East Dunbartonshire Council has recently voted to go ahead with a public consultation on the future of the primary and nursery estate across the council area. This consultation will have an impact on many parents and families in Milngavie, not simply on those associated with St Joseph’s Primary.
Since August, members of the parent councils have been involved in the development and structure of this consultation. However the proposals for Milngavie include the merger of St Joseph’s Primary, Milngavie and St Andrew’s Primary, Bearsden on the Bearsden site as well as two potential merger options involving Milngavie Primary and Clober Primary and the construction of a new school to be built on the Clober site.
At this point this does not mean schools will close, nor that any final decisions have been made.
At this point this does not mean schools will close, nor that any final decisions have been made.
However in the consultation, which takes the form of a short questionnaire, the council are now asking the general public to indicate which proposals have the most support and our school is very much in the middle of those plans. To save our school and the future of catholic education in Milngavie our school will need not just the support of the families at the school but importantly also the support of our wider parish, friends and the wider Milngavie community.
The structure of the questionnaire separates questions about changes to schools in Milngavie. The proposals for Milngavie Primary, Clober Primary and Baldernock schools are described in a different section to the proposal for St Joseph's. This lack of clarity means many local parents may not link the proposals for all the schools in Milngavie together, and therefore may miss the bigger picture.
It is vital all parents and those interested in local provision of statutory services fill in the survey. Council provision of local faith schools is a statutory obligation. To remove this facility from the community of Milngavie by the suggestion that a merger with a school in Bearsden fulfils this remit for the Milngavie community is akin to closing our library and saying that the one in Bearsden would serve our community just as well. The long term impact of combining our separate communities in this way could see all manner of council services merged across distinct community borders.
The structure of the questionnaire separates questions about changes to schools in Milngavie. The proposals for Milngavie Primary, Clober Primary and Baldernock schools are described in a different section to the proposal for St Joseph's. This lack of clarity means many local parents may not link the proposals for all the schools in Milngavie together, and therefore may miss the bigger picture.
It is vital all parents and those interested in local provision of statutory services fill in the survey. Council provision of local faith schools is a statutory obligation. To remove this facility from the community of Milngavie by the suggestion that a merger with a school in Bearsden fulfils this remit for the Milngavie community is akin to closing our library and saying that the one in Bearsden would serve our community just as well. The long term impact of combining our separate communities in this way could see all manner of council services merged across distinct community borders.
Now is not the time to panic but what is clear is that the council is set to make changes to the structure and location of primary schools in Milngavie and across the wider East Dunbartonshire area. Retaining the status quo is not an option. The short questionnaire will sent to a limited number of households in the New Year but will also be available to complete online from January 8, 2013 until the beginning of February.
There will be a meeting for parents from St Joseph’s at the school in early January to discuss our approach to this further. It is vital that a representative from every family attends this meeting. We have also created a Face book page search for Friends of St Joseph’s so you can keep in touch with developments.
No comments:
Post a Comment