Blueprint for Education Update - Closures Again - Aith

[Russabell]

Just about every school in shetland , be it primary or secondary is being affected by these ridiculous proposals........all bar 3.....Where in gods name do the lerwick schools fit into all this ? How come no mention is being made about the two primary schools in lerwick , or the ahs ? Why dont they close both the primary schools in lerwick and bus these bairns out to Scalloway...they seem to have created space there !!! And surely the lerwick bairns could survive the arduous 15 min bus ride to scalloway.

 

 

Given that the Lerwick primary pupils are only costing 69% and 77% of the Shetland average, I fail to see how this would save any more money. Having said that, if I felt that my children's education would benefit from having to go to Scalloway and it was financially necessary, then they would go there. However if they had to go to Scalloway simply in order to keep smaller schools with fewer pupils than my bairns have in their entire class open, then I would have something to say about it. (And we would probably be the only place in the UK that didn't have schools in its main centre of population).

 

Have seen/heard so many childish insults and unsubstantiated statements about town pupils bandied about lately, and it really doesn't do people's arguments any favours. It certainly has made me feel less sympathetic.

[khitajrah]

If I felt that my children's education would benefit from being sent to Lerwick I would be happy for them to go. I don't feel that they will benefit, educationally, from the closure of Aith. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[Deorccwen]

Much as it might benefit Lerwick pupils to be educated in a quieter, out of town environment, it's not practical simply because there are more of them, so transport costs would be higher than to transport a smaller number of pupils the same distance.

 

I take issue with the rather sweeping comment made by Staney Dale that a rural education is necessarily detrimental to children, or is a sign of the parents 'having issues'. The fact is that most (I would say 'all' but I have no evidence of that) children in outlying islands visit Lerwick on a fairly regular basis from an early age, and are perfectly capable of managing in a town. I don't wish to erase Staney Dale's personal experience here, but I would argue that rural teens, at least in the 2000s, may even be *more* independent and resourceful than town teens, because they travel long distances to Lerwick on public transport with their friends, unsupervised, spend the day in town, including budgeting for their own meals and other refreshments, unsupervised and then get themselves home unsupervised, on public transport. From Unst, that is nearly a five-hour round-trip commute, not counting the time they spend in town.

 

While there may well be one or two parents who have issues, that does not apply to most people, or they wouldn't let their kids go to Lerwick without them. Neurotic parents are not particular to rural areas - they are universal - and they are a burden that their children have to bear until they can leave home wherever they live, town, city or country. In that respect, the children of neurotic, rural-dwelling Shetland parents are probably at a distinct advantage compared with others in their situation, since they get to be weekly boarders from age 16. Speaking as someone who was raised exclusively in towns and cities and only managed to escape my parents' home when I went to university, I can honestly say that I would have been delighted to have their opportunity.

[Spinner72]

Valid points, but so are nearly all as they reflect each individuals point of view.

 

As I see it the education depts stance is that these proposed closure are for educational reasons, as if they don't happen, then all schools budgets will have to be cut so education will suffer across the board.

 

Thats fair enough, and pretty obvious really.

 

However, again, the issue is that there is no proof or confidence that these proposals will save the money stated, so education will suffer anyway.

 

Let us see a simple graph, with the situation now, and with the proposed closures in place, with everything taken into account. Wages, transport, maintenance of buildings, "non attributable costs", everything.

[The Cheesemaker]

I think that what is being lost in some of these discussions is actually what impact these changes will have on the kids... its not just about the financial arguments or what is quickly becoming a toonie/country battle.

 

We moved up from South 4 years ago and our kids came out of a 'small' village school of 180 pupils with classes of 32. When they joined Aith they quickly found friends, enjoyed the smaller class-sizes and relationships built with teachers. They have had very good education in the four years since, in fact they have done really well, with the educational model suiting them (back in England- its all about passing SATS rather than focusing on basic skills). If we were still in Bedfordshire, they would have been confronted at age 11 with a long bus journey on a double decker with escorts to a 2000 pupil school- even so, there were issues with smoking, fire-works being let off and routine bullying - this caused us real apprehension and it is something that we saw as a real advantage in us coming to Shetland, where they could have the benefit of a rural education, delaying the 'sausage factory where nobody remembers your name' as late as possible. The Aith and junior high model works so well in dealing with this issue.

 

Whilst my job is very West, we actually have lived the past 2 years in the central mainland - however, with the agreement of the school we continue to school our children at Aith - because it is a good school - and year after year, most of Andersons high achievers (5 or more A's) come from Aith - they must be doing something right.

 

You might be thinking - here is another incomer, benefitting from our unsustainable public services who wants nothing to change - a nimby. Well no - I recognise that things change and we must adapt, but I'm still not convinced that the financial argument is proven... magically all the staff in the secondary depts will disappear or be re-deployed at no additional cost - really? this may be because many are currently on temporary contracts, but there are still lots of rural jobs at threat and I can't see how they can all go without an impact on the local economy. Aith is a buoyant rural village, with a new housing estate and much private building ongoing.. together with a barely viable leisure centre. Dismantle secondary education and there will be a real impact on that community and ofcourse the bairns who will miss part of growing up in their community in a way thats been enjoyed for a generation or more.

 

Time that the Councillors took that big picture look at spending, identified their priorities and cut the cloth accordingly preserving education/social care and ferries/gritting which make rural life possible. They need to be more creative...

