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Tuesday 21 September 2010, The Games Hall of Scalloway Junior High School

• Chairperson – Councillor Angus • Lead Officers – Helen Budge (Head of Schools), Audrey Edwards and

Matthew Moss (Quality Improvement Managers, School Service) • In Attendance – Councillor Bill Manson, Hazel Sutherland (Executive Director

Education & Social Care), Neil Grant ( Head of Economic Development), Robert Sim (Quality Improvement Officer), Elaine Park, Michael Craigie, Billy Thompson (Transport Services), Janice Thomason (Management Accountant, Finance Services), Heather Summers (note taker), Katie Kent (note taker) and Marianne Gordon (Roaming Microphone Operator)

• Public Attendees – Approximately 293 • June Graham, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education – observer

Good evening everyone and welcome to this public meeting. This public meeting is being held under the terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Its purpose is to give interested parties the opportunity to ask questions and air their views on the Proposal to close Scalloway Junior High School Secondary Department and transfer Scalloway pupils to the Anderson High School from S1. Services Committee of Shetland Islands Council gave approval to go to statutory consultation on this proposed change to the school estate on 17 June 2010. My name is Councillor Angus, and I will Chair tonight’s meeting. The others on the Panel are: Councillor Manson, Education, Children and Young Peoples Spokesperson, Helen Budge, Head of Schools Service, Matthew Moss, Quality Improvement Manager, Schools Service, Audrey Edwards, Quality Improvement Manager, Schools Service, Hazel Sutherland, Executive Director, Education and Social Care, Robert Sim, Quality Improvement Officer, Schools Service, Janice Thomason, Management Accountant, Finance Services, Neil Grant, Economic Development, Michael Craigie and Billy Thompson, Transport Department. Also present tonight is June Graham, Inspector with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education. She is present as an observer and will take no part in the meeting. Her observations will contribute to the report she is required to prepare for the local authority on the proposal being discussed tonight.

Tonight’s meeting will last for two hours and will open with a short presentation on the process we are engaged in, and an outline of the proposal for discussion. Thereafter the meeting will be opened to the floor for questions and views. As referred to in the Notice for this meeting, the proceedings at this public consultation meeting are being recorded both by note takers and by recording. The transcript of this meeting will be published in due course on the Council's website, and will form part of the Consultation Report. It would therefore be useful if, when you speak, you first give your name, if you feel comfortable

Blueprint for Education in Shetland

Public Meeting

The Proposed Closure of Scalloway Junior High School

Secondary Department

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doing that, and state what your relationship is with the Scalloway Junior High School, for example, parent, pupil, grandparent, member of public, etc. Any questions on that?"

I will now give a presentation on the Blueprint. [Please click here to read Councillor Angus’s presentation]

I will now ask Audrey Edwards to give the short presentation on the process. [Please click here to read Audrey Edward’s presentation]

Question Number

Name of Speaker

Note of Question Asked / Note of Reply

1 Karen Eunson Parent and Scalloway Parent Council Vice Chair

We have heard Councillor Angus mention a lot of different issues really what we are all here tonight for is education. Folk will have many points to make about the education of their children and how they think this will be affected by the Proposal to shut the school. Let us keep this in mind as the meeting progresses. I have some specific questions to ask but would like to open the meeting to the floor. Helen Budge has stated that 100 responses have been received and she is looking for more. People have been digesting the Proposal Paper, asking questions, discussing it, and waiting until they attend the meeting so they could put together their arguments. I hope folk take the opportunity to ask about the impact this will have on their bairns.

2

Geordie Pottinger

I am not a parent and do not have anybody attending Scalloway Junior High School. My interest is in maintaining the community as it is. Why is it that this Council is advocating a decentralisation of governance when everybody from the Prime Minister down to our recently appointed Chief Executive is advocating exactly the opposite? The figures which have been flashed before the audience seem to state that you are considering this up until 2037, 27 years from now. With a rate of loss of 100 pupils per year, that makes 2,700 less pupils in Shetland at that time. The school roll at the moment is 3,200 - the figures were gone through so fast I could not follow them and they were also too far away. This would leave 500 pupils in Shetland Schools. Are they all going to be centralised in Lerwick? Councillor. Angus – To be clear the current rate of decline is about 100 pupils.

3

Bobby Hunter

I have lived most of my life in Burra and would like you to know that you have achieved something of significance in the

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Burra & Trondra Community Council Chair

Council – the Burra and Scalloway folk agreeing. The Community Council is implacably against this Proposal. I have not met anyone in Burra, Trondra or Scalloway in favour of the Proposal. There might be some people in favour of the closure, but I have not met any. I have various points to mention – the first is the standard of education and the results in Scalloway, which is second to none in Shetland. There is no obvious educational need to move the pupils to Lerwick. This can be read in the Proposal Paper page 11 and on. I have never heard anyone criticising the education at Scalloway. Nobody is saying “Scalloway bad, Lerwick good”. Another point which is not in the Report – if Scalloway Secondary closes, it is inevitable that in a year or two some clever councillor is going to say, here is an empty building, what about closing Hamnavoe? What about closing Tingwall? What about closing Whiteness and Weisdale? I feel that this is inevitable. In fact if you close Scalloway you would be remiss in not closing these other schools. The Community Council certainly considers the report to be inaccurate and full of innuendo the case being made for closure. Great play was put on the ICT facilities at the institute but there was no mention of the good facilities at Scalloway also. Additional Support Needs - there are also good support in Scalloway but pupils who need particular support have to go to the Anderson High School, which has always been the case. Capacity – There is adequate capacity in Scalloway‘s public areas and we are told this is not the case at the Anderson High School, Lerwick. You go to great pains in the Report, under Extra Curricular, to highlight the good trips from Lerwick. There are also trips from Scalloway, which are not mentioned; school exchanges and the like. The Report states that there would be no likely effect on the local community. The library would close, the woodwork and other night classes would cease. The summary on educational benefits comes down to – there will be more teachers in Lerwick. Under Likely Effects on the Local Community “ The closure of the Secondary Department would potentially provide additional space for community use.” This is a bit of a sop as far as we are concerned.

