Buckie High future lies in ‘aspiring for excellent’ in battle for new school
Aiming for excellence is the only way forward, a parent has stated in the ongoing bid to replace a crumbling high school.
Buckie Community High School (BCHS) is currently rated C in condition, meaning the buildings need investment, and B in suitability on an A-D scale. The minimum requirement for both is B.
Hopes had initially been high that the school would qualify for funding from the Scottish Government's Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) Phase 3 project, which would have seen a much-needed new school built. However, Forres Academy ended up getting the nod from Moray Council for the cash.
A further blow was to be dealt in February when councillors were told that due to the “significant reduction of capital” - to the tune of £32.32 million - available to the local authority it was now the case that the “existing refurbishment options are not affordable”.
At a public meeting held in BCHS on Tuesday, June 17 parents learned that without external funding there would be no new school - priced at £100 million - or extensive revamp, which came with an estimated price tag of £75 million. A hybrid option was also mentioned, although no provisional costings were given