Invergarry school building ‘one of very worst in the Highlands’

PARENTS are demanding urgent upgrades to Invergarry Primary School amid fears over the safety of their children, writes Neill Bo Finlayson.

The school’s parent council is piling pressure on The Highland Council to upgrade the ‘rotting’ classrooms and ‘unsafe’ conditions in which pupils have to learn.

Lochaber councillor Ben Thompson also voiced his anger at the state of the school this week, labelling it as ‘one of the very worst in the Highlands’.

The parent council has been campaigning for more than four years to have the temporary classroom buildings upgraded or replaced, some 40 years after they were first used.

Chairman of the parent council Maria Macrae said: ‘We’re definitely top of the list in the worst school buildings in Lochaber, possibly even the Highlands.

‘We have got really good quality staff and we got a great report from the Education Scotland Care Inspectorate. It’s just the building that’s letting us down.’

The 29 pupils that attend the primary are currently housed in a temporary building which has stood on the site since the 1970s and sits next to the old school building. Mrs MacRae continued: ‘There’s also no canteen provisions in the school buildings, meaning that Highland Council’s policy of a hot meal for every school children cannot be fulfilled.

‘The temporary buildings are in a bad shape. The carpet in one of the classrooms had to be removed recently for repair but we found that there was no floor beneath it. It’s just rotting away.’

The parent council is hoping that the school can secure capital funding in the new Highland Council budget, which is to be decided today, Thursday February 15.

‘We’ve been trying to highlight problems now before funding for capital projects at the Highland Council is allocated,’ Mrs MacRae continued.

‘Ideally, we’d like to see the old school house developed, or at least used, and get an extension on to the main school building. We need a canteen and the children need changing facilities. It’s a matter of safety and currently it’s just unsafe.’

Lochaber councillor Ben Thompson has been supportive in the parent council’s push for upgrades. In a statement, he said: ‘Invergarry parents can quite rightly feel aggrieved. Their school is the worst condition one in Lochaber and one of the very worst in the Highlands.

‘All credit to them and the school teachers that despite this their school is rated as outstanding.

‘I’ve raised the school’s condition numerous times with council officials. While design work on an upgrade has been ongoing for some time, it’s about time plans were put into action.’

MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber Ian Blackford paid a visit to the school in 2016 and has pledged to take up the issue with council bosses.

He said: ‘This is truly a shocking state of affairs with children being taught in these unpleasant and unhealthy conditions.

‘I raised these matters before with The Highland Council chief executive Steve Barron and a review was undertaken, listing the school among the priorities for capital development which is still under consideration.

‘However, the situation is now getting beyond desperate and I will support the parent council in its campaign to address the issues and ask that the council urgently takes action to see just what can be done to remedy these problems in both the short and long term’.