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Regarding the financial savings, visiting staff £41,000 – these will not be made redundant, share of central costs is £31,000 – don’t know where that is going to go, employee costs is £879,000 – not being made redundant. Fuel and oil £16,000 – presumably you are not going to heat the building and then it will fall down on the bairns beneath. Maintenance work £33,000 – you are obviously not going to maintain the building, and depreciation does not exits anymore, it seems. There are some questions needing to be answered with the numbers and figures. In short our Community Council said there was no educational case made for closure and the financial case at best is dubious. In addition to this, in my position as Vice Chairman of Hjaltland Housing, there are plans for housing in the Tingwall, Scalloway and Burra areas for 200 houses at the moment. This is a current plan, which we hope to move forward. This could be in jeopardy if it is put forward to planning and then there is no school. I would ask you to dismiss this Proposal as the report is obviously written to fit the Proposal not the other way around. Thank you.

4 Brian Nugent Parent

In the Proposal Paper under the section Attainment, there are nine points of comparison between Scalloway and the Scottish Average and Scalloway beats the Scottish Average eight times.

There are twelve points of comparison between Scalloway and the Shetland average, and Scalloway beats that eight times with two equals. There are twelve points of comparison between Scalloway and the Anderson High School. Scalloway beats Anderson High nine times. The question has to be asked, what are the educational benefits of closing Scalloway Junior High School?

5 Ian Fraser Former Head Teacher

It was during my time as Head Teacher that the School was upgraded from Junior Secondary to Junior High status and the new school was built. Even in my advanced years I like to think that I know perhaps a little about this. One thing has never changed in Scalloway - the parent’s prime interest in

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their school lies in the education of their children. The onus is most definitely on Shetland Islands Council to demonstrate without a doubt the advantages educationally for closing our secondary and moving our pupils to the Anderson High School in Lerwick. They have singularly failed to do this in my opinion. If you look at the detail in the arguments, some of them are apparent rather than real and some of them are simply a form of words, which can mean anything you wish them to mean, or mean nothing at all. Let me illustrate; Increase in Curricular Development and increase in Curricular choice, I understand that Scalloway is perfectly capable of doing what it has always done and that is presenting the full range of subjects. There is indeed the possibility that Scalloway could perhaps present one subject at least that is not currently available in Lerwick and to be fair Lerwick might be able to do the same. A great deal of play has been made of the communication technology presented in the Proposal Paper with great song and dance as if it was supposed to be something which has never been heard of before. Ladies and Gentlemen this for the Anderson High is a catch up exercise, catching up on the position that has existed in Scalloway for many years. I can’t say with certainty that Scalloway had absolutely everything listed here but Scalloway certainly has got and has had most of them. A great deal of play again is put on the blending in or having access to a bigger peer group. We know or ought to know that all children are not too interested in the thousand pupil peer group. They are interested in their classmates and their immediate circle. In a big school structures have to be put in place to produce the natural, wholesome, interchanging, interplay of peer groups, which takes place naturally in Scalloway. Education takes place not only in the classroom but in the wider body of the school and in that regard are you offering us an advantage for our children, taking them over the hill to Lerwick? We have in Scalloway a school fit for purpose. A splendid, modern, well equipped well staffed, forward looking successful and happy school. The physical conditions in Scalloway, with the building which we are in on one side of the campus, the swimming pool on the other, the Fraser Park and all the facilities available there, five minutes or less from the school. Scalloway already has the exact situation that the Council is hoping to

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create at Clickimin in seven years time.

6 Shyrleen Pottinger Parent

Thank you, all who have spoken, however I feel that the public have not given the panel at the front the opportunity to reply to some of the questions and comments. For example, what are the increases in curricular opportunities? What are the subjects that our children can get at the Anderson High School that they do not get in Scalloway? Matthew Moss - In terms of the educational benefit statement, you are quite right to point out the good Standard Grade results and emphasise this is about education. The Schools Service has deliberately tried not to make direct comparisons on many different points. Our educational benefit summaries have really been about the possibilities for the future as well as what is happening at present. In response to your point regarding SQA results; we are very, very aware of the high quality of education provided at Scalloway School, at all Shetland’s Junior High Schools, and of the high standard of Standard Grade results. There is nobody here making the point that the Anderson High School results are better or that the standard of quality in terms of Standard Grades would be better if Scalloway children moved to the Anderson High School. The Proposal Paper - in terms of education - is referring to future education as well as present.

7 Shyrleen Pottinger Parent

Nobody can say that the Anderson High School can establish the Curriculum for Excellence more effectively than Scalloway at the moment. Scalloway has more flexible timetabling which seems to be what is necessary for the Curriculum for Excellence. I have been told that the Anderson High School is the only school that can’t link in so well with the Fisheries College. There are more opportunities in the Junior High Schools to be able to link in with the Fisheries College. Is this not what we should be trying to do in light of the Curriculum for Excellence? Matthew Moss – The educational benefits, in terms of Curriculum for Excellence, is about how we, as an Authority and the Schools Service, can prepare all our young people in Shetland to take Curriculum for Excellence forward. What is important in the Secondary Sector is how we prepare ourselves for 2013, when young people move into the Senior

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Phase. Some of the comments we have made in the Proposal Paper are how do we equip ourselves as a Schools Service to provide equal opportunities for all our young people as we take them into that Senior Phase. The Senior Phase will not look as it does now (S4/S5/S6) and Schools Service has to look at the transition. One of the Proposals which we make in this Paper is that we would be offering the best transition for young people if we are able to offer the Senior Phase in as few locations as we possibly could. We are very much wanting to look at the future and, in reality, we have very good education in all of our Junior High Schools. However, Councillor. Angus had pointed out the reality of the financial situation which we face and the stark reality is that if Schools Service does not do something about how we deliver education, and if we do not rationalise how education is delivered, look at using staff and resources wisely, the same level of education will not be able to continue in as many schools and in as many locations as which we have at the moment. If we retain the current school estate we will be looking to reduce the services within that. Head Teachers can confirm that we already have to cut back on our resources, staffing, support staff, and other services, which we are going to have to continue to do. Part of the point of the Blueprint is to have a sustainable system and that will mean educational benefits for everyone.

8 Shyrleen Pottinger Parent

You are not saying about educational benefits, you are speaking about finance. If you are speaking about having equal opportunities between all the schools - which I am totally in favour of - are you saying that Scalloway should be dulling down the great standard which we have to be equal to Lerwick? Should the poor bairns in Lerwick not be getting the same opportunities that our bairns fortunately have in Scalloway at this point?

Helen Budge - In respect of the dulling down of education, we certainly think that the schools we have all across Shetland provide a very good education. It is recognised with the new Curriculum for Excellence coming in, in respect of the Senior Phase as Matthew has mentioned, we need to look at how best we can provide that education. When the Schools Service set out on this process, we were looking at a more radical change to secondary education than what Councillors have asked us eventually to consult on. We are

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consulting on Scalloway School Secondary Department at the moment because of that.

