‘Please don’t split us up from our friends’
Primary pupils write letters against re-zoning plan
Pupils from a Perthshire primary are taking the fate of their school into their own hands to stop a controversial re-zoning proposal.
Invergowrie Primary School pupils will hand over letters to education convener at Dundee City Council (DCC), Councillor Stewart Hunter later today (March 10) at the Dundee council’s headquarters.
The letters are asking DCC to allow children from Invergowrie Primary to continue attending Harris Academy, as per the current catchment setup.
The letters stress that the proposal - where some children living in Dundee but attending Invergowrie will continue on to Harris Academy, but others who live in Invergowrie could be sent to Perth for their secondary school education - would lead to the break up of long-established friendship groups.
The six-week long consultation into the realignment of feeder primaries and primary catchment areas of cluster schools associated to Harris Academy is currently underway until March 27.
If the catchment change is enforced, the majority of Invergowrie pupils will be forced on a 40-mile round trip every school day to attend secondary school in Perth as of August 2021 – despite the Dundee school being located only two miles away on Perth Road.
Carse of Gowrie ward councillor Angus Forbes said: “The children at Invergowrie don’t want to be separated from childhood friends when they leave primary school - they want to continue their education with their friends at Harris Academy.
“Sadly being residents of Perth and Kinross, they don’t have an elected voice on Dundee City Council so this is the only way their voice can be heard.
“I am grateful to Cllr Hunter for allowing us to come along tonight and for listening to our views.”
The latest development during the consultation period comes as the Harris Academy Parent Council last week unanimously rejected the contentious proposal as members fear it will do nothing to solve overcapacity problems at the secondary school, an issue since it opened in 2016.
Graham McKay, chairman of the parent council, said: “It is oversubscribed and it will remain oversubscribed after the catchment area changes.
“There was also significant concern among parents that children who had been together since nursery school would be split when they moved up to secondary school, which would have a major impact on social and community links.”
Last month, Carse of Gowrie councillor Alasdair Bailey also lodged a formal objection to DCC for the same reason, arguing that cutting Invergowrie pupils out will not solve overcapacity problems.