Call for Urgent Upgrade of Harris Academy

My colleagues Jim McGovern MP and Laurie Bidwell, Labour spokesperon on Education, have been calling for action from the SNP Administration on school building. We want to work with the City Council to bring forward proposals which ensure that Harris Academy is refurbished sooner rather than later.

Call for Harris Academy Refurbishment in Dundee as Matter of Urgency

Laurie Bidwell, Labour’s Education Spokesperson on the City Council in Dundee has placed a motion on the agenda of the next Education Committee (Monday 28 September) demanding the declaration of the plans for the next phase of school building work in Dundee; especially the major refurbishment of Harris Academy. During his time as Education Convenor, a feasibility study was conducted by the City Council Education Department which examined options for improving or replacing the Harris Academy buildings. This was shared with members of the Harris Academy Parent Council and West End Councillors in Spring 2009. This study conceded that there was an urgent need to improve or replace the Harris Academy Buildings to bring them up to modern standards to meet the ideals of a 21st century school. Compared with the gleaming new St Paul’s Academy and the soon to be completed Grove Academy, Harris Academy has major deficiencies more particularly:
· The existing classroom dimensions, particularly in the 1930s block, are below an accepted minimum for modern teaching practices;
· The building falls well short in meeting the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) legislative requirements and is inadequate in satisfying the accessibility needs for pupils and staff with disabilities;
· There is currently no facility to allow expressive arts to be fully and satisfactorily integrated into the school curriculum;
· There are inappropriate and inadequate pupil social areas within the building and dining areas are insufficient;
· The location, distribution and condition of pupil toilets are not conducive to providing a safe, secure pupil environment, and are difficult for staff to supervise;
· Traffic and pupil movement around the school, and entering and exiting the school, creates hazards posing significant safety concerns particularly at the start and end of the school day and
· The Harris Academy campus presents significant challenges for fire safety.
In the absence of a suitable alternative site within the catchment of the school, the feasibility study concluded that the most practicable option was to comprehensively refurbish the existing school buildings at a cost close to £20M. The urgency of Harris Academy’s case is primarily educational, but if the refurbishment is tackled sooner rather than later, the spiralling cost of maintaining the existing buildings would be avoided. (see note 1)
Councillor Laurie Bidwell, Labour Education Spokesperson on Dundee City Council, said:
“I think it is important that the Education Convener, Liz Fordyce, urgently commits to secure funding for the upgrading of Harris Academy because, using the Scottish Government's School Estate criteria, Harris Academy buildings have been judged to be 'poor'. Following the opening of St Paul’s RC Academy last Tuesday and the imminent completion of the rebuild of Grove Academy as part of the PPP school building programme in the city, Harris needs to be upgraded to avoid the conclusion that there is a two tier set of secondary school buildings in Dundee; more specifically, the gleaming new St Paul’s RC Academy, the rebuilt Grove and Morgan Academies and the refurbished St John’s RC High School in contrast with the deficiencies in the Harris Academy buildings. A comprehensively refurbished Harris Academy will build on the valued traditions of the school and provide enhanced opportunities for teaching and learning.”

“I have questioned the Education Convener, SNP Councillor Liz Fordyce, more than once at the Education Committee inviting her to declare the council's priorities and programme for the next phase of school building in the city. She has consistently declined to do this. Why is she so shy declaring her programme of school building and refurbishment in the city? I thought that she would want to demonstrate that she was determined to make a reality of the SNP May 2007 electoral promise to 'match Labour's, school building programme brick for brick'? Declaring Harris Academy as a priority would be an important step towards this. Parents and carers in Dundee will want to know from Councillor Fordyce, whether she has any plans, for new schools and school refurbishment, beyond Labour's programme for Dundee?" (see note 2)

Dundee West MP, Jim McGovern, said:

“I think the case for Harris being the next major school building project in Dundee is overwhelming. I hope the Scottish Government will prioritise Harris Academy in the first round of work to be part funded by them via the Scottish Futures Trust. This will not only improve the education of children in the city but also help to secure jobs in the construction industry in Dundee.” (see note 3)

West End Councillor Richard McCready said:

“Harris Academy has a proud record promoting the attainment and achievement of generations of children. The feasibility study surely makes its own case. I have consistently supported the prioritisation of Harris Academy and will do so again at the Education Committee next week.”
Notes

Note 1 Dundee City Council Education Department; Harris Academy Feasibility Study: A School 'Fit for Purpose' in Dundee's Cultural Heart; Dundee City Council, March 2009

Note 2 Labour's PPP school building programme delivered six new primary schools:
Claypotts Castle, St Andrew's, Downfield, Craigowl, Rowantree and Fintry
plus
two new secondary schools:
St Paul's RC Academy and Grove Academy.

Labour also commissioned the replacement of Kingspark School (new build to be completed in early 2010) and planned five new Primary schools:
Whitfield (currently at detailed planning stage as part of the Whitfield Regeneration),
St Joseph's and Park Place replacements in the West End and Lochee-Charleston (twin campus schools to replace three existing schools)
All these schools were all to be funded by the Council as part of its capital plan.

Note 3 Scottish Futures Trust. On Wednesday 17 June 2009, the The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Fiona Hyslop)announced in the Scottish Parliament a programme of capital investment in schools through the Scottish Futures Trust. This amounted to £800 million from the Scottish Government in the form of 75% funding towards 55 new schools throughout Scotland's 32 local authorities. Which schools have been selected has yet to be announced.