9 Wendy Dyble Former Teacher

My children attended Scalloway School and now my grandchildren are also here. The staff at this school have a relationship within the school which is second to none.

I can only see two people behind the top table that I know of who have ever been into the Scalloway Junior High School to find out about that.

The vast majority of the parents and children here do not want to go to Lerwick. Is the Council going to give parents and children a choice and bus them to Sandwick every day, which I am sure they would prefer? My only experience of the High School was when I came to Shetland 30 years ago and attended a course there for 12 weeks. My impression that it was a zoo has not diminished since then.

As a retired teacher, parent and grandparent, I do not want to see my grandchildren cluttering up the town at lunchtime, the way the High School pupils do.

10 Karen Eunson Parent and Scalloway Parent Council Vice Chair

Matthew has spoken about transition, which has been made a lot of in this Proposal Paper. I would like to say a peerie bit about the transition I have experienced in Scalloway. I have a child in Primary and one son in Secondary 1. My experience of his transition into secondary was not smooth in Scalloway, it was seamless. I am delighted with the way it was handled by the Scalloway School. I have learned a lot of jargon about education over the last few weeks and I have discovered that Scalloway is what’s known as ‘an all through school’ which means that the bairns come in at nursery, move through primary and get the chance to go straight into secondary. This has been picked up by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in a report published this year, as being an ideal situation which has many, many benefits for bairns. There, children are all in one building from the beginning of their education. The children get to know the teachers, and the teachers get to know them. I feel that it is more than that. It is not just about sharing premises, it is about the way in which the teachers work with the bairns, the

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joint projects, and seeing the bairns going from the secondary classes down to work with the bairns from the primary. All of the boundaries which Ian Fraser spoke about are broken down. There is peer interaction across the age groups which you would not get in a bigger school. As someone who went to the Anderson High School, the interaction was with your own age and your own class. What you see in a school like Scalloway is interaction across most age groups. The Secondary teachers know the bairns from a young age and that is really important, as they know that the teacher is not someone new and scary, its Mr Whoever or Mrs Whoever who has wondered down the corridor all these years. In terms of the preparation for the actual move from P7 into S1, the bairns get to go and do their science and art lessons in the Secondary Department. The Scalloway School has activity days with the various cluster schools which are involved all the way through the primary coming here to use the Library – which we will lose if the Secondary Department closes. There are timetable days in the Secondary Department when children get to try it out. For any pupil with specific needs or Additional Support Needs, there is a full passing and discussion of information between the primary and secondary teachers. All this means the bairns can concentrate on enjoying the experience of going into secondary. This is what education should be about, finding out the subjects, enjoying the social freedom that they have. I am delighted with this and the bairns are also all delighted with this. Can you tell me how that will be improved?

11 Scotty Dyble Former Pupil

I have a daughter in Secondary 1 and two children who have yet to go to school. Like every other parent here we see the children having a wonderful facility in Scalloway. People who went to Scalloway School know how good it is. Many of the parents feel that this is an attack on the Scalloway children’s education - simple as that.

The Council wastes millions of pounds with no result. I never had an opinion on the Mareel until I walked past it and saw the Council spending millions on that and millions on new council offices, when there are already so many council offices. I wonder why the Council is spending millions on these and begrudging the children of Scalloway what they have.

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If you want to save money, you live within your means. The Anderson High needs to be built new and Lerwick needs a new school. Perhaps you should think about building a new school for the needs of Lerwick within their means which meets the needs of Lerwick, instead of going for the Rolls Royce version which means you need to take away the school from the Scalloway children and Scalloway community. The millions of pounds which need to be saved does not stop with the children of Scalloway Junior High School or the Scalloway community. Councillor. Manson - I will not be answering all of the points but I will try to come back to the others later, if required. There is a Council building going up at the moment at the North Ness area which will replace seven or eight office locations, and staff will be transferred to. This is largely to accommodate the Social Work Department, as the inspection of two or three years ago found the Social Services in Shetland to be very good but the main criticism was of the office accommodation and the risks which it posed when the staff had to work and transfer information between many locations. Much of the buildings are substandard for the purpose which it is aimed. Coming back to education, I agree with Karen that this should be about education but I regret this cannot be separated from money. During my time as the Education Spokesperson over the past few years, each year the education budget gets squeezed a little bit more against a background of falling school rolls. The prediction is not that we will be down to 500 pupils; the Office of National Statistics speaks about a drop of about 31% during the next 20 plus years. Against that background of falling school rolls, somewhere the line of cost and pupil numbers have to cross and the premises in which you have to educate people. Mr Fraser stated that this is a modern, well equipped, forward looking and happy school. I am sure, in fact I know he is right and I am very pleased about it. This is our aim for all schools in Shetland and that, by and large, is what we manage to achieve. But we need to keep it that way and the alternative to rationalising, in some ways, is continual squeezing on the education budget and all the budgets in the Council. In Shetland we have spent as much as was needed on education and I am confident this will continue. Bobby referred to the fact that there will be no savings as there will be no redundancies planned. This is not quite correct. There will be savings. A combination of the age profile of Shetlands

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teaching workforce and so on, means that posts will not be recruited to so much across the next few years. Savings in the numbers of teachers will be made. Our biggest cost within the Education Services is people - not only teachers but also auxiliary staff etc. The next biggest single cost is premises. Somewhere we have to rationalise the premises partially to be able to rationalise the people. The question of educational standards: in the past education league tables in the press were considered invidious by the teaching profession, so I am not trying to make comparisons between one school and another. I see the folk in schools – the teaching staff, auxiliary staff, and the people who back them up from Hayfield trying there best to get the best standard of education they can achieve in all of the schools in Shetland which are by and large regularly above the Scottish National average. If we don’t tackle some of the big problems within education, eventually that standard will start to be eroded by the squeeze that is taking place countywide. We have a responsibility to all the pupils in Shetland, not just to the ones in Scalloway, and not just to the ones in Lerwick, but all the pupils in Shetland. We are trying to make sensible economies where we can, keep the standards up, and the resources to teachers at the maximum we can afford.

12 Karen Eunson Parent and Scalloway Parent Council Vice Chair

Councillor Manson said he was going to speak about education but I have heard a lot about finance and not a lot about education. Two specific questions have been asked: What is the increased curriculum which the Scalloway bairns are going to get at the Anderson High School? And, in what way is the transition going to be better for the bairns going to the Anderson High School. We are here, being consulted on closing the Scalloway Secondary Department – this is what we are talking about. Councillor. Manson - Transition is an area of concern within education. It needs to be made as smooth as possible. I wholly acknowledge if the pupils were transferring from the primary department of one school into the secondary department of the same school, by and large, it is an easier transition than if pupils are changing schools. However, you have to realise that the pupils come here not only from Scalloway. There are transitions from other schools as well. I do not really believe that the transition going into the Anderson High School is going to be any greater for them, than the transition of coming into Scalloway.

