete inadequacy of the current electronic systems.

(b) The standard of Science facilities are currently described as "woeful" in the current establishment.

(c) There are ever more stringent health and safety, and fire safety regulations, and recent stalling on the most basic of investment to ensure safety of pupils and staff gives rise to great concern from the School Board.

(d) The school must also meet the legislative requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. With the current unreliable, and frequently non-functioning lift/elevator systems, disabled staff and pupils are currently unable quite frequently to reach their classes in the tower block. Currently only one lift out of four remains operational and this breaks down on a frequent basis. The Council is trying, through its term maintenance agreement, to return to service two other lifts which serve one floor (6th). We are advised that repairs to the other lift which serves all floors are not viable. This arrangement will not be legally compliant.

(e) While addition of a sports hall in the 90s, and recent refurbishment of the surrounding campus, has improved security the design of the existing building is fundamentally poor for modern educational expectations, and generally accepted standards. A suburban city school should be sited in grounds sufficient to encourage physical activity for a variety of tastes and abilities, and sustainable environmental education in a suitable setting.

In conclusion, the current establishment cannot and will not deliver compliance with legislation, current aspirations for educational policy, nor satisfactory modern education. Refurbishment is out of the question on grounds of wise investment and return, and disruption to current staff and pupils. Re-building a school on site would not deliver a modern specification of a secondary school. Only a new site with sufficient surrounding grounds and adequate construction budget to meet a highly specified school would be acceptable to School Board members.

St John's Primary School has accepted its neighbouring High School for the past 40 years, and lies to the north of the High School on the adjacent campus. The School Board welcomes the prospect of a similar physical relationship between the schools, securing an efficient and integrated solution with common facilities that might include power and catering, and possibly common educational facilities too. The High School Board would call on the Council to ensure separate school identities for both institutions, embracing new arrangements that work best for both schools.

The School Board calls on the Council to:

- accept the principle of school replacement for Portobello High School, and quickly;

- accept that the present school building fails on many grounds, and is beyond economic repair;

- works with community interests and experts in planning, development, design and education to build a High School for Portobello that is a credit to the Council, local people and their children, and staff dedicated to educational excellence; and

- accept a mandate to build an adjacent yet distinct Primary School.

Consideration of the Current Outline Plan

The current outline plan, as described at the beginning of this submission, would fulfil the most basic criteria.

In our judgement, these criteria include the following:

(a) new schools that are arranged and resourced in the best interests of children and the wider community;

(b) local schools that are central in the catchment area for local children, accessible through walking, cycling, public and private transport (in that priority order) and lie in adequate grounds; and

(c) facilities that constitute a core asset to the community, making maximum and appropriate use of existing community space, enhanced with good planning and design.

At the outset, we have been impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment of representatives of Children and Families, City Development and the Edinburgh Development Initiative (EDI) and feel confident that we can achieve the best solution within available resources through partnership with stakeholders.

The School Board held a meeting of parents on 16 March. Approximately 60 attended. Councillor Ian Perry presented the outline proposal. He and Councillor Rev Evan Aitken answered questions and took part in small group discussions to draw out the main features and points of concern.

The discussions can be summarised in a series of recommendations to the Council :

• Portobello needs a new school. Keep pursuing it.
• Demonstrate that all options for a new school have been examined.
• Make a commitment to minimising the amount of land sold for housing and to spending 100% of proceeds on the new school (or schools).
• Make a commitment to building an environmentally friendly, sustainable school surrounded by playing fields and leisure areas that are planted with native species to increase biodiversity.
• Make a commitment to including the whole community (community groups, pupils, teachers and parents) in the planning of the new school building.

The full set of reports from the meeting and discussion groups is attached as Appendix 1.

The School Board recognises that, of course, there are concerns about all aspects of the plan, not least the nature and consequences of a large school in existing parkland; the housing element on each of the sites in question; the displacement of the golf course; the re-arrangement of playing fields and the best use of parkland; and amenity to neighbours both in the existing and future planned school sites.

