New bid to save primary link with academy

A Carse of Gowrie councillor has said the removal of Invergowrie Primary School as a feeder for Harris Academy will not solve the Dundee school’s over-capacity plight.

Cllr Alasdair Bailey made the claim in his objection to a contentious proposal which will see Invergowrie Primary School cut from the Harris Academy catchment area.

He sent the objection letter to Dundee City Council (DCC) this week in the midst of a six-week long consultation into the realignment of feeder primaries and primary catchment areas of cluster schools associated to Harris Academy.

If the catchment change is enforced, the majority of pupils from the Invergowrie school will be forced on a 40-mile round trip every school day to attend secondary school in Perth as of August 2021 – despite Harris being located only two miles away.

The Perth Road school’s issues with pupil over-capacity have been apparent since it opened in 2016.

However, Cllr Bailey argues that cutting Invergowrie residents out will not solve that problem.

An extract from his objection letter states:“The council border which runs along the middle of Riverside Avenue was not put there by the residents of Invergowrie nor by residents of Dundee.

“I’m sure it was put there for some administrative reason and was never intended to divide communities.

“It is therefore unfair to ask people staying one side of that line to send their children on a near two-hour round trip each and every school day to attend a secondary over 20 miles away.

“I have taken time to review the proposal and that data contained within and I respectfully conclude that not only does the proposed change not actually solve the problem of overcapacity at the Harris for the long-term but that it will cause a whole load of people a lot of inconvenience in the process.

“The proposal is inward-looking at a time when residents expect us in public service to work together for better outcomes, regardless of council boundaries.”

Cllr Bailey also argued both school’s have a mutual relationship, with many pupils within the Dundee area attending school in Invergowrie.

“Invergowrie Primary School currently educates 65 pupils from the Dundee City Council area, including those in the exclave of Invergowrie Primary School’s catchment area and general placing requests from Dundee,” he added.

“I wish to put this point on the record in order that people are aware that there is currently a two-way flow of children across the local authority border and the proposed change would make that a one-way flow.”

The consultations commenced on Monday, February 10 and will close on Friday, March 27.