Council will consider plans to keep all children at Hallside
Mar 10 2010
by Douglas Dickie, Rutherglen Reformer
PARENTS at Hallside Primary have been told the council will consider a plan that will prevent some children being sent to an annexe at Cairns Primary.
Despite saying that other options had been looked into and discounted, education chief Larry Forde told members of the school’s Parent Council that they would look into a possibility of putting up portacabin classrooms in the Hallside grounds.
Meeting with parents last Wednesday (March 3), Mr Forde said the annexe would only operate for one year, after which a longer term, but still temporary, solution would be required.
The only permanent solution will be the construction of a completely new school located in the Newton farm area, but no timescale has been set for this and Mr Forde conceded that plans were unlikely to be confirmed any time soon.
However, the vow to re-explore the possibility of portacabins will give parents some hope that the hugely unpopular annexe plan may be scrapped.
The council had previously looked into ‘click-on pods’ that would attach to the school building, but these were deemed unviable.
In fact, only last week the council told parents in a letter that: “Space is limited within the campus and further additions to the building would place undue pressure on the shared facilities including dining, physical education and external play space for the children.”
However, it now looks like the education department has backtracked under pressure from parents.
Mr Forde said the council would let parents now of their findings by the end of March.
A spokesperson for the council said: “We can confirm that a meeting took place on March 3 between Larry Forde, South Lanarkshire Council’s Executive Director of Education, the Parent Council and other parent representatives.
“At this meeting, Larry Forde did agree that the council will investigate the viability of erecting portable buildings in the school campus by the start of the new term in August 2010.
“In the meantime, the council’s view remains that the proposal to relocate one year group to the Cairns campus is the most viable option.”
Parents have been fuming at the proposed plans to bus around a fifth of the Hallside roll to Cairns, a decision taken after no consultation with parents.
The council last week apologised for the way they had dealt with the situation and have vowed that any future plans will only be made after speaking to parents.