Board members, individually and together, have considered all these matters seriously over several years, and have given each component and consequence of the current outline plan considerable thought. The large majority of the School Board judge that the plan, in outline, has merit, and is worth developing to a detailed stage. It overall places children's education, wellbeing and development central to the priorities both of the physical development and the sustenance of a vibrant community. Ideally also, the school and associated grounds and public parkland would address and enhance the interests of all ages, the children, their parents, staff and future generations of young people.

The School Board has a parent member who is opposed to the outline plan in principle, but not necessarily to consultation on a specific proposal. He is opposed to the diminution of any green space, especially in a centrally located suburban area. He submits that replacement of the school should be resourced by the Council through means other than the purchase, sale and development of green space.

We call on the City of Edinburgh Council to present a detailed plan for formal consultation to the communities of Portobello, Duddingston and surrounding areas at the earliest possible date.

Alternative Options

The Council, in presenting this outline plan, has implicitly abandoned the prospect of a future financial facility that will enable construction of a new building without income generation to fund the development. It is, however, necessary to clarify this matter, and the implicit conclusion that building a new school on the current site is neither viable nor acceptable. It should also outline the implications, both financial and educational, if such an establishment were to be built on the current site, the specific implications for pupils and staff in the 2-3 year period of construction, and phased replacement with creation of temporary facilities and possibly decant of portions of the school to other locations.


The School Board is united in its vision that Portobello High School is a good school, potentially a school of great distinction. It is already a key community resource with extended hours of opening and heavy use, both for educational purposes for every generation, and for wider community purposes. It already has an excellent neighbouring Primary School with which it is happy to share a new campus. However, with the urgency that the state of the existing High School building dictates, this cannot be a farsighted vision. Children, parents, staff, now and in the future, cannot wait that long.

Within that vision of excellent local schooling is the reality of embracing new housing accommodation, and the preservation of amenities. Components of such amenity include security of educational facilities, preservation of trees in the surrounding parkland, best use of re-arranged parkland with pedestrian and road access, and an acceptable and accessible golf course. The Board share the concern of local residents at the periphery of the park that any housing development results in minimum impact to the amenity of the park. The majority of the Board hold the view that siting a school or schools in the park has the potential to enhance the amenity of the park and the suburban area generally, securing surrounding parkland in the long-term. The community deserve green space and new schools.

The School Board submits in favour of a detailed plan and consultation, without delay, for a new Portobello High School and associated features that has education at its heart; imagination, integration and involvement in its implementation; and ambition for local communities in the future.



APPENDIX 1


A New School for Portobello?
The parents’ view
Report of meeting held 16th March 2006

About 60 parents attended the meeting which was chaired by Andrew Fraser, chair of the School Board and attended by Cllrs Berry and Aitken. Cllr Berry outlined the plans and two school pupils, Jim Wyke and Alasdair Fraser, gave their views. There were some open questions followed by four group discussions set around five main questions.

Summary of parents’ views


Parents were unanimous that a new school was needed. The majority felt that the plans offered the opportunity for a school to be placed at the heart of the community with excellent sporting and other facilities that could be used by all. It meant that Portobello’s children would have a purpose built school that would be flexible in its use, built to high standards and that was environmentally sustainable. Parents were also pleased that the new school would not be built under PPP so that the school would have control over its standards and its use into the future. The proposal to build on Portobello Park also meant that pupils would not have to be ‘decanted’ and face considerable disruption during building work.

Concerns were expressed. All were clear that the Council should show that all other possibilities had been exhausted. All attending also regretted the perceived need to sell some land for housing and there was widespread agreement that this should be kept to a minimum, that all proceeds be spent on the new school. Access to high quality football pitches for community groups was also seen as essential. A minority view was that no green space should be sold for any reason and that Portobello Park was a community asset that should not be lost. Others were concerned at the timescale suggested that evening (10 years) and that this was not acceptable. An entry of 2009/10 was more reasonable yet achievable.

