NOW PUPILS FACE TRANSPORT HELL
Thousands of children herded to alternative schools as shambles over safety closures intensifies
THOUSANDS of families face months of disruption after plans were unveiled to relocate children to dozens of other schools in the wake of Edinburgh’s classroom fiasco.
The crisis deepened yesterday as it emerged primary pupils from ten schools closed over building safety fears will be given lessons at 51 other city schools.
That means children as young as two face being bussed to new locations, while brothers and sisters in the same school but different years could be separated.
The announcement came as it was confirmed that faults had been found in all 17 Private Finance Initiative schools closed this week over structural concerns – and some may not reopen until the summer. In another revelation, Edinburgh council leader Andrew Burns said that the authority did not sign off the affected buildings when they were completed – allowing the builders to ‘self certify’ instead.
Meanwhile, the man in charge of the construction firm at the time spoke out for the first time.
Last night, critics predicted that the new timetable proposals would lead to chaos for families.
Nick Cook, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Edinburgh Eastern and a city councillor, said: ‘This is a logistical nightmare for pupils and teachers.
‘While it is right that the council have put in place alternative arrangements as soon as possible, common sense is required to minimise inconvenience and deliver manageable arrangements for parents.’
All the 17 schools affected were constructed under an £87million project dating back to 2005 and built with private cash.
More than 7,000 pupils were displaced by the school closures. Almost a week on – having already announced relocation plans for pupils from five primaries – the council unveiled plans yesterday to relocate the remaining pupils from five primary schools on Tuesday. This means 5,900 primary and secondbe
‘Logistical nightmare for the parents’
ary pupils now have somewhere to go from next week.
More than 1,000 S1 to S3 pupils are still without schools to go to.
Though most children will be back in class, it will not be in the environment they are used to.
Children from a single school face having to go to up to nine different destinations.
Siblings in different year groups will be split up from each other and even year groups will be separated.
For example, while children in P2a at Pirniehall Primary School will go to Flora Stevenson Primary, those in P2b will go to Wardie Primary.
In most cases, parents are advised to take children to their original primary school and they will be transported on to their ‘host’ primary school either by bus or foot.
At St Joseph’s Primary, children will be heading to five different primary schools, all by bus.
Meanwhile, children from Broomhouse will walk or take the bus to four schools. The vast array of schools children are being sent to has sparked concern among education experts and local politicians.
Alison Bowyer, the Edinburgh representative for the National Parent Forum of Scotland, said: ‘I understand why they are doing it – they probably want to use school premises wherever possible, but I think separating them up all over the place will be very difficult for both the parents and the children.
‘It will be hard for the children to understand why they are going off in different directions.
‘Obviously, this is better than them [the children] not being back at all, but there will need to be a lot of liaising with the parents to discuss the practical issues involved.
‘Some of these children are very young, nursery age. I imagine parents will be very concerned about this.’
A spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland said: ‘While the interim arrangements will inevitably disruptive and cause inconvenience for all concerned, the council is attempting to do its best under difficult circumstances. The most important consideration is that pupils and staff can be accommodated in an appropriate and safe environment.’
Parents reacted with anger at the development. Mack Heron’s son Rye Garriock is in P2 at Castleview Primary School. He will go to Castlebrae Community High School next week – a big step up for a six-year-old.
Mr Heron said: ‘They are saying that the primary schools are going to be back by Tuesday but it could be at different schools across Edinburgh.’
The Edinburgh school closures were sparked when workers repairing structural issues with the walls at Oxgangs Primary found ‘further serious defects’ with the buildings on Friday – to do with missing or corroded wall ties, which hold walls together.
Now, all of the 17 schools have been found to have defects, varying in seriousness, which will need to be fixed before children can return to their normal schools.
In Perth, one of the men behind the
initial project claimed he was surprised by the crisis. Robin Mackie was managing director of Miller Construction when the Edinburgh schools project – and also the Glasgow 3Ed schools project – was taken on by the firm.
Speaking from his home near Glenfarg, Perthshire, he said: ‘There is no Miller Construction now.
‘All the usual checks were made at the end of the contract. It was more than ten years ago the contract was signed off. I have not been involved since then and nobody has spoken to me about it.
‘I am surprised it has happened. I’ve no idea what the problem is. Maybe the wall ties have corroded over time.
‘No one has contacted me about the investigation, so I’m not in a position to comment.’
As it emerged the city council did not sign off the building works itself, coun- cil leader Mr Burns revealed that Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP), the consortium that built them, selfcertified that they met ‘all the relevant building standards’.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, he said: ‘Under the regulations that were in place at the time, ESP and its agents self-certified to the council, as they were entitled to do so, that the buildings complied with all the relevant building standards.’
A spokesman for ESP said: ‘An independent certifier was appointed on behalf of ESP and the City of Edinburgh Council to sign off the school buildings and provide an Availability Certificate for each school, which marks the final step in the sign-off process. This approval relied upon the assurance of the building contractors that the schools had been constructed, extended or refurbished in accordance with the relevant building standards regulations.’
It is still unclear whether parents will be compensated for childcare during the crisis.
Comment – Page 16
‘All the usual checks were made’