Save Scalloway School

[Para Handy]

For the sake of clarity and without wishing to go off topic, the SIC education budget isn't affected by Mareel

 

Mareel is managed by Shetland Arts Development Agency, not the SIC - the SIC contributed around half of the capital build costs and there is no ongoing revenue costs to the SIC

 

Another perfect example of trying to con the public into thinking that SIC and the Charitable Trust (and the individual trusts) are not irretrievably linked.

 

Have to disagree with you on that. The Marel is a waste of money and I played in bands up here for over 39 years I saw no reason for an Albert hall in Shetland back in the 1970s and still see no need for it now

It will end up being subsidised by the council. As all the sport centres and pools are or end up as another pub for drunks to hang out in at weekends.

The kids education is and will always be more important than Marel.

If they can find money for that then. The councillors have no right to close any Schools

It’s time someone cut up the councils never ending credit card. None of them has any principals when it comes to spend the councils wealth.

 

 

O! “Charity†Should begin at home. Trust or Otherwise. The oil money should be there to help a the population of Shetland And not the councillors pet projects. Like salmon farms and fishing boats knitwear factories You now? the ones that wont pay the money back. Norröna ect

And all that’s happened over the past 12 months has proved that most of them can’t be trusted to get anything right Save pennies lose Millions of Pounds

[Ghostrider]

You will also find that education today is very different to education when there were classes of 40. I can not see how every child, in a class of 40, can receive a meaningful education or support when needed. When I was a child I can remember being 'overlooked' in a class because I was not necessary one of the brighter kids - this shouldn't happen today...

 

It may be very different, but is it any better? Surely the end result is what matters.

 

As I think I've said on here before, 40 years ago I started out in a four teacher, a few shy of 100 pupil school. Primary 1 was single teacher, the other years were two per teacher, class numbers varied between 20+ and 30+. The Headmaster taught full time, there was no Janitor, only a very part-time caretaker. I think we all received an adequate if not "good" education, most who showed potential and felt inclined to take advantage of what was on offer, left school with perfectly acceptable grades. I didn't see any of the staff being noticably overworked.

 

Granted the previous set up had been in one or two teacher schools with 30+ class sizes, and I will agree one teacher covering everyone of all abilities from 5 years old to 12 years old was just too thinly spread on occasion, but in the 20+ - 30+ class sizes with one or two age groups, it seemed to work out okay.

 

Certainly the curriculum these days covers a broader range than it did in 1970 which has to be catered to, but is the staff levels common in schools today really value for money, or is it just a case its "desirable" to have so many folk at each others beck and call?

[Vicky]

To put the ‘overcrowding’ argument into context, the AHS roll was 933 in 1986. If the blueprint proposals are implemented and Scalloway and Skerries secondaries close, the roll would be 928. The AHS hasn’t shrunk and has had a new science block added since. I accept that buildings age and that curriculum needs and expectations change over time and whilst nobody is in any doubt that the existing school is in need of replacement, it has a capacity of 1200 according to the SIC.

 

When I was there a couple of years ago, there were over 30 of us crammed into a tiny English room with no proper air conditioning and the windows couldn't open properly. There is a cap on class sizes but this is often ignored and you end up with a situation like this. So just because on paper that is the capacity, it's not like you can spread out the student evenly throughout the school. It is overcrowded as it is, ask anyone who was been there is the past few years.

[gafynandrew]

Yes stirrer it would be refreshing to see decisions based on whats good for Shetland as opposed to whats good for Lerwick.

 

I am willing to bet the sums saved by closing Scalloway will be much less than predicted, and the sums spent on new schools in Lerwick will astronomical if they ever manage to build them.

 

I am 100% for savings, but this has more to do with justifying what they want to build in Lerwick.

 

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

If the council is so concerned about saving money, then why did it waste untold MILLIONS on white elephant projects like the Bressay bridge, the Mareel, Smyril line, and arguably the museum.

 

The answer to me is glaringly simple. Extend the Scalloway school (there's a lot of space available....on site, unlike Lerwick) and have the new 'super high-school' in Scalloway. Maybe that's just a bit too much like common sense...

Why does the new school HAVE to be in Lerwick?? Or is it just a case of Sandy Clueless O.B.E. (one boiled egg) wanting to leave another of his lavish marks upon the lerwick landscape.....

[Carlos]

If the council is so concerned about saving money, then why did it waste untold MILLIONS on white elephant projects like the Bressay bridge, the Mareel, Smyril line, and arguably the museum.

Essentially because they have pretty free reign over how they spend capital money, but have a lot more outside pressure to control revenue spending.

[Lively]

Yes stirrer it would be refreshing to see decisions based on whats good for Shetland as opposed to whats good for Lerwick.

 

I am willing to bet the sums saved by closing Scalloway will be much less than predicted, and the sums spent on new schools in Lerwick will astronomical if they ever manage to build them.

 

I am 100% for savings, but this has more to do with justifying what they want to build in Lerwick.

 

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

If the council is so concerned about saving money, then why did it waste untold MILLIONS on white elephant projects like the Bressay bridge, the Mareel, Smyril line, and arguably the museum.

 

The answer to me is glaringly simple. Extend the Scalloway school (there's a lot of space available....on site, unlike Lerwick) and have the new 'super high-school' in Scalloway. Maybe that's just a bit too much like common sense...

Why does the new school HAVE to be in Lerwick?? Or is it just a case of Sandy Clueless O.B.E. (one boiled egg) wanting to leave another of his lavish marks upon the lerwick landscape.....

 

Could've have saved a fortune if they'd thought about building the 'super high-school' in Scalloway. Still not too late....

[Ghostrider]

^^ Build it in the Black Gaet, roughly equidistant, plenty of room and a whole lot more convenient for those being bussed in from all directions. I daresay Lerwick and Scalloway would appreciate the twice daily traffic reductions.

[russaway]

It may be very different, but is it any better? Surely the end result is what matters.

 

As I think I've said on here before, 40 years ago I started out in a four teacher, a few shy of 100 pupil school. Primary 1 was single teacher, the other years were two per teacher, class numbers varied between 20+ and 30+. The Headmaster taught full time, there was no Janitor, only a very part-time caretaker. I think we all received an adequate if not "good" education, most who showed potential and felt inclined to take advantage of what was on offer, left school with perfectly acceptable grades. I didn't see any of the staff being noticably overworked.

 

Granted the previous set up had been in one or two teacher schools with 30+ class sizes, and I will agree one teacher covering everyone of all abilities from 5 years old to 12 years old was just too thinly spread on occasion, but in the 20+ - 30+ class sizes with one or two age groups, it seemed to work out okay.

 

Certainly the curriculum these days covers a broader range than it did in 1970 which has to be catered to, but is the staff levels common in schools today really value for money, or is it just a case its "desirable" to have so many folk at each others beck and call?

 

we aren't talking about primary education here. Scalloway acctually has quite a modest amount of teachers. 2 for maths, 2 for english, 2 for music, 2 for PE, 2 for foreign languages, 1 for each of the sciences, 1 for each of art, history, home ec and geography. The geography teacher is also the Modern studies one. There is one computing teacher to cover computing, admin, bussiness managment and accounts. Also I think there are 3 "teaching asisstants" they are for ASN. I really don't think that Scalloway has too many teachers for it to be considered an arguement. Some of these teach primary as well, Primary education at scalloway would be affected by closure of the secondary department by the reduction of specialist teachers. There would be a lack of P.E, music, science and language teacher for them.

[Teenie3]

Just wondering how much would actually be saved from closing the Secondary Dept at Scalloway?

 

Would the SIC not still have the staff wage bill as they would have to find them employment elsewhere? And would they still not have to maintain the building as there is a Primary Dept there too?

[MuckleJoannie]

I understand that a lot of teachers who were recruited when school rolls rose in the late 70's will now be nearing retirement so we may actually be facing a staff shortage before too long.

 

The Scalloway primary and secondary department use different parts of the building so only minimal maintenance would be needed on the vacant secondary department.

 

As for extending the Scalloway school building it was proposed a few years ago and proved impossible as the school already occupies the maximum area it can on the site.

[gafynandrew]

I understand that a lot of teachers who were recruited when school rolls rose in the late 70's will now be nearing retirement so we may actually be facing a staff shortage before too long.

 

The Scalloway primary and secondary department use different parts of the building so only minimal maintenance would be needed on the vacant secondary department.

 

As for extending the Scalloway school building it was proposed a few years ago and proved impossible as the school already occupies the maximum area it can on the site.

 

Crikey! there's a whole open park to the west of the school....extend the site!...nothing's impossible.

 

Does anyone know the full running costs of Scalloway and the Anderson schools per year? It'd be interesting to find out just how much money is being spent on the Anderson in comparison to Scalloway what with Scalloway being the younger and more modern building.....

[JustMe]

Just wondering how much would actually be saved from closing the Secondary Dept at Scalloway?

 

Would the SIC not still have the staff wage bill as they would have to find them employment elsewhere? And would they still not have to maintain the building as there is a Primary Dept there too?

This notion that the SIC cannot make teachers redundant is simply wrong. Teachers who no longer have a role in a particular school should of course be offered a chance to move to fill a vacancy in another school if such a vacancy exists but otherwise they should be made redundant in the same was as other workers would be if their jobs vanished.

 

As for the school buildings is there not a plot to close Hamnavove and Tingwall schools to make one "super primary" in Scalloway. Or alternatively perhaps some parts of the school could be demolished.

[EM]

Re-roof the castle!

[angelpie]

I'm pretty certain that nobody really wants to close Scalloway. Maintaining the status quo is always the easy option as it doesnt upset anyone. However, we vote councilors into power in order for them to do what is the sensible for our long term future and I'm sure they have not deliberately decided to do a very unpopular thing for no reason. The fact is, Shetlands oil money will run out in just a few years if nothing is done to stem the huge holes in the local council budget. We need to pull together for the sake of everyone. Closing schools will only be the start of saving money. Turbulent times ahead sadly.

[russaway]

The super primary idea will almost definetley happen I think. Either that or more council offices. Speaking of council offices why aren't savings being made in Hayfield before school closures? l don't think having offices next to a school would have a good affect on primary education and there are a hundred arguments against closing cluster primaries