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Matthew Moss – The transition we refer to in the educational benefit statement is a particular transition - the transition into the Senior Phase, which will come into place in the Curriculum for Excellence. The Senior Phase will occur at the end of S3 where pupils would then probably choose the subjects they would take forward into S4, S5, and S6. Our anticipation is that if we are to provide equal opportunities for all our young people and truly introduce the Curriculum for Excellence, then it is not just a case of offering the status quo. We want to offer increased opportunities, more courses, and more vocational opportunities and to build on the strengths which we already have and take forward the opportunities that the Curriculum for Excellence and the new qualifications will give us. Regarding sustainability, in terms of the future if we are not able to rationalise the number of teachers we have or rationalise the school estate then we will inevitably have to offer less in as many places as we currently have. In terms of offering more courses and more choice for the future something must to be done about controlling our expenses so that the schools can maintain their standards and the Curriculum for Excellence can be taken forward in a meaningful way. I would be grateful if someone could let me know where the idea of the Library closing has come from. It has been mentioned a few times this evening. I would like to reassure the meeting that there is no plan to close the Library and I am not sure where this information is coming from. Helen Budge who is Head of Schools is also Head of the Library and there is no intention to close the Library. Helen Budge – I have spoken with Silvija Crook who is the Library Manager. Both of us have had this conversation and we agree that the Library will not close. The Assistant who works in the Library may be redeployed but the Library and the books will remain. If you could let me know where this information has come from that would be very helpful.

13 Raymond Dawson Parent

You have failed to make any point on how the education of pupils would improve by moving them from Scalloway to Lerwick. I would like to ask two questions: The strategy of making this change before the Curriculum for Excellence is put in place - why are you moving pupils to Lerwick now before this is in place? The other point is when you are

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talking about finances, you have identified over capacity in the Anderson High School of 1/3. Why are you not looking there to make some savings? Audrey Edwards – A key aspect of the Blueprint is the timescale which was set for Schools Service by Elected Members who wished this process to be worked through as soon as possible. You will be aware that during the Informal Consultation we were able to take account of where we were within the Curriculum for Excellence. The Curriculum for Excellence formed a key part on what had been consulted on during the Informal Consultation. We received many strong views on transitions points and when people felt they should occur and when they should not occur. The question of overcapacity and looking first at making savings at the Anderson High School. The Schools Service got approval from the Elected Members’ in the June Committee Cycle to take forward a Primary Proposal and a Secondary Proposal from a range of ideas which we had been put forward to Committee. The Secondary Proposal 2 is the one which had been chosen to taken forward. This looks at statutory consultation on discontinuing secondary education in Scalloway and Skerries, but also, and this is a key part of how we are going to take forward secondary education across the whole of Shetland, looks at developing closer working through Hub models and sharing staff through all our secondary schools. That will affect all the secondary departments that we are left with, however this process works its way through.

14 Caroline Leask Parent

The information about the closure of the Library had been sent by email from the Library.

15 Brian Anderson Former Pupil

I have a piece of paper in front of me saying that Scalloway Secondary Department takes £1,394,593.00 to run. Considering the amount of money that has been wasted, the Scalloway Secondary Department could have run for 5 or 6 years. I have two bairns, both quite young at the moment but hopefully they will attend Scalloway Secondary School. As far as I am concerned to shut the Secondary School, you are going to have quite a big flight on your hands.

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I suggested that you should fire some of the pencil pushers that are high up in the Council. I am not sure but I think that most of you went to the Lerwick school. I am sure if you came to the Scalloway school we could arrange a night class for you to do an SVQ in common sense.

16 Raymond Dawson Parent

You appear only to have costed the Scalloway savings. Have you costed any other savings you are looking at?

Janice Thomason – All options included in the Proposal Papers have been costed.

17 Paul Leask Parent

I am still confused. The panel has been asked the question quite a few times; what are the extra curriculum choices that my children will have at the Anderson High School that they do not currently get at Scalloway Junior High School. Please answer this question. Matthew Moss – The figures which Councillor Angus showed in his presentation shows that Scalloway Junior High School probably offered the same number of Standard Grade courses as the Anderson High School does. What it also shows is that the Anderson High School currently offers quite a wide range of Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 courses. With regard to class sizes, for example, the reality of the situation is to increase the capacity of the Anderson High School would make some of the subject classes more sustainable. The larger the cohort you have, the easier it is to make sustainable class sizes and therefore to offer more courses. Even at the Anderson High School at present there might not be enough numbers to offer certain courses. The Hub model is about making a sustainable situation within our schools by increasing capacity so that more courses can be offered. At the moment there are more courses technically available at the Anderson High School. Again the challenge is to take sustainability into the future, having more courses by having more sustainable, better staffing situations.

18 Carina Isbister

A lot of the community is wondering what you are going to do with the building. If you close the Secondary Department what plans do you have that will save money on the

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Parent building? As Mrs Dyble pointed out, a lot of the children don’t want to go to Lerwick and we don’t want them to go to Lerwick. Is the Schools Service going to provide transport to bus pupils to Sandwick JHS? Helen Budge - Already someone has pointed out the number of houses which are due to be built in Scalloway, 200 houses. In this respect this Scalloway School is one of only two schools where Schools Service has had to put in an additional teacher in the primary department over the last five years. In most of the primary schools the teaching staff has had to be decreased. Some of the people here from Tingwall or Whiteness would have experienced that first hand. Included within the Proposal Paper, should this Proposal go ahead, is to consider how the primary and pre-school nursery department could be expanded within the school to allow for the extra children. Regarding transport to Sandwick; if the Schools Service is hearing tonight from this meeting that there are parents who would prefer to send their children to Sandwick rather than the Anderson High School, if the Proposal goes ahead, then the Schools Service has to include this within the Consultation Report. This would also have to be costed. Every point which is made tonight will have to be looked at. They would then have to be taken forward and answered. The cost of pupils travelling to Sandwick has not been costed at the moment.