The discussions can be summarised in a series of recommendations to the Council:
• Portobello needs a new school. Keep pursuing it.
• Demonstrate that all options for a new school have been examined.
• Make a commitment to minimising the amount of land sold for housing and to spending 100% of proceeds on the new school (or schools).
• Make a commitment to building an environmentally friendly, sustainable school surrounded by playing fields and leisure areas that are planted with native species to increase biodiversity.
• Make a commitment to including the whole community (community groups, pupils, teachers and parents) in the planning of the new school building.




Feedback from Group Discussion 1 - Chaired by Ken Aitken

What are the good things about the outline plans you have heard?
• A new Portobello High School (and a new St John’s Primary School)
• Schools that are fit for purpose
• Schools with their own playing fields
• A new golf course with better facilities
• Proposal will be largely self-financing.
• It is the first “firmâ€

[Gemini]

[Bob Jefferson]

[Alison Connelly]

..

[Bob Jefferson]

Alison, I beg to differ. The link is to a letter that addresses the issue of maintenance of green spaces. The maintenance and preservation of green spaces are different matters. Councils may be very good at maintaining green spaces and very bad at preserving them, or vice versa. Or they may be very good at both, or very bad at both. I'm sure that the maintenance of green space would make an interesting topic for discussion but it is, as far as I'm concerned, irrelevant to this one.

[Alison Connelly]

..

[Jbrock]

Does anyone know how to contact the Portobello Park Action Group? As a supporter of PFANS, I think it would be useful for PFANS and this group to meet and see what scope there is to work together for our community rather than letting the council, Evening News or others, for whatever purposes, divide us.

I am sure there are some aims that we could hold in common. Let's meet and discuss. Members of the Group could reply to me or to pfans@hotmail.co.uk to progress this.

However, I am disappointed at some of the statements in the Group's flyer for its meeting:

I am not sure what "hysterical reports" are circulating about the state of the schools? I think the only ones worth paying any attention to are the PHS PPP feasibility study and the PHS Board's report just posted on the Forum. St John's school has a feasibility study which attempts to address the shortcomings of the buildings and play areas and its Board is currently evaluating a parent questionnaire. The authors have expertise and knowledge of the conditions in both these schools. What criteria are the authors of this flyer using to suggest these are exaggerated?

Is there a suggestion that Portobello Park will not remain in our ownership if schools are built on the site? At the PFANS meeting, Cllr Perry said it would remain publicly owned -what information is now available to suggest he is misleading us?

A proposal to extend a share of the park to 1,800 children hardly constitutes "one less local facility."

[Bob Jefferson]

I understand that some members of the group opposing the Council's proposal are now considering the failed PPP2 plan for a new PHS re-built on the existing site. Although PPP is off the agenda as a means of delivering a new school, they "find the scheme of interest and think it has potential."

Since they are not prepared to discuss the idea on this forum, I will try to get a copy of the plan in question. I believe that outdoor sports provision is restricted to one all-weather pitch. And it still leaves the problem of decant of course. The person I spoke to felt that it could be financed through 'traditional sources of funding, like they used to do before New Labour.'

edited (twice) for reasons I am unable to divulge

[Bob Jefferson]

The report on the proposal will now be submitted to the full Council meeting on 4 May, as explained in the following letter from Roy Jobson, Director of Children and Families:

[Poppy]

[Bob Jefferson]

[Dave Connelly]

[Bob Jefferson]

[Dave Connelly]

[kittywink]

Portobello Park Action Group have a new website which, although still under construction, offers contact details and information.

http://www.portygreenkeepers.org.uk/

[kittywink]

Hello all.....sorry I should have drawn your attention to the e-petition linked to the 'porty greenkeepers' new website in my previous post.

[Dave Connelly]

[wangi]

[dccairns]

Well, maybe the council should look a bit wider around the catchment area then for a new site and not jsut focaus on Portobello.

The PFANS petition is a bit vague when it talks about "schools in a parkland setting" but it is my understanding that the group only wants the schools in one particular parkland setting, i.e. the park and golf course, and that other areas of parkland, such as the Jewel, are not acceptable.

[wangi]

[Dave Connelly]