Dargavel school update
Dear parent or carer
I am writing to let you know councillors on the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board yesterday gave approval for us to start the formal consultation around the new primary school for the Dargavel area.
This consultation will cover two issues – the proposal to build a new school, and a review of the catchment areas for the existing and proposed new Dargavel schools.
It will start on Monday 29 January and run until Tuesday March 26. This will include a public meeting at the school on Monday 19 February and will see a range of routes through which as many members of the community as possible can have their views heard.
The proposed new primary is being planned to hold 800 pupils and, depending on the outcome of the consultation, to be built and open by summer 2027. Our preferred site is on land to the north of Craigton Drive.
We understand the importance of getting this right, not just for current pupils, parents and residents, but for future generations too.
To help us do that, it is important the local community scrutinise the detail of the proposal and have your say. We encourage everyone to get involved and all comments received will be considered.
When the consultation starts, we will share the relevant documents with all interested groups, but you can see them now on our website among the papers for yesterday’s board meeting.
We would draw your attention to Appendix 4 (page 29), which sets out the work done to date on site options. We have considered 23 sites, some of which were suggested by the local community.
This appendix includes the criteria we applied, and how each of the sites scored against that. The consultation will be a chance for more detailed discussion on these issues.
Accounts Commission
You may be aware the Accounts Commission yesterday published a report of their findings into our handling of school accommodation in the Dargavel area. A copy of this can now be read on our website along with our statement in response to the findings.
The Commission have said the council must provide further assurance on how we are delivering on actions already identified. We will continue to keep them, and you, updated on our progress.
Primary One update
As you know, we have had to cap the Primary One entry to Dargavel Primary for the school year starting August 2024 to 75 places. There were 151 children registered from within the catchment. Under our admissions policy, priority goes to those with a sibling already in the school, which is the case for 49 children.
This meant we had to hold a ballot to decide the remaining 26 places. This took place last week, with all families then made aware of the outcome. Those who didn’t get a place at Dargavel all have a place at the nearest available school, which is Bishopton Primary.
We hosted an information evening for all prospective P1 parents on Monday evening. Our thanks go to everyone who came, and we hope the evening was of value. We will write again to those parents next week with a further update on some of the issues discussed.
There will continue to be a cap on P1 entry for each of the school years starting in August 2025 and 2026. We expect there will be capacity between Dargavel and Bishopton Primaries to accommodate all children due to start P1 in those years. Should we need to add additional temporary capacity, we will be able to.
We understand this situation is far from ideal and apologise for the uncertainty caused. We can assure you we and the staff at both schools are committed to providing the best education experience possible for your children.
Park Mains High School
We know some in the community have raised questions about whether the planned 400-pupil extension to Park Mains High School is the best solution for high school provision, and we’d like to address that here.
Councillors gave approval for this in May last year. We accept we should have done more to explain the rationale and share the analysis behind the decision at that time.
However we have since done so – through our ongoing discussions with the parent councils of the seven Park Mains feeder primaries, and through the report which went to councillors in August, which you can read via the link below (section 7 is the relevant part).
We know questions have been asked about whether an extended Park Mains High will have capacity to handle the future peak (expected to be in 2033-34) and this is covered in the report above.
The data analysis undertaken by external experts suggests the expanded capacity of 2,000 will be enough for the pupils expected from Park Mains catchment primaries. If needed, we will be able to keep pupil numbers within that by managing the number of placement requests. We will of course monitor this closely over the years ahead.
We are aware many in the Park Mains school community wish to see the extension delivered without delay, and hope you would appreciate we must balance the needs of all parents, carers and pupils in the Park Mains area.
If you have any other questions in the meantime, we'll be happy to answer them via our dedicated email address at dargavelcs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Janie O’Neill
Director of Children’s Services, Renfrewshire Council
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