19 Geordie Pottinger

Can you please clarify that the statutory deadline for this consultation is 10th October? This is statutory and not something dreamed up by the Council? Helen Budge – You can find on the Scottish Executive website, the actual document, The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Within that documentation it absolutely clearly sets out the timescales the Schools Service has to go through during this process. You spoke about the Curriculum for Excellence and the development for the Curriculum for Excellence in Lerwick, which would presumably be more attractive to the pupils here in Scalloway. Has anybody has ever considered developing a Curriculum for Excellence programmes, vocational programmes in the other secondary schools? This is the kind of thing that the community needs. There

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are thousands of unemployed, degree holding graduates and we are short of plumbers etc. I feel that people should be given the opportunity in school to start learning a vocation that would be useful. Why can the Curriculum for Excellence not be developed in the rural schools and the pupils from the town and elsewhere in Shetland can take advantage of that vocational curriculum wherever it happens to occur. Councillor Angus – This is being developed already. Nobody is giving us these answers.

Helen Budge – We do have Vocational Pathways already happening across Shetland. Examples include; the Rural Skills, which happens in Whalsay, Construction which includes types of joinery, plumbing etc, as well as many others happening in the Shetland College. There are construction skills courses already happening in Yell and Unst. There are courses happening in the Junior Highs as well as in NAFC and Shetland College. There are a number of pupils every year from 3rd and 4th year who attend these courses. Some people here tonight will actually know pupils who are on these courses. Further courses will be developed as we move towards the Senior Phase, for example an art course has been added.

20 Bobby Hunter

Finance is only one aspect of this and we can agree to differ on this. I notice that, repeatedly, the panel of thirteen (which is 12 + 1) has been asked about the educational advantages. The only thing that had come up so far that I understand is that it would be better in Secondary three with Curriculum for Excellence when they change over. Does that mean that Scalloway is the chosen school and the Sandwick School, Brae School, Mid Yell School, Baltasound School are going to be disadvantaged? Does this infer that everyone is going to end up in Lerwick, because that seems to be the natural conclusion of what you are saying?

21 Pauline Fullerton Parent

All of the arguments you have come up with so far seem to suggest that closing the Secondary Department within Scalloway is partly going to be to bolster up the numbers in the Anderson High. As a former pupil of the Anderson High School the building was not fit for purpose when I was in it and I can’t see how it can be fit for purpose now.

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The building of extra houses within the Tingwall and Scalloway area, surely then there will be extra need for a Scalloway Secondary High School if more people are choosing to live outside Lerwick. It is about time, probably, that you start to build a Secondary School in Lerwick that is fit for purpose for Lerwick, but not fit for purpose for the whole of Shetland.

22 Ruth Priest Parent

I live in Lerwick and my child is in Scalloway Secondary by means of a transfer request from Lerwick. I chose Scalloway because of its special qualities. I apologise for going on about the Library but I have a special interest in that area. Everyone has been getting confusing information about the Library and I would like Helen to clarify that the public Library Service will continue to provide a Library within Scalloway School with a knock on effect to feeder primary schools or will it simply be like in the other primary schools where the school itself pays for the stocking of the Library. Helen Budge – I regret that you have had mixed messages on this point. I will certainly pursue with Silvija tomorrow why an email was sent from the Library. It has been discussed and we do not see the Library being closed and all books being removed from this school. This is not either of our plans and both myself and Silvija lead these areas. With respect to the member of staff who works in the Library, that person would be redeployed if this Proposal goes ahead. The feeder schools, all primary schools across Shetland do have access to the public Library and the Libraries within the Junior High Schools to get books and use them for other resources as well. I do not see this stopping.

23 Heather Isbister Pupil

I have been a pupil at Scalloway for six years. The school was so welcoming when I arrived. My dad had been in the first class to enter the Scalloway School after it became a Junior High School. I would like to finish my education at Scalloway like my dad and send my kids to Scalloway so they could look back at our history here. There seems to be a lot of fuss over transport when we are an eco-school. It will cost a lot of money to send us to the Anderson and back.

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24 Natalie Thomson Pupil

You guys seem to be saying to us that it would be better for Curriculum for Excellence if we go to the Anderson High. We have already done things that are part of Curriculum for Excellence, such as our Norway project that we do at the end of S2. This includes about 5 subjects in different areas; IT, Music, History, Cooking and other subjects. This is what Curriculum for Excellence is. I feel that the you are saying that the pupils would get better Curriculum for Excellence experiences at the Anderson High School and I do not understand that.

25 Brenda Scollay Former HT (Tingwall PS)

I agreed with everything Karen Eunson has brought up about the transition process. Scalloway School ensures that the transition from primary to secondary is completely seamless and from the end of S4 into the Anderson High seamless again. I feel that the Scalloway School will again rise to the challenge of the Curriculum for Excellence at the end of Secondary 3. I don’t know anything about Curriculum for Excellence but I would like to point out that it would not matter which school that bairns go to if it was just about passing exams. The standard of education is much the same at all the schools. I have one scenario which I must tell this meeting about. When I was teaching I had a bairn at the end of primary school and as the Head Teacher had to label this pupil (like level A or up to level F). As this pupil was not academic the pupils self esteem was very, very low after that. When this pupil met me on the street in Lerwick he could not lift his head when he went past. Three years later on an open day at Scalloway I went into one of the rooms and this bairn was standing there along side of a project which had been specifically tapered to meet his needs and he said to me “Oh, Hello Mrs Scollay how are you?” His self esteem had been raised through the efforts that the teachers had made and tailored the curriculum to meet his needs. This is what it is all about. It’s the breadth of the education; it’s not all just about passing exams, because what does that matter.

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26 Marcia Dawson Parent

We have had two young ladies speak this evening who have shown Curriculum for Excellence by example. They have shown the four capacities by the fact that they have stood up and spoken before this crowd of people.

27 Kay Anderson Former Pupil

I attended Hamnavoe Primary and the transition from Hamnavoe to Scalloway was amazing. I felt as though I had just walked into the building next door. I really enjoyed my primary and secondary education in Hamnavoe and Scalloway and probably only realised how much when I got to the Anderson High School. I felt as if I had been thrown in and my education slipped. I have spoken to numerous pupils since then who had gone from Scalloway to the Anderson and they were much in the same opinion. Why are you putting our bairns somewhere where their level of education is going to suffer? I would also like to ask about the transport situation. Will the Schools Service be transporting secondary pupils all the way from the South End of Burra to Lerwick? What time are the bairns going to have to rise in the mornings? Because bairns that are going to Scalloway are catching the bus at 8am. Are first year pupils going to have to catch a bus at 7am to get to the Anderson High School for 9am?

