Discussion at school over future plans
St Ninian’s hold community meeting
A Perth city centre primary school is to hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss potentially moving out of the building.
St Ninian’s Episcopal Primary School is inviting members of the public to have their say on the future of the denominational school in Perth in an informal community drop-in event from 3pm until 7pm on Wednesday, August 30 in the school’s main hall.
The meeting, which is being organised by the school’s parent council, along with St Ninian’s Cathedral and Perth and Kinross Council, will look at four different options for the school, one of which considers its closure.
The Dunkeld Road school has a total class roll of 49, despite having the capacity for 150 pupils, and currently only uses three of its six classrooms.
Following a review of all schools in Perth and Kinross by the council’s lifelong learning committee in August last year, St Ninian’s received a grading of ‘B’ from the council, described as “satisfactory, performing well but with minor problems”.
The four options proposed for St Ninian’s include considering shutting the school and sending the children to other catchment schools. Other options to be discussed involve keeping the school open but removing its denominational (Episcopalian) status to create a new non-denominational catchment for the school, or keeping the school open and allowing other council services to use the empty spaces Proposals affecting the continued use of St Ninian’s Primary School are on the table for parents tomorrow inside the school building.
A fourth option includes simply doing nothing.
This consultation is part of a wider review of school estates across Perth and Kinross, with similar meetings on the futures of a number of schools scheduled in the coming months, including Abernyte, Balhousie, Blairingone, Logiealmond, Methven and North Muirton primary schools, as well as the currently mothballed Forteviot school.
During tomorrow’s drop-in meeting at St Ninian’s feedback will be gathered from parents and the wider community through questionnaires on the four proposed options for the school’s future.
The parent council will also be running children’s activities throughout the event to allow parents to go along and have their say.