New plan could save Whalsay secondary
ONE of Shetland’s secondary schools could be spared the axe under new proposals being presented to councillors next month.
Shetland Islands Council’s education department has come up with a plan to retain the Symbister junior high school on the isle of Whalsay, rather than close it under its controversial Blueprint for Education.
The council had hoped to save more than £3 million by closing junior high schools at Symbister, Sandwick, Skerries and Aith.
However new thinking around the government’s Curriculum for Excellence suggests keeping Symbister and Shetland’s other two island junior highs at Mid Yell and Baltasound open for s1 to s3 pupils before transferring them to the Anderson high school in Lerwick.
Education and families committee chairwoman Vaila Wishart said that the proposal had been made purely for educational reasons and was likely to cost £122,000 more than the original plan.
It was welcomed by some on the island of Whalsay as a reprieve from the threat of closure.
However it is likely to enrage parents in mainland communities that still face the threat of closure.
Wishart said: “This paper has not been prepared with finance in mind, it’s been prepared on educational grounds.
“We have been looking at how schools fit in with the Curriculum for Excellence and the conclusion is that what you want is as few transitions as possible in secondary education.
“If you have to have a transition then the best time is at the end of the third year, though it would be better not to have a transition at all.
“The idea was that we could look at the isles’ schools in a different way, while Sandwick and Aith will get a better education if they come into the high school.”
She added that Skerries, which is the smallest secondary school in Scotland, was a different matter altogether.
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The new proposal will be subject to a debate at the education and families committee on 7 August and full council on 28 August, and if agreed they will be asking for £122,000 to be saved elsewhere in the department.
Letters have been sent out to head teachers and parent councils this week.
Whalsay parent Anita Arthur said she welcomed the plan and believed that it worked well with the Curriculum for Excellence, though she could not speak for the rest of the community.
“Personally I am absolutely delighted. I was part of the group set up to fight the proposals, but personally I will not be doing any more fighting,” she said.
If the paper is agreed then the council will consult on closing Aith and Skerries secondary departments next year, Sandwick secondary department in 2016 when the new Anderson high school should be completed.
They are also consulting on closing Olnafirth primary school next year and the primaries in Burravoe, North Roe and Urafirth in 2015.
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