Update from Steven Quinn, Director of Children's Services
Monday 28 November 2022
This update shares details of a recent meeting between Dargavel Primary School Parent Council and Renfrewshire Council Children's Services. The update also provides responses to the most frequently raised points.
Meeting with Dargavel Primary School Parent Council
Officers from Renfrewshire Council, including Director of Children's Services, Steven Quinn, and Head of Education, Julie Calder, met with members of Dargavel Primary School Parent Council and chairperson Alan Kelly at the school on Wednesday 16 November.
Dargavel Primary School Head Teacher, Gerry Carlton, and members of his senior leadership team were also in attendance.
Members of the Parent Council expressed their anger and frustration at matters recently communicated to members of the school community and officers provided an update on progress to date.
A summary of the meeting discussion has been shared by the Parent Council on their usual channels.
It was also agreed a meeting for parents of the school with officers from Renfrewshire Council would be held in December to allow parents to ask further questions.
This will take place at the school on Thursday 15 December, and more information is included below.
Several points were discussed at the meeting and the council have already responded to questions received directly from parents. The information below summarises responses to the most frequently raised points.
Original school roll calculations
A review of the school roll was undertaken over summer 2022 as a higher-than-expected number of pupils had joined Dargavel Primary during the school term, following its opening in January.
This was raised in June, and an urgent review of the previous calculations then took place over the summer.
Parents and carers will be aware the review showed that current capacity falls significantly short of what will be required in future years.
Previous calculations projected the new school roll would not likely be more than 430 pupils, but we now know this will be much higher and around 1,100 pupils.
The council has apologised for this error and to those who raised concerns previously.
The revised projection is being verified by an independent data analytics company called Edge Analytics, and we will update parents and carers on an agreed future roll projection in early 2023.
In the meantime, the Council is buying new temporary modular classrooms to accommodate pupils from the start of the next school year in August 2023. More information on this is provided below.
We will work with the Parent Council on plans to permanently increase primary capacity which we intend to finalise in spring next year and your views and feedback will be considered as these plans are developed.
Existing school capacity
There are currently 463 children attending Dargavel Primary. Council officers have confirmed that numbers in the main building will not exceed 548 pupils (90% of the total capacity) and the space ratio of at least 1.7square metres per pupil will be maintained.
Extending capacity at Dargavel Primary in the short-term: new classrooms
In order to meet the expected school roll in August 2023, we are extending capacity by installing six new modular classroom units to provide capacity for up to 198 pupils.
Each new unit will contain two self-contained, fully equipped classrooms, including digital technology (ICT), with toilet and cloakroom facilities. The units are high-quality, double glazed, heated and offer an excellent learning environment.
Provision has been made to work with the school and pupils to co-design the interior of the classrooms and wraps to decorate the exterior of the new classrooms.
Positioning of new classrooms
Initial work on the positioning of the new classrooms within the school site has been undertaken.
Siting the new classrooms will involve extending the boundary of the playground area at the car park end of the school.
We are also investigating the possibility of further extending the playground area temporarily to create more play space and have raised this with the landowner. We will share the outcome of this as soon as possible.
Drawings from the Planning Application indicating the proposed siting of the units within the school grounds will be available on the council's website this week.
Procurement of new classrooms
The timeline for procuring and installing new classrooms has been designed to ensure the new classrooms will be ready for use from the new school term in August 2023 and we have progressed this at pace.
The tender for six new modular classrooms was issued on 10 November.
Tenders returned will be evaluated and the result of the evaluation will be reported in December and shared with the Parent Council afterwards.
We intend to formally appoint a contractor in early January 2023.
Installing the new classrooms
The exact timetable for the installation of the modular classrooms will be confirmed once the contractor is appointed and the proposed approach finalised.
All site preparation, delivery and installation works will be restricted to the school holiday period unless agreed otherwise with the Council and this will be notified to the Parent Council.
Once the contractor is appointed in early January 2023, we will be able to share images of the new units and provide a detailed classroom specification and quickly plan the look and feel of the interior as detailed above
The Head Teacher, school team and pupils will contribute to the interior design.
Pupils using the new classrooms
We are aware parents and carers will be keen to understand which classes will use the new temporary classrooms.
The Head Teacher has confirmed detailed class structures will be not determined until the summer term, but he believes the existing school is better suited to the learning and play requirements for the youngest pupils.
This means Primary One and Primary Two children will be among those pupils who are likely to remain in the main school building.
Post-occupancy school operation improvements
It is usual practice to observe life in a new school and consider changes and improvements.
We have received helpful feedback and suggestions from teachers and parents and can confirm the following changes and improvements.
Travel to school
The Council's Traffic Team have assessed pedestrian and traffic movements in Dargavel Village and considered the expected increase in school roll.
They recommend a further site assessment alongside community engagement to determine the location of a school crossing patroller and for enhanced road crossing point infrastructure. New road crossing infrastructure will be delivered for the August 2023 school term.
We are about to progress recruitment of a crossing patroller and will review the requirement on an ongoing basis as we assess future travel patterns to the school.
We will also extend bike and scooter parking at the school and expect to have this in place for the term beginning after the Easter holidays in 2023.
Internal improvements
The open plan environment has been well received by pupils and offers an excellent environment to learn through play. However, following acoustic testing, the Council is progressing planning for:
- Partitioning between the P3 double classroom base - subject to structural assessment, planning and Building Warrant, the intention would be to complete work over the summer holidays in 2023.
- Balcony extended glazing - subject to structural assessment, planning and Building Warrant, the intention would be to complete work over the summer holidays in 2023.
The Head Teacher and school leadership team will continue to monitor the quality of the learning environment and the needs of children, making changes and improvements on an ongoing basis, an approach and commitment embedded across our school estate.
Arrangements for lunchtime, playtime and PE activities
We plan to introduce staggered lunchtimes, successfully introduced in other schools, from 12.00-12.45 and 12.30-1.15 which will give all children a positive dining experience. Morning breaks will also be staggered with the timings of these being confirmed in due course.
This will support older children to continue buddying roles and to increase access to the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and the newly installed climbing frames for all pupils - enabling children to access this every day, rather than on the current rota basis.
Children will be able to enjoy the use of the MUGA and climbing frames, which are located away from the main classroom areas of the school, minimising noise from outdoor play.
Plans for PE will remain largely unchanged, with activity taking place in the main sports hall and dining area, at the MUGA in appropriate weather conditions and with the additional option of using new temporary classroom space for activities, such as yoga.
Identifying and reporting the projection error
The issue regarding capacity at the school was identified in June 2022 and work was immediately progressed to review roll projections to understand the potential scale of the problem.
This review included progressing a range of detailed work, including speaking with other local authorities who have experience of education planning in developments of a similar scale to Dargavel, to test the robustness of our revised figures.
It was deemed critical to complete this work to ensure the revised projections were robust and that the scale of the error was fully understood before sharing the information.
Work was completed in October 2022, and this triggered a special meeting of our Education and Children's Services Policy Board and engagement with the school and wider community. Council governance arrangements require officers to update Councillors in the first instance.
External analysis of school roll projection external analysis
To further check the future school roll projection, an external company, Edge Analytics, has been appointed to undertake their own projection and verification of the school roll.
This is expected to be complete in February 2023 and will provide an assessment of the projected pupil numbers over the lifetime of the Dargavel Village development. It will be used to plan how best to expand school capacity for Dargavel Village.
The verified school roll will be shared with parents and carers and will also be used to inform future capacity planning at Park Mains High School.
Undertaking an external review
The Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council has requested an independent external review be undertaken to understand the circumstances of the roll projection error.
Identification of an independent external party who will bring considerable experience of leading significant public-sector reviews is underway.
It is the intention that the Review will consider the Council's engagement with the school community and wider community representatives linked to Dargavel Primary.
The Chief Executive has already engaged with Audit Scotland in relation to the review and they have confirmed they are comfortable with the approach. They will review the Report and its findings.
We continue to brief Scottish Government on the matter.
Meeting in December for Dargavel Primary School parents
To ensure parents and carers of pupils at Dargavel Primary School can ask questions of the Council directly, a meeting will be held at the school on Thursday 15 December from 7pm to 9pm.
This will be attended by officers from across Council services and be independently chaired to ensure parents are supported to ask questions and have them answered by the relevant officer.
The council will provide more information on the meeting directly to parents and carers this week.
A meeting for parents of children expected to attend in August 2023 will be arranged in the new year.
Park Mains High School
Park Mains is currently operating well. Modular classrooms will be installed as an interim arrangement to support increasing capacity.
The verification of the Dargavel Primary School roll in early 2023 together with a review of the school rolls from primary schools across the catchment area will inform planning for expanding secondary provision long-term and we will update respective Parent Councils and parents and carers during 2023.
Next steps
A multi-disciplinary team of Council officers has been established to progress the Options Appraisal to permanently expand school capacity for Dargavel Village.
Key to progressing this work will be a verified school roll projection and this will require officer resources to be directed to support Edge Analytics.
Additionally, Council officers will respond at pace to the requirements of the external review.
As this work progresses, we have confirmed with the Parent Council Chair that we will meet monthly with members of the Parent Council and share progress with parents and carers.
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