CEC TO OPEN INFORMAL DISCUSSIONS WITH PARENTS
City of Edinburgh Council will begin informal discussions with parent councils next month about whether to move Gaelic Medium Education (GME) from James Gillespie’s High School to Drummond Community High School.
Pushing the proposal is the fact that Gillespie’s is projected to have 1,537 pupils in 2021, but a capacity for only 1,300. In the same year, Drummond is projected to have 418 pupils with a capacity for 600.
There are several potential advantages to the idea, including:
- Given the short distance between them, it would be far easier for Drummond-based GME to share resources with Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirc (the GME primary school) on Bonnington Road.
- An increase in pupil numbers at Drummond could allow the school to offer a wider choice of subjects for all pupils.
However, it is unclear at the moment how locals would feel if, given GME’s growing popularity, Drummond were to evolve into a dedicated GME school in future, losing its distinctive community high school ethos in the process. Any such change would require further detailed consultation, but implications for high schools adjacent to Drummond will be evaluated as part of the current round of informal discussions.
If the mooted transfer from Gillespie’s seems acceptable to the three schools most concerned, then a draft statutory consultation paper would go before the Education, Children and Families Committee in March 2018.
David Sterratt, Chair of Drummond’s parent council, says they are happy to examine the proposal further: ‘We look forward to considering the potential implications for the school and our children's education in the short term and the long term.’
Councillor Alison Dickie, Vice Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee, says: ‘Discussing these plans with parents and the wider school communities is a key part of dealing with the pressing rising rolls issues at James Gillespie’s and continued improvement of GME provision in the city.
‘We will be holding a series of engagement events in January with the schools, wider school communities and other stakeholders to ensure all views are taken on board before any statutory consultation is proposed.’
The potential development emerged in a Strategic Review of Edinburgh’s school estate published today. You can find it HERE.
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