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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 Bishopton and Dargavel area. We have a number of updates to share, below:
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.
In terms of managing capacity at Bishopton and Dargavel 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.
The long-term picture for the area is:
- The new primary school being built in Dargavel is due to open in 2027. We expect we will be able to manage capacity between the new and the existing Dargavel schools for all Dargavel children starting Primary 1 from that point on
- The ten-year projections for Bishopton Primary suggest demand for the school from within the Bishopton catchment will stay stable over that time. While the Dargavel children who start at Bishopton between this year and 2026 will have the right to remain there for their whole primary education if their families choose, we do expect the school roll at Bishopton will stabilise over the longer-term
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
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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