 

- look at contracting out those non-statutory services that we struggle with - e.g. management and delivery of the tug service at Sellaness,

- yes support business growth through an effective Economic Development unit but introduce a means test on grant payments - why should millionaire owned businesses in the farming/aquaculture sectors benefit from handouts/cheap money - make the grants available to small businesses who are struggling to get money from the banks to grow their ideas and provide employment;

- something which I think is already in hand - utilise the rural bus service to move children too. I used public transport throughout my secondary years - keep the feeder, but where capacity exists, could some of those near empty buses be used

- again, look at means testing for grants given to local some local heritage, sports etc groups. Why should money be given year after year to history groups to have 3/4 meetiings a year, building up balances of thousands in their accounts. Similarly, if you do sports in the South, you have to make a far bigger contribution to the costs than you do here for football, swimming etc clubs. Same for the museum... instead of giving £1m+ per year from the council, introduce entrance charges and reduce the grant.

 

These are all 'nice' things to have, but I'd rather they be scrutinised ahead of closing a rural school on a as yet unproven argument - especially as ultimately, the bairns will suffer in their quality of life and potentially, educational achievement.

 

Thats enough.. well done if you've read all the way to the bottom.

[humptygrumpty]

I expect Lerwick folk are losing sympathy when this is the kind of stuff that's being spouted.

 

Hell mend them then ! I fail to see why the Lerwick schools should be beyond consideration for closure in the effort to save money. And I cant see that the short bus journey to say scalloway would cost anywhwere near the quantity of money that all the buses / transport will cost in taking all these bairns to lerwick.

 

MUCH more money could be saved elsewhere in the council where waste is in great abundance.

 

everyone is entitled to their opinion...and if you dont like it , well thats tough.

[humptygrumpty]

If I felt that my children's education would benefit from being sent to Lerwick I would be happy for them to go. I don't feel that they will benefit, educationally, from the closure of Aith. Quite the opposite, in fact.

 

Well said

[fusion]

only a matter of time when scalloway will be needed to put the primary kids in whiteness, tingwall nesting and burra too. it should be ok as all the parents love the scalloway school going on how they fought to keep it

[paulb]

the comments about boarding the empty section up to save 50% rates shows how little they are really trying to save money. why wait a year for a council member to point it out.

[Para Handy]

Haven’t you lot outside Lerwick not caught on yet.

If Lerwick want’s it! Lerwick will get it. And at any cost money or otherwise.

To the rest of Shetland Population.

The amount of money wasted on the new AHS so far (No bricks or mortar yet Just consultants) could have repaired the old one long ago.

[Shoogler]

Its a pity this thread has descended into a bit of a scatter gun slanging match in the main.

I hear a lot about how SIC should leave schools alone/shut Lerwick schools, but what is really needed is alternative ideas to what has been proposed, not just knee jerk anti town bile.

[Russabell]

Its a pity this thread has descended into a bit of a scatter gun slanging match in the main.

I hear a lot about how SIC should leave schools alone/shut Lerwick schools, but what is really needed is alternative ideas to what has been proposed, not just knee jerk anti town bile.

 

Well said, Shoogler.

[fusion]

what a grest idea it is to close the lerwick schools and move the lk kids to the country schools who thouthg that up? how many busses will it take to move the hundreds of kids in lerwick to even scalloway? keep it real folk.

 

its unfortunate the state the education comittee has. The Scallway kids have got on fine, so your kids will cope too. so please dont panic. as long as the new school gets the funding then everything will be fine in the end. think that almost every shetlander in shetland and beyond that has a degree etc or went onto 5th/6th year would have gone through the anderson. so it cant be as bad at you put it.

 

lots of children up and down Scotland get bussed to their schools far longer miles that we will be asking our children. and they have to pay extra for the pleasure too.

 

even if the roads are bad in the winter the schools would be closed anyway so that will never be a problem

[CHUCK NORR1S]

Its a pity this thread has descended into a bit of a scatter gun slanging match in the main.

I hear a lot about how SIC should leave schools alone/shut Lerwick schools, but what is really needed is alternative ideas to what has been proposed, not just knee jerk anti town bile.

 

Well said, Shoogler.

 

Yes, well said Shoogler!!!

 

Paramandy, the AHS is a school for the whole of Shetland not just Lerwick. Pupils from outwith Lerwick use it from 3rd year and on if my memory serves me correctly.

 

And why would the SIC close the 2 town primary schools? From what i'm led to believe they're the 2 most cost effective schools in Shetland.

[CHUCK NORR1S]

what a grest idea it is to close the lerwick schools and move the lk kids to the country schools who thouthg that up? how many busses will it take to move the hundreds of kids in lerwick to even scalloway? keep it real folk.

 

its unfortunate the state the education comittee has. The Scallway kids have got on fine, so your kids will cope too. so please dont panic. as long as the new school gets the funding then everything will be fine in the end. think that almost every shetlander in shetland and beyond that has a degree etc or went onto 5th/6th year would have gone through the anderson. so it cant be as bad at you put it.

 

lots of children up and down Scotland get bussed to their schools far longer miles that we will be asking our children. and they have to pay extra for the pleasure to

 

even if the roads are bad in the winter the schools would be closed anyway so that will never be a problem

 

Absolutely, well said again!