Helen Budge – We have looked at the transport situation and as Councillor. Angus has said earlier, we will not be looking at pupils travelling for more that one hour. Are you going to have to lay on more buses then and spend more money on buses and drivers to enable that to work? Helen Budge - The Schools Service has included transport costs within the Proposal Papers which does set the additional costs for transport. The panel had been batting the ball around the room about the additional educational benefits and nobody was able to answer the question. At the moment there are no additional educational benefits for pupils going to the Anderson High with the state that the building is in at the moment. We are speaking about the future because there will be none until, and if, the new Anderson High is built to capacity, so what is the point in counting your chickens before they hatch, seven plus years before time.

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28 Robbie Magnus Jamieson Former Pupil

As a pupil it took me more than an hour every day to travel to the Lerwick school. Buses left Scalloway at 8am to arrive in Lerwick. I left home at 7.30am every morning and got home at 5.30pm. Unless the Schools Service is going to get a helicopter over the hill that would be the only way you might manage it. How are you going to get my bairn from the South End of Burra the 14 miles to the Lerwick school in under an hour each way? I would like this explained to me now please. Helen Budge – We have looked at all the routes which currently exist right from East Burra, Papal, Bridge End and all the way through. Feeder services would be put in place to meet the main bus route. Feeder buses would cover the peerie routes. This is an issue which we will have to include in the Consultation Report.

29 Sue Anderson Parent

I live in the very last house at the South End of Burra. This is approximately 17 mile from the Anderson High School. My bairns have to leave the house at 7.40 in the morning to be able to get to the Anderson High reaching Lerwick for 8.50am. I would be interested to see where the feasibility study comes into this. When you are looking at an 11 year old who is starting S1 to set off in the middle of winter at 7.40 in the morning.

30 Kenny Pottinger

For interest sake how many councillors are here tonight? Could you please stand up? Councillor Angus – there are about six. What will happen to the staff come August? Where will they go? And how long do they get paid for? Helen Budge - In respect of the staff, any posts which come up this year we are advertising as temporary for one year and not on an established basis. We have already kept four posts which can be used if this Proposal goes ahead. We

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are also looking at retirements throughout the year and have a number of folk who are choosing to consider this. As this year progresses we are going to be using every opportunity to hold posts on a temporary basis until it is known what is going to happen with this Proposal. How many years do you think it will take to meet the savings? We have said that the full savings will be implemented – that is the £5M in total by the year 2013. This figure includes some of the Hub model features also which both Audrey and Matthew have spoken about. The savings are not based on this particular part of the Proposal but all of the Proposal. To me it seems that this does not have anything to do with education. It’s all down to money. I have been trying to help the Parent Council figure this out and we are just getting different figures nearly every second day. To end up with, yesterday, the Parent Council received a new email saying that the Schools Service had made a mistake and there was £127,000 that had been charged the wrong way. Another query is regarding Quality Assurance which costs the Scalloway School £102,000 a year; can you tell me what that is? Janice Thomason - The Quality Assurance recharges are based on all the costs which come in to a Support Cost Centre within the Education Service. This includes the Quality Assurance Officers, Quality Managers and a few other education staff. This also has recharges from the whole of the rest of the Council including; Personnel, Payroll, Legal Services, Building Services and the whole range of services which is provided to schools from the entire Council network. The Parent Council received some figures yesterday which included an 80% increase in school dinners at the Lerwick school with this new Proposal. I was in the Lerwick school last week and spoke to a teacher there. I was told that dinner times were unbelievable and I have heard bairns saying that they have to queue all through lunch time and when they get to the end they either run out of time or the food is all gone. There are bairns sitting around with trays on their laps, as there are not enough seats. How can you think to increase the meals by 80% if there is not enough

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room for the numbers right now? Helen Budge - Over the last year we have increased the dinning room space at the Anderson High. The 5th and 6th years are not now sitting with trays on their laps as they now have more tables and seats. In respect of bairns standing in the queue for the whole of the dinner hour, I do not think this is the case but I will go back to the Anderson High School and check this and it will be included within the Consultation Report as well. The school dinners have increased.

31 Rana Dawson Pupil

I am wondering what is going to happen to the Secondary 3’s now. They are going to move school in the middle of a Standard Grade course. It does not matter how much work has been put in to the transition as each teacher teaches the course in different orders. How are you going to make sure that the course is continued? Helen Budge – We have had discussions with staff about this as they have expressed their concerns about this as well. That is why this Proposal states that the Schools Service would look to implement this Proposal, should it happen, by August 2011 or at the nearest possible time. The Service is certainly open to the suggestion, through this consultation process, that the S3’s might prefer to stay on at Scalloway for their S4. If this is what you would prefer, then it is what we will record and then take back and include in the Consultation Paper. The Schools Service does recognise that transition half way through a two year course is not best.

32 Lawson Bissett Resident

Councillor Angus, it is a matter of public record that you described the Anderson High School as an “absolute shambles”. This is a documented fact. If you look at the timescale for the Anderson High School you are looking seven years from the current date. Does this mean from 2012 and for the next five years, the pupils of Scalloway will be going to, by your own words, an “absolute shambles”? The Schools Service does not have planning permission and you have alluded to the Government looking to making some cut backs in October to Shetland Islands Council. If you do not have the money for the Anderson High School nor do you get planning permission, what is your contingency plan

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for sending the Scalloway pupils to the Anderson High School, which has neither been refurbished nor rebuilt? Councillor. Angus – There has been considerable work done on the Anderson High School during the past eighteen months. It has been upgraded from an “adequate” to a “good” so, if anyone is concerned about it they are very welcome to go and see the improvements which have been made. The capital sum for the building of the new Anderson High School is set aside and is available for use to build the school. Planning permission will be dealt with in the normal way, when the application is ready. This does not answer my question. How are you going to deal with the risk of you not getting planning permission to build the school? Councillor Angus – All I can say is we can only anticipate getting planning permission but, as I understand, there is plenty of spare capacity at the current High School.

34 Nicole Mouat Former pupil

I attended Scalloway School from Primary 1 to Secondary 4 and I am now a 6th year pupil at the Anderson High School. The Proposal states that there is capacity at the Anderson High School for 1200 pupils. This might be correct on paper but you would not be able to fit that into the High School comfortably. There might be classroom space but there is not sufficient social area space. The canteen was extended with more tables but that was supposed to be the 6th year area, now because the 6th year area was taken away. There are folk that queue for a long time during their dinner hour and when they get to the front of the queue there is nothing left.

35 Edna Bell Thomson Head Cook at Janet Courtney Hostel

At lunch times we are out the door as the kids do not have room at the Anderson High.

