Consulatation Reports Published on Proposed New Schools in Coldside, Menzieshill and Strathmartine

The Education Department has recently been consulting on three proposals in line with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

The proposals were:

• to relocate Rosebank Primary School, Our Lady’s Primary School and Frances Wright Pre-School Centre to a new shared campus site with shared community facilities in the Coldside area;
• to discontinue Hillside and Gowriehill Primary Schools and build a new 3 stream primary school incorporating a provision to replace Menzieshill Nursery School; and
• to build a community campus on the site of the existing Baldragon Academy on a phased basis to include Baldragon Academy, Sidlaw View Primary School and Jessie Porter Nursery School.

As part of the process, the authority must publish a report after the end of the consultation period which must contain:

• an explanation of how the proposal has been reviewed;
• the full text of the Education Scotland (HMIe) report which considers the educational aspects of the proposal;
• a summary of the points raised during the proposal (written and oral) and the authority’s response to them;
• a statement explaining how the authority has reviewed the proposal in the light of representations and the Education Scotland (HMIe) report.

The Consultation Reports are available to download below:

• Coldside Area Consultation Report (124KB MS Word doc)
• Menzieshill Area Consultation Report (145KB MS Word doc)
• Strathmartine Area Consultation Report (99KB MS Word doc)

They will be available on the council’s website from Monday 22 April for a period of four weeks. Paper copies of the report will be available to in the reception area of each establishment involved in the consultation process. In addition, a copy will be available at Customer Services Reception, Dundee House, 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee.

At the end of the consultation period, a final decision will be taken on each proposal and a report taken to the Education Committee and Policy and Resources Committee on Monday 24 June 2013.

Education Department Got Their Maths Wrong Counting up 30 Consultation Days

Earlier this week the Director of Education advised Councillors that the official date for the end of the formal consultation on the proposals for new schools in Menzieshill and Coldside had been extended. 

It is clear that the original date that had been notified in letters last month had been miscalculated. Apparently staff had not taken account of the closure days for the half term holiday and Continuous Professional Development days when calculating the exact minimum period for the legally defined period of consultation. Getting the maths wrong on a simple calculation is an embarrassing mistake for the Education Department to make.

"The Director of Education's separate letter for each of the three clusters of schools very formally reads:

'Addendum

Please note that the closing date for the consultation period is Thursday 14 March 2013.

This will ensure full compliance with the 30 day term period in line with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.' 

This is also an expensive mistake. To comply with government regulations, I understand that every parent and carer in each of the schools affected will have had to have been written to again by letter. As a second class tamp costs 50p this will cost hundreds of pounds. This is a most unwelcome waste of cash from the budget for schools which should have been avoided. 

Finally, given that the letter had to be sent out, I think the space left on the page could have been usefully used to remind parents and carers and others consulted that they had more time to send in their views to the Education Department and how to do this. Clarity in communication should be the hallmark of letters and reports from the Education Department and these letters are not a good example.

Clearly the Education Department's Report Card should read, 'must do better'.