Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Pupil relocation is up for discussion
An online public meeting will take place tonight to discuss plans to relocate primary-aged pupils currently attending Mavisbank School in Airdrie to Drumpark Primary in Coatbridge.
The session is part of the ongoing consultation on the North Lanarkshire Council proposals, which form part of a wider review of the authority’s provision for youngsters with additional support needs.
It also includes plans for Portland and Pentland schools in Coatbridge to merge with Fallside School into the authority’s planned new “We Aspire” College.
Mavisbank, which serves all of North Lanarkshire, currently has 25 pupils who have complex additional support and significant medical needs and who are aged between five and 18.
The proposal to make the Airdrie school secondary-only and have younger pupils instead attend Drumpark aims to increase the overall number of primary and high school places available and therefore “repatriate young people to North Lanarkshire provision from out-of-authority care”.
Consultation papers state: “It is recommended that Mavisbank School primary-aged children are relocated to Drumpark Primary as part of a planned development of the lower mezzanine level of that school.
“This will facilitate more appropriate provision for primary children with complex needs in the central locality, and will also allow for increased capacity in the existing Mavisbank site for secondary children who have significant complex needs.
“It is recognised that the change of location for some Mavisbank pupils may be challenging and consideration has been given to how best to support pupils to make the transition as seamless as possible.”
The Mavisbank online meeting takes place tonight (Wednesday) at 7pm, while another will be held at the same time tomorrow on the plans for Pentland and Portland schools – which respectively cater for primary-and secondary-aged pupils with social, emotional and behavioural needs.
Both would become part of the planned We Aspire College, providing “school-based programmes of education and support for young people between the ages of five and 18”; with the new Pentland provision being primarily based at Townhead community centre, while the main facility would be at Coltness High in Wishaw.
Consultation papers say: “The demand for social, emotional and behavioural needs (SEBN) placements has far outweighed the available capacity and the demand for session 2020/21 has again been extremely high – this has resulted in capacity pressure across the sector, primarily in Pentland.”
They add that both existing Coatbridge buildings do not “lend [themselves] structurally or environmentally to meet the increasing numbers of pupils with SEBN and complex needs”.
Consultations run until April 1, and following Education Scotland input, a report is due to be published at the end of May and will then be submitted to councillors.