Proposals For City Schools

A new £60 million secondary school for 1,800 pupils could be built to replace the current Braeview Academy and Craigie High buildings.

Consultation on the proposal will go ahead if a report is approved by the city council’s children and families service committee on Monday January 27.

Members of the committee will be told that pupils at Braeview and Craigie, who account for 16% of the city’s secondary population, are receiving their education in “poor condition” schools.

Braeview Academy suffered a catastrophic fire in September 2018 which has resulted in the creation of temporary cabin accommodation for pupils.

Options including the refurbishment or replacement of both schools were brought forward last year.

However, following further work by officials to look at roll projections and financial implications, it is now proposed that formal consultation should take place about a suggestion for a merged school located at Drumgeith Road.

Children and families service committee Councillor Stewart Hunter said: “This is a bold and ambitious plan to transform secondary school buildings for the future in parts of the city where there are significant challenges with poverty.

“It follows a long-term programme of school building improvements across the city.
“These new proposals would help us to form a community campus in the area, where the education of pupils would benefit from advantages of scale that the current schools cannot offer.

“This would be an exciting educational environment carefully designed to support learning in the future and help prepare pupils for the challenges of life after school.

“We are also very interested to hear the views of the local community on their views about the proposals.” 

Councillor Hunter explained: “I would like to stress that no final decisions will be made until a report on the results of the consultation comes back to committee in June.

“If the consultation goes ahead, then it is vital that as many people as possible give us their opinions.”

Formal consultation would take place between Monday February 10 and Friday March 27.
Consultation would also be carried out on a proposal that Craigiebarns Primary becomes part of the catchment area of Grove Academy from August 2024, if the report is approved.

The children and families service committee will also consider other reports at its meeting on separate issues around city schools.

These include an annual review of the children and families service estate, outlining millions of pounds worth of investment into new buildings and the maintenance and refurbishment of others.

Investment into new and refurbished nurseries for the expansion of early learning and childcare hours is also detailed.

Meanwhile, the committee will be asked to approve consultation around a proposal to realign the catchment areas of Harris Academy’s feeder primary schools.

As part of this proposed reorganisation, Invergowrie Primary could be set to be removed as an associated primary of Harris Academy from August next year.

The committee will hear that such a move would mean that the roll of the secondary would become “more manageable” over the next six years and would reduce pressures on pupil class sizes.

Revision of the catchment areas for Harris feeder schools would involve Ancrum Road, Blackness, Camperdown, Tayview and Victoria Park primaries.

A further report to committee will update members about options for primary provision to service the Western Gateway.

This details the number of residential properties due to be built and the estimated number of primary pupils living in the area up to 2026/27.

The report explains: “the data demonstrates that there is no current requirement for a new school”.

Members of the committee will be told that officers would continue to liaise with people living in the area regarding future opportunities for children and young people.

There would also be active dialogue with developers regarding future construction