School Future
The council is planning to split the school into two halves - an upper and a lower school - planned for the start of the 2011 school year. The new building will house the upper school (P4-P7) and the current school will cater purely for the lower school and nursery.
A copy of the brief for the new school is available here. Please let me know if you’d like this file in any other format.
Minutes of the Project Group Meeting of 15th January are available here.
UPDATE December 2007
Issued by the Department of Education and Children’s Services, East Lothian Council:
Meeting of the Dunbar Primary School Provision Project Group
The Dunbar Primary School Provision Project Group met on Wednesday 12 December 2007. This group includes parents, members of staff, local councillors and council officers. It is responsible for overseeing matters to do with building the new P4 to P7 school in Dunbar.
Timescales
It heard about timescales for planning, design, purchase of land and construction of the new school, south of the railway line. The Council will write to the Developer to confirm its preferred location for the new school – please see the plan attached to this Update for more information. [PDF file is available here.] This site is the most appropriate for this development and offers the greatest potential for children to walk and cycle safely to school. If everything goes to plan, the school should be completed by mid-February 2011.
Reason for revised timescales
The local community want the new primary school to cater for P4 to P7, which has meant that we have had to revise our original plans for a P1 to P7 primary school. The new plan has big implications for transport management. We will have to build the school as near to Hallhill as possible to shorten travel for pupils coming from north of the railway.
Smaller school roll by 2010/11
We have managed to reduce the pressure on the current Dunbar Primary buildings by putting into place a pupil-intake management plan. This means that the school roll in 2010/11 will be 860, as opposed to the 1050 that we forecast originally.
Plans for some new housing in the area have also been put on hold.
Consultation group
We are setting up a consultation group that will include parents, pupils, members of staff and the local community to help in the design process.
Project Group
The Project Group will meet every month throughout 2008. It will look at:
• the design and construction of the school
• management of pupils in Dunbar Primary School’s current premises until completion of the new school.
Strategic goals for the Project Group
The Project Group is committed to ensuring that:
1. the health and safety of children is not compromised.
2. the design of the new school is geared towards providing the highest quality of educational environment for learning to take place
3. the quality of education of pupils currently in Dunbar Primary School is not compromised during the building phase.
We will be holding a Public Meeting in Dunbar Primary School on Wednesday 16th January 2008 at 7pm. All welcome.
Agenda for Public Meeting
• Update on action taken since the decision to build P4-P7 school south of the railway.
• Outline of planning and consultation process, with timelines.
• Questions – the Parent Council will collect these before the meeting. This will make sure that we are able to give full and clear answers. (If you would like to put questions to this meeting, please send them to the Dunbar Primary Parent Council, Dunbar Primary School, Lammermuir Crescent, Dunbar EH42 1DG).
More information
If you would like more information about anything to do with Dunbar Primary School provision, please contact Don Ledingham.
Tel: 01620 827 596
Email: dledingham@eastlothian.gov.uk
UPDATE November 2007
Issued by the Department of Education and Children’s Services, East Lothian Council:
The following information was shared at a Dunbar Primary School Parents’ Council meeting held on 1 November 2007.
A public meeting will be convened in early January to provide further information that will be available at that time.
During the round of public meetings that took place earlier this year the school roll projections were presented indicating a possible school roll in August 2010 of between 1,009-1,100 pupils. These figures were based upon all information and assumptions available at that time.
These figures have now been updated and the school roll projections for August 2010 are now between 866-953 pupils. The reduction is due to a number of factors including pupil intake management with a consequential drop in inward migration and a delay in the building of a significant number of houses including the proposed 500 new houses.
A significant amount of work has already been undertaken in relation to transportation and routes to school. The preferred site is adjacent to the Hallhill Centre and discussions have started with the landowner with a view to acquiring a suitable site.
Work has commenced on the preparation of the detailed Client Brief for the new school which will be made available for consultation.
A school design and planning group will be convened which will include pupils, parents, members of staff and the local community. Working with the Council officers they will help to shape and inform the design of the new school and all associated elements.
It was agreed at the parents’ council meeting that the most important factor was to ensure that the process concluded with a school which met the needs of children and the community of Dunbar in an environmentally friendly and educationally appropriate manner.
The meeting date scheduled for January 2008 will be publicised through local media and on the Dunbar Community website.
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This story appeared in the East Lothian Courier Friday, 28th September, 2007
Delay to start on new school
PLANNING delays to the new Dunbar Primary school could push back the start of building work and prevent completion by the original target date – of autumn 2010.
That’s the prediction of veteran local councillor Norman Hampshire, who told the Courier this week that there had been insufficient progress made to guarantee meeting that deadline.
And he warned that failure to do so could result in additional pressure being exerted on the already full to bursting primary school.
“Progress on moving the school forward has not been as fast as I would have expected,” he said.
“No site has yet been secured and so we are not in a position to properly draft a design.
“Because of this delay, the timetable of August 2010 looks unlikely. But if the school is not completed by then it will put us in a very difficult position.
“Some one has to drive this forward because decisions are not being taken to get this moving forward quickly.
“More delays mean more pressure on the existing primary school. We need some one pulling people together on one direction.”
But East Lothian’s principal education officer for strategic planning, Ian Fullerton said the 2010 target related to an earlier proposal to build two separate primary schools which had been scrapped.
“We have never had a timescale for this development but because it is considerably bigger (than the original proposal) it may take longer.
“At the minute we are performing an option appraisal to find a suitable site which is not yet completed.”
Dunbar Primary School parents’ council vice chairman Gordon Saunders echoed councillor Hampshire’s misgivings and added that facilities at the school would suffer as a result.
“My concern is that pupils at the school may not be afforded the same opportunities as with other schools. The gym area is a case in point. The Scottish Government want all schools to have a certain allocation of exercise time each week.
“If we have a burgeoning school population there will not be enough gym space for everyone to have that chance. Kids will miss out on exercise in favour of music or something else.
“The council just need to pull the finger out and build it. It’s the council’s red tape that is holding things up. They should just slap a compulsory purchase order on the land, buy it and build the school.”
Monday January 14th 2008
Pupil Council Minutes:
Today Pupil Council worked on mapping likes, dislikes and improvements regarding the grounds outside school. The P7s were on a school trip and they will hand their maps into the office this week. P3-P6 maps have been handed into Heather’s inbox today.
Pupil Council Reps (P5,6,7) have taken forms for the ELC Feb 6th Parent/ Pupil Council training home and they are to bring their reply forms back to the office with their parents signature and these are to be sent to Val Mcintrye ELC.
Message to Parent Council Class Reps: Please look at the Pupil
Council board regarding classrooms survey (which Pupil Council did before Christmas break and is up on their info. board).
Penny has asked Pupil Council to work on Positive Behaviour policy next meeting (first Monday in Feb.) and Pupil Council are happy to do this.
Pupil Council wishes to organise a dance at the school before Feb. break. They would like to know if they can and if yes could it be the last week before the break?
A Task Group formed to organise the school dance. They are just awaiting the all clear from the school.
Please communicate directly with Pupil Council and myself via the Pupil Council Board and my email address until we have sorted out Pupil Council web page.
Kind regards
Susan Guy
on behalf of
Pupil Council
Please encourage any Parent and Pupil Council representatives to come to the ELC Mini Toolkit Training Feb. 6th 7pm-9pm at Dunbar Grammar.