36 Margaret Gear

Based on my children’s experiences so far we would be devastated if Scalloway was to close because the quality of

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Parent

education in Scalloway is exceptional. If Scalloway does close we would be considering making a placement request to either Sandwick or Brae. I think it would be interesting to have a show of hands of parents here who would consider this also. [Show of hands]

37 Janice Pottinger

I am originally from Yell and my man from Burra. We moved from the Town back to Burra because we did not want our bairns to be brought up a “Toonie”. We wanted our bairns to be brought up in a community and have the same kind of education as everybody else that goes to the Scalloway school. What concerns me is the travel. I stay in Bridge End, and work as a child minder. What if my bairn was at the Anderson High School and not well? I possibly would not be able to go and pick them up. I am lucky that I can drive, but maybe somebody might not have a car and if their bairn turned ill they would not be able to pick them up. There are fantastic facilities and school clubs available for bairns at Scalloway. The amount of different clubs and groups that the bairns go to every week drives adults crazy as they have to run a taxi service putting them swimming, football, netball, basketball, ballet or what ever there choice is. Are the bairns going to be able to do that if they have to travel to the Anderson High School? I do not think so. Would the bairns be able to have time for their homework?

38 Paul Leask We have heard a lot about finance, a lot about education and some very shallow arguments for the educational benefit. What is apparent is that this is an exercise being done for the sake of the Council being seen to be doing something. I don’t think this is the right way to go about it. If you have a school model, such as an all through school model that is performing the way that Scalloway is performing surely you should be using that as the basis for your Blueprint for the rest of the islands.

39 Karen Scollay Parent

Regarding the number of responses which you have received to date, I agree with Karen that the public have been waiting for this meeting to take place before responding and that you will probably have an influx after tonight. I

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would like to know how many of you who are making the decisions to close Scalloway Secondary Department have actually been and visited Scalloway School. I believed that all the Councillors had been invited to the School and as far as I am aware Councillor Duncan was the only one that accepted the invitation. Councillor. Angus – I have been to the Scalloway school on a number of occasions.

Helen Budge – I have been very involved with Scalloway for periods of time and a few years ago was very involved with assisting the lower primary staff for quite a number of months in developing the curriculum. At that point it was at the early years stages. Wendy has acknowledged earlier, that there were members up here that had taken part in developing the curriculum within Scalloway itself.

40 Freya Inkster Pupil

Under the educational benefits statement is says that “there is access to a large teaching staff group who are able to work collaboratively in teams to benefit pupils learning”. Our teachers at Scalloway Junior High School work very well together (e.g. food and drink challenge and various other things) and I think that having a bigger school like the Anderson High School, it is going to be more difficult to provide something as good as we have in Scalloway.

41 Kevin Learmouth Parent

Helen stated earlier, and correct me if I am wrong, that you have started to restrict posts to one year in anticipation of closure. Is this closure by the back door in making it less attractive to good teachers to go to a one year post rather than a permanent post? And has this policy of restricting posts to one year, been applied to all schools across Shetland or only those you would like to close? Helen Budge – Restricting posts to one year does not apply only to schools proposed to close. For example there is a post in Aith at the moment advertised as a one year contract. We have to assess each individual post on its merit at the moment. There are also a number of Houseparent’s posts at the Hall of Residents which are currently advertised as established. We are taking into account all the support posts

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as well as teaching posts. I’m sorry if you misunderstood and thought that it was just the posts within Scalloway School that was being advertised on a temporary basis. This is not the case. It is posts across the whole of the school estate - in all the different areas apart from the Hall of Residence currently. A great deal of play has been made on the finances as the reasons for closing Scalloway Secondary because I believe you are struggling to come up with an educational case. On the information you put out, you have a headline figure the total secondary cost is basically £1.395M. However, in your figures you show that the saving on this if you can reallocate some of those costs to the other bits of Scalloway School, namely £307,000, and off that you have salaries. Unless you can sack every single member of staff in which case you make your savings as stated on your figures of roughly £880,000. You are either sacking them or not and if you are not then you do not have that £880,000 savings. This takes us down to a net saving from your headline figure, which you have shown Councillors of nearly £1.4M, of £208,000. The Schools Service has admitted to additional costs of £69,000 which takes your savings for closing Scalloway down to £139,000 which is a tiny amount of money. When we look at the figures for the Anderson High School to our amazement: we see that the revenue for school meals jumps from £190,000 a year to £343,000. This is quite an achievement as the current Scalloway income for schools meals is £25,000 but you have managed to pluck £153,000 out of thin air and put that onto your income for the Anderson High. If you knock this off your figures the savings for Scalloway would come down to virtually nothing. You are deluding yourselves with your money and you are misleading the public by putting out figures like these. Helen Budge - First of all I would like to reassure staff here tonight that we are not planning to sack all the staff in the Secondary Department at Scalloway. That is not the intention of the Proposal Paper and that is not the intention of Central Schools Service. What I tried to explain earlier, and obviously failed to make clear, is that we are creating vacancies that will be there next summer should they be required by the staff from this school, should this Proposal go ahead. The posts which are available are not in Scalloway Junior High School. The posts we are creating in a temporary position at the moment to become established

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next year again would be vacant posts that are in our other schools currently. I’m sorry if that was not clear. In respect of the sale of meals going up by 80%; that is across the whole Hub, so that includes those other schools associated with the Anderson High. In respect of relocating the funding, yes this has been included within the costs.

42 Mhairi Garnier Manager of Burra Pre-School

I would like to talk about what would happen to Scalloway School should the Secondary Department be closed. For many years now there has been talk of closing the Scalloway Secondary at various points. The widely held belief in the community is that Scalloway would become a super primary with Tingwall, Nesting, and Whiteness moving to Scalloway. You alluded to earlier that we would need more primary capacity. The wider community would like to know if closing Scalloway Secondary Department just the beginning of a long term plan of centralising all these primary schools in Scalloway.

Councillor. Angus – There have absolutely been no plans for this nor have I been involved with or discussion on this or heard it mentioned. The only time I have heard this mentioned is tonight when Bobby Hunter brought it up. I am sorry that you have not heard of it because it has been muted by other Councillors to the parents within these communities. Councillor. Angus – Again, I have never heard it. We would like to know what the long term plan is. As we have seen, closing Scalloway is not going to make that much in savings, it is what comes next and I think that you have to be honest with us.

43 Maria Cadavid Carrascosa Teacher & Parent

I can guarantee you that I have not seen the quality of education anywhere that I have seen in Scalloway, not only in Shetland but also in Spain where I come from. One of the reasons that I decided to stay in Shetland is not for the sunny weather, but for the quality of education that I could get for my two kids. I hope in 10 years they can come to the Scalloway Junior High.

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When you speak about the number of people in Shetland going down, when I was pregnant with my second child the Health Visitor was amazed at the amount of children that were being born that year. The Health Visitor said it was the highest in the past few years. There were not enough spaces for scans because of the amount of kids that were due to be born. Whoever is doing the calculations is wrong.

44 Margaret Nugent Parent

I have concerns about my daughter who is in S3, having to go to the Anderson at S4 and continue her Standard Grade studies there, in a new environment, with new pupils and a new teacher that teaches in a different style than she is used to. I am really concerned about that and I would like that transition, if it ever comes to, be sensitively thought out with consideration given to what the pupils and the parents who are going to be affected think.

545 Jenny Climbs Parent

I would like to point out a couple of things which are in the actual Proposal for the Re-location of the Anderson High School “dining room space is limited so the school will have difficulty meeting new healthy eating legislation” and “the Hall of Residence is used to providing meals at lunch time and their dining room space is limited and operating at near capacity”. These statements are in the SIC’s own Proposal Paper. I do not drive, so I would find and do find it very difficult if my children are ill and trying to get them home from the Anderson High School because I work and live in Scalloway and can’t easily get into Lerwick.

46 Edna Nicol Parent & Former Pupil

We have heard a lot about the transition and making things easy for the upset the pupils may face. What about the upset that the bairns are facing currently? The bairns were all unsure and their education is suffering because of the stress they are under because they don’t want to lose their school. I have two who were refusing to go to school and two who are refusing to go to the Anderson High. We have to consider what this is doing to the children as well as the teachers who are trying to teach them.

47 Kevin Briggs Parent

I would like to reiterate some of the points which have already been made which I feel are important. In looking at the Proposal Document with the educational benefit statement, to me it feels like a list of features; OHPs, Multi

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media and not benefits just a list of things. Just having a WOW room, how can that improve the educational benefits to the pupils in the school? In your Document it says that the roll for Scalloway for next year is actually increasing by 28% from 116 to 145. Why are we looking at closing a school when the roll is increasing? Especially with 200 houses being projected in the future. We have heard a lot about money and savings yet you are looking at building a New Anderson High School. The cost in 2006 was estimated at £46M, I don’t know that the cost would be now. How is that saving money please? Helen Budge - The projected trends which are spoken about in the Proposal Paper for the roll in Scalloway to increase does not include those people who may choose to send their pupils to the Anderson High. You can also see that roll at the Anderson High looks as if it is going to fall quite a bit next year but there is a table in the Proposal Paper which sets out clearly the numbers and percentage of young folk that actually attend the Anderson High from S1. The figures from the Proposal Paper may change depending on the placing requests that are submitted for pupils from Scalloway into the Anderson High. We have included in the Paper in the projected roll the number which stay within the catchment area.

48 Councillor Angus

I accept that there is little doubt that there is nobody for this Proposal to close the Scalloway Secondary Department. Your principle concerns as I have understood them are; transitions, not convinced of the educational benefits, doubtful about the finance figures which have been presented, some reference to stress on pupils and teachers, and if you had a choice quite a number of you would not choose the Anderson High as a first alternative. Are there any other issues that have not been raised by someone who has not spoken yet?

49 Diana Inkster Pupil

Firstly the Proposal for keeping 3rd years in Scalloway for 4th year is flatly ridiculous because the money that is going to be spent for keeping one year at Scalloway when the whole school could be kept here and have a much better education here than at Lerwick. Regarding the projected roll; the percentage of the projected roll of pupils in Scalloway catchment area that goes to

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Lerwick has risen in the past at times when Scalloway School has been under threat of closure. I feel that if the threat of closure was taken away from Scalloway then the projected roll for Scalloway would go up. I know that children from Tingwall have gone to the Anderson because of the threat of closure.

50 Alan Inkster Parent

When I learned about the Scalloway closure last year and considered how it would affect my daughter, I thought about what I should do that is best. As a parent I felt I should say to Diana we are going to put you to Lerwick now, at this very time. When I mentioned it to Diana she was very strong in her defiance that she would remain at the Scalloway School. I was very pleased that she was of that opinion. I hope that the Council will take everything on board that has been said tonight and look at savings in a lot of other areas. The Council spoke about building new buildings for the Social Work Department. If you look at the Anderson High School and a new one, which I feel the Clickimin to be the right site for, make it to the size Lerwick requires. You say that repairs have been made to the Anderson High School, maybe all Council staff should move out of the hundreds of offices which the Council have and rent and move into the Anderson High School.

51 Kirsty Uttley Pupil

As far as I can tell the only educational benefit that you have been able to tell us about is an easier way for the Curriculum for Excellence to work. I am not greatly affected by that, as I will be taking Standard Grades, Highers and hopefully Advanced Highers. Can you please tell me what the educational benefits will be for me?

52 Marion Wiseman Parent

I think Scalloway Schools’ greatest strength is pastoral care. Three years ago my daughter had to face what I would not want any child to face and that was to watch her mother basically die. The family would not have gotten through what we went through if it had not been for the support which my daughter and family received from all the staff at Scalloway School. My daughter was treated as an individual and as a person. When she went to the Anderson High School, she was a number in a class where I felt all they were interested in was

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her passing exams. In her fifth year report card it said – “she has strongly gone against our advice to sit a …… Higher”. She achieved an A grade. If we had taken the Anderson High Schools’ advice she would not have achieved this, and it meant a lot to her. She was a pupil for whom it was not easy going to get through six Highers with A’s or whatever. She fought to get her Highers and she got an A for it because she was determined. Bigger classes, she did not get the support because they did not have the staffing. She was doing Music and the Department could not offer her singing lessons, which was her first subject in Music. We had to go private to get lessons. Fortunately we were in a position were we were able to do that. The first time that she was heard by the Music Department for her practical subject was two weeks before her prelims, which was a bit late but fortunately she got through it. The support she got particularly in 4 years in Scalloway school was absolutely outstanding by everybody from kitchen staff, support staff and teaching staff. I would like to thank everybody who works at Scalloway Junior High School for all they did for her family through these difficult times.

Councillor Angus – Could I thank everybody who has spoken here tonight and for your attendance. All of your comments will be included in the Consultation Report which will go to the Council. In addition I do hope that if you wish to make individual contributions that you will contact the Schools Service direct or use the response forms which are available here tonight. I wish you a good night. Councillor Angus closed the meeting at 9.05pm.