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Dear community member
I am writing with our latest update for you on our ongoing work to expand school capacity in the Dargavel and Bishopton area. We have a number of updates to share, below:
Existing Dargavel Primary School
We can update you on a few ongoing pieces of work at the existing Dargavel Primary School, each of which is in response to feedback received from the community:
- We are pleased to confirm the MUGA at the school will be upgraded to a 3G surface next year, as part of a wider investment in improving sports pitches across Renfrewshire
- We are taking forward plans to use the spare land next to the school (Site C1) as a drop-off/pick-up area, in response to feedback received over traffic. We can confirm a planning application for this has now been submitted, with the aim for work to be complete by next summer
- As previously updated, work was completed at the school over the summer to add new internal partitions to improve the noise level and acoustics within the building
Roll projections
We have been working with data specialists on updated ten-year projections for all Renfrewshire schools. These were published today and will be considered by councillors when they meet next week. We’ve summarised the key points for you.
The long-term picture for the Dargavel development is:
- The new school (due to open in 2027) will have capacity for 800 pupils, and the existing Dargavel Primary building can operate at 500 pupils, giving a permanent capacity of 1,300. There are also 198 places in the current modular buildings (which if staying in use would take capacity to almost 1,500)
- Our previous projections contained various scenarios, including that demand for primary-school places in Dargavel could hit a potential maximum of 1,500 by 2033/34
- The updated projections suggest that number could reach 1,429 in that year. We expect this will be a one-time peak, after which demand will start to fall
- We will continue to monitor the projections against live data when families register for P1 each year. Should we need temporary capacity to meet the future peak, we will have options worked out well in advance.
In terms of managing capacity at Dargavel and Bishopton between now and 2027:
- We will manage P1 admissions in 2025 and 2026 as we did this year. The P1 entry at Dargavel Primary will be capped at 75. Under our admissions policy, children with a sibling already in school get priority, with any remaining places decided by a ballot. Those who don’t get a place at Dargavel will be offered one at Bishopton
- There is enough capacity between the two schools for all children projected to start in 2025. However the projections for 2026 suggest we may need to create some extra capacity (around 50 places) for that one year
- There are a few options for this – including adding extra temporary capacity at one of the schools, or by adding extra teaching staff at Bishopton, which we know is viable
- We want to reassure you maintaining the quality of education is our top priority. If extra capacity is required, we will work with both head teachers and school communities to develop these options
- This school year, the actual number of pupil registrations between the two schools was well below the number projected. If that continues, the measures above may not be needed, but we are putting plans in place in case they are. These plans will continue to be monitored and updated as we get live data from actual registrations.
We can also give the following update around high school provision in the area:
- The updated projections for Park Mains High School are similar to what we have shared before. They suggest a one-time temporary peak in demand which could go above 2,000 (the future capacity) in the early-to-mid-2030s
- However, this projection assumes the current (high) number of placing requests being accommodated at this school will continue until then. We believe we can keep the school roll within capacity by managing these requests
- The likely peak for Park Mains is many years in the future. This means we have plenty time to see how the live data for the number of pupils in the school each year compares to the projections, and if mitigation is needed, to put that in place.
Earlier this year, councillors approved an area-wide Learning Estate Strategy, which sets out a process for how we will prioritise investment to improve Renfrewshire’s schools over the years ahead.
This means we will make decisions based on the full school estate as a whole, rather than looking at any schools in isolation, and these projections will help us make a long-term plan for how we do that.
You can read the full report for councillors and see the ten-year full-estate projections and an explanation of how they are calculated on our website.
Park Mains High School expansion
As you may be aware, we are working on plans to expand the capacity of Park Mains High School by around 400 pupils (taking the total capacity to 2,000) by summer 2027.
We contacted local parents a couple of weeks ago to say we have submitted a Proposal of Application Notice, starting a 12-week period of engagement before the full planning application is submitted next year.
This includes two public events at which members of the community can see the design work done so far, meet senior school staff and the team working on the project, and tell us what you think.
These events are free to attend and will be at Park Mains High School, on:
- Wednesday 6 November 2024, from 5pm to 8pm
- Wednesday 4 December 2024, from 5pm to 8pm
New primary school in Dargavel
Thank you to everyone who came along to the two public info events held during August and September to gather feedback on the designs for the new primary school in Dargavel.
Your feedback helped inform the content of the planning application for the new school, which we will submit over the next few weeks. The new school remains on track to be built by 2027. You can read more info on our website.
As always, if you have any questions on any of the above, you can put them to the team by emailing dargavelcs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
Kind regards
Gerry Lyons
Interim Head of Education
Renfrewshire Council
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