Happy Christmas and a Guid New Year

Dundee Has Lowest Level of P1-3 Pupils in Classes of 18 or Fewer

Scottish Government education statistics published on Wednesday have revealed that only 2.8% of Dundee pupils in their first three years at Primary School are in classes with a pupil teacher ratio of 18 or fewer. 

Compared with other Councils in Scotland, Dundee is bottom of this class. The average percentage across Scotland is 12.9%.

The overall Pupil Teacher Ratio in Dundee primary schools has also increased over the last year continuing a trend from 2008. 

In 2007, the SNP promised parents and carers in Scotland they would reduce class sizes for all P1-3 classes to 18 or fewer. More recently, they reduced their target to 20% of primary 1-3 pupils in these smaller classes. These statistics show that in Dundee they have totally failed with only a handful of classes across the city with 18 or fewer pupils.

Unfortunately Dundee is bottom of this national league table. Pupils, parents and carers in the City deserve better. 

SNP Councillors in Dundee have some explaining to do.

Upgraded Car Park at Gillies Park on its Way

On Monday night the City Development Committee approved a tender for £48,358 for the surfacing of the car park at Gillies Park and some related lighting work.

I welcome this contract for the surfacing of the car park at Gillies Park. Many Barnhill residents have complained to me about the potholes and mud in the car park so I am sure they will welcome this upgrade.

It will also help parents and carers dropping off and picking up their children from Barnhill Primary School. The Nursery and P1 classes located in the new extension to the school are easily accessed from Gillies Park.

There will also be improvements to the lighting which should help all park users feel more confident about walking through the park at night time.

I have been assured that the work will be carried out before the end of March so thankfully folk won't have to endure the potholes much longer.

Christmas Land Train and Santa's Grotto in Broughty Ferry Sunday Afternoon 14 December 2014

Come to central Broughty Ferry to do your Christmas shopping on Sunday 14th December 2014 and take your children for a ride on the Festive Train and visit to Santa's Grotto between 12-4 that afternoon.

The land train, decorated with lights and tinsel, will be offering rides around central Broughty Ferry with pick up/and drop off outside Visocchi’s in Gray Street. The specail £1 fare will be donated to charity.

Santa and his elves will also be handing out sweets to children from their Grotto 

These events are all courtesy of the Broughty Ferry Traders' Association.

Clean Sweep Along Coastal Path

Earlier this week, staff from Dundee's Environment Department deployed one of their smaller mechanical sweepers on the coastal pathway between the Stannergate and Douglas Terrace. This has cleared up accumulated debris on both sides of the path. 

I am sure regular users of the path, including dog walkers and cyclists, will notice the difference.

Well done to the Environment Department to whom I had made a request. I have also suggested that this stretch of pathway is regularly scheduled for a clean sweep, perhaps once every one or two months.

Dundee Named the First UK City of Design by UNESCO

On Monday 1st December, Dundee was designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the first City of Design in the UK.

Our city has been recognised by UNESCO for its diverse contributions to fields including medical research, comics and video games.

The title recognises the design innovations Dundee has contributed to the world, including, biomedical research which has led to numerous new drugs, comics including the Beano and Dandy, orange marmalade, and video games including Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto.

The city's waterfront is also undergoing a 30-year, £1bn regeneration project at the waterfront. Central to this plan is the creation of V&A Museum of Design Dundee. The city is also home to Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee Rep Theatre, McManus Art Gallery and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.

Through this prestigious award, it has joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network along with 27 other cities from 19 countries. Within the network there are seven thematic areas: Craft and Folk Arts, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music

Launched in 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The network aims to foster international cooperation between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and enhanced influence of cultural in the world.

This designation is further recognition of the growing reputation and confidence of Dundee as a city with international significance.

World AIDS Day 1 December 2014

On October 27, 1988, the UN General Assembly officially declared December 1, 1988, to be World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day has also been observed on this date each year since then.

Is your HIV knowledge stuck in the 80s? Take part in a World AIDS Day quiz to find out.

AIDS stands for "acquired immune deficiency syndrome" or "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome" and denotes a condition, which results from the damage done by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) to the immune system. The condition was first identified in 1981 and the name "AIDS" was first introduced on July 27, 1982.

HIV can only be transmitted between people through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the blood stream with a bodily fluid. Hence, there has been a lot of stigma around the spread of HIV and people living with HIV and AIDS. It has been estimated that around 33 million people around the world have been infected with HIV and that around two million people die from AIDS related conditions each year.

Long Lane Fort Street to Gray Street) Closed to Traffic Monday 8 December 2014

THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 SECTION 14(1)

THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of carriageway investigation works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Long Lane (from Fort Street to Gray Street), Broughty Ferry, Dundee

This notice comes into effect on Monday 8 December 2014 for 1 day.

Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. The one-way order relating to Long Lane will be rescinded for the duration of these works.

Alternative routes for vehicles will be available via Fort Street / King Street / Gray Street.

For further information contact (01382) 433082.

Mike P Galloway, Director of City Development Dundee City Council

International Carers’ Rights Day 2014

Today, Friday  28 November 2014 is Carers’ Rights Day, a time dedicated to making sure that carers are aware of their rights and where they can find help and support, raising awareness of the challenges that carers face both in terms of balancing their time and navigating their way to the financial and practical support that they are entitled to. According to Carers UK, almost 47% of carers are greatly worried about money. 

I appreciate the sacrifice that many carers make in, often, giving up work to care while simultaneously being faced with the additional costs of caring, and I hope that all carers, including the reported 660,000 carers in Scotland, have access to the support that they need and understand their rights as carers.

This is Scottish Labour's Carers pledge as written by Carers:

Accountable, Transparent and Responsive support and services for Carers

• Giving the Care Inspectorate responsibility over inspecting Carers services
• Require Local Authorities to do yearly reports on Carer’s support and services, including speaking directly to Carers: this report must be publicly available.

Commit to ensuring Young Carers get the support they need and deserve.

• Fully commit to Scottish Youth Parliament Care. Fair. Share Campaign;
• Changing EMA Guidance so young Carers are guaranteed not to lose EMA due attendance issues
• Extending SAAS dependency grants so Carers get an extra £2640 per year when in High Education
• Extending Young Scot concessionary travel to Young Adult carers until 25
• Investigate what other measures can be introduced to help Young Carers access to education 

Commenting on Proposed Closure of Menzieshill High School at Education Committee 24 November 2014

Commenting at the Education Committee on Monday 24 November 2014 about the proposed closure of Menzieshill High School as part of the School Estate Review brought forward by Director of Education with the support of the SNP group of Councillors. 

Convener, (the SNP's Education Convener, Councillor Stewart Hunter) this report of the School Estate Review, has the structure of a playground joke. You have good news and bad news for parents and carers in Dundee. The good news is that the Council is proposing to build a new shared campus primary school in Whitfield combining under one roof St Luke's and St Matthew's RC Primary School, St Vincent's Primary School and Longhaugh Primary School. The bad news is that the Council is proposing to close Menzieshill High School and gamble that it has enough secondary school places for children in the combined area covering Lochee and the West End.

In my opinion, beginning the process of closing any school is a very serious business. As it says it in the marriage ceremony, 'it is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly'. Closing a secondary school which stands at the heart of its community as a school and recreation centre out of school hours must be a last resort and must be only when all the alternative strategies have been explored and rejected.

This sentiment is contained in the Scottish Government Guidance on School Closures contained in Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 Statutory Guidance issued on 1 August 2014.

In this case I am surprised and disappointed that you have been prepared to bring such a flimsy report to the committee and dismiss the achievements of pupils and teachers with such minimal written evidence.

So as I have said, I don't think the parents, carers, pupils and the teachers of Menzieshill High School are well served if we rely on one short paragraph and table showing comparative school roll 2008/9 - 2014/15 to begin the process of closing a school. All the report reveals is that the school roll has gone down by 10 pupils in the last year and 57 pupils in the last four years. That's the sum total of the evidence brought forward to support closure of a secondary school.

In fact when you (Education Convener Councillor Stewart Hunter) went to the press about this you provided some reference to additional evidence which you apparently have been privy to which led you to say - as quoted in the Council's official Press Release dated Friday 13 November:

“This is not an easy option to bring forward, but the situation shows no sign of improving and this will only hinder the education of pupils."
“It would be for the educational benefit of young people to attend Harris Academy in the future."
“If pupils go to the new build Harris Academy they will be offered the full curriculum. This is not the case at Menzieshill High at the moment because of the implications of such a small pupil roll."

So apparently the school estate issue has knock on effects to the breadth of curriculum on offer at Menzieshill High School but there is no mention of this in the report we have in front of us tonight.

This admission on your part also raises another important question. If Menzieshill High School cannot deliver a satisfactory breadth of curriculum, how is that any different from 2012/13 when it had just ten fewer pupils? If we accept your conjecture that the school is not delivering an adequate curriculum on your watch, why have you waited to bring this forward as an issue? There must be suspicion about why you delayed making this decision public until the later Autumn, after the Referendum. Importantly the Director of Education did not refer to the curricular shortcomings of small schools in his last annual Standards and Quality Report.

Convener, you are also quoted in that same Council press release as saying:
“Education officials work closely with officers from the city development department to carefully consider demographic trends and planning considerations."
“Numbers of pupils will not rise enough at the associated primary schools to offer an significant increase to the Menzieshill High intake."
I can also confirm that the secondary school identified for the Western Gateway is Baldragon Academy, so that development will have no impact on the roll."

There is no sign of these population projections in the report we have in front of us tonight. More worrying is that later on tonight, in the subsequent meeting of the Social Work and Health Committee, the Review of the Social Work Department Service Plan 2012-14 includes population projections for Dundee to 2032. These show that the under 15 population is projected to increase by 20% over the twenty year period to 2032. What difference will that significant growth in this age group make to the projected rolls of our primary and secondary schools in the city?

We need to know what cognisance has been taken of these trends in the Education Department and whether a move to six non denominational secondary schools down form seven would have sufficient capacity for the expanded demand for places. More specifically, in the context of the proposed joint catchment area for Menzieshill and Harris, can we say with confidence that all pupils living in the catchment area will be able to gain a place at the combined school? I am sure that parents and carers living in the current catchment area of Harris Academy will want to know the effects of current and future cohorts of Menzieshill High School pupils being shoe horned into their new school, will have on access to school places at the school and the quality of education.

Finally, Audit Scotland have criticised councils in Scotland in general and this council in particular for the absence of robust options appraisals when making important decisions. There is no options appraisal and apparently a quite Thatcherite There is No Alternative (TINA) response from the Director and the Administration of the Council. This report is therefore an inadequate response.

We should also examine the catchment area for the western gateway. Indisputably Menzieshill High School is closest geographically to the western gateway area and it is in my opinion it is the mark of a geographically challenged person to claim the this expansion area should continue to fall in the nominal catchment area of Ardler Primary School and Baldragon Academy. When you Convener confirmed that this was the case in the press release it was as though you were slamming the door shut on any initiative to support enlarging the potential roll of Menzieshill High School.

In the belief that it would be totally wrong to initiate the closure Menzieshill High School on the basis of single paragraph and a single table of historic pupil numbers in a report reviewing the school estate in the city, in a report that clearly identifies that the targeted school for closure is assessed as being in superior physical condition to two other secondary schools in the city, in the absence of any educational case for closure, and in the absence of an options appraisal, the following amendment is proposed:

2. Recommendations

ii First Bullet Point
Delete 
"the closure of Menzieshill High School (including the delineation of its existing catchment area within Dundee) to the new Harris Academy, and"

B

Insert
ii Third Bullet Point
"Invites the Director of Education to return to the Education Committee with a comprehensive report about the future of secondary Education at Menzieshill High School containing:
the projected rolls of primary schools in respectively the Menzieshill and Harris catchment areas;
an assessment of the impact of re-delineating the western gateway area from the catchment area of Ardler Primary School/Baldragon Academy to Camperdown Primary School/Menzieshill High School and
an education, pupil focused, options appraisal about the future of Menzieshill High School.

This motion was defeated by all the SNP Councillors voting against it in a block.

Final Countdown to Broughty Christmas Lights Night Thursday 28 November 2014

Christmas Light Night in The Ferry –

Thursday November 27th 2014 in Brook Street and Gray Street in the heart of Broughty Ferry from 6pm.


Sponsored by Gillies: featuring live music, carol singing and carnival attractions, with the lights switch on at 7pm!

NOTE Brook St and Gray St will be closed to traffic from 2pm-9pm

Grove Academy 17th in Sunday Times Top 50 State Secondary Schools in Scotland 2014

Click on table to enlarge

Congratulations to the pupils and staff of Grove Academy which has once again been identified as the top performing state secondary school in Dundee and Tayside. 

In a ranking of the top 50 state secondary schools in Scotland published by the Sunday Times on 23rd November 2014, Grove came in at 17th on the list. This is up from 22nd place in 2013.

Grove have consistently achieved a top 30 place in these ratings over the last five years. Note there are over 350 state secondary schools in Scotland.
The Sunday Times published their list of the top fifty state secondary schools in Scotland on Sunday 23 November 2014.

Commenting on Proposed Closure of Menzieshill High School

It is very disappointing news that the SNP Administration of the Council are proposing to close Menzieshill High School as part of the Review of the School Estate. 

Pupils, parents and staff will be wondering why their secondary school has been allowed to wither on the vine as the school roll reduced over recent years. It was a missed opportunity that the catchment area of the school has not been extended to increase the potential pupil numbers. For example, the Western Gateway area is currently in the catchment area for Baldragon Academy when Menzieshill High School is much closer in distance.

There are many questions to be answered about this proposal with very flimsy details in the Education Committee Report.  It surely needs more than two brief paragraphs to justify the closure of one of our Secondary Schools?

Before the meeting of the Education Committee in ten days time, my Labour Group colleagues and I will want to consult with Head Teachers, parents and carers in the schools together with the relevant trade unions affected by the closure of Menzieshill High School and the other schools affected by the wider proposals in the Schools' Estate Review.

Temporary Road Closures Central Broughty Ferry This Week for the Erection of Christmas Lights

THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY
being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of the erection of the Broughty Ferry Christmas Lights being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in:

1. Brook Street (between Fort Street and Gray Street), Broughty Ferry.

2. Gray Street (between Long Lane and King Street), Broughty Ferry.

3. Fort Street (between Long Lane and King Street), Broughty Ferry.


This notice comes into effect on Tuesday 18 November 2014  for 3 evenings between the hours of 6.00pm and 11.00pm.

Only one section of road will be closed at any one time.
Local diversion routes will be available for each closure.
Access will be maintained where possible.
For further information contact (01382) 433168.

Disappointing News from Abellio ScotRail - No Plans for Enhanced Rail Services in Broughty Ferry

Dutch firm Abellio take over running ScotRail trains next year on a ten year franchise. It is very disappointing news for Broughty Ferry that even before they begin running our trains, Abellio ScotRail have indicated that they have no plans and commitments to improve the frequency of train services for Broughty Ferry.

Our regional transport body TACTRAN have played their part in making the case for an hourly service from Arbroath to Glasgow stopping at Broughty Ferry. Clearly, the Scottish Government, who approved the terms of the new franchise bidding process, did not make enhancing our local train services a priority.

Residents in Broughty Ferry will be wondering why Shona Robison MSP was clearly so ineffective in supporting her constituents aspirations for improvements to the frequency of stopping services in The Ferry.

Despite this very disappointing start by Abellio, I am seeking reassurance that the priorities and conditions of the new franchise does not mean that the door has been slammed shut on making any improvements to rail services in The Ferry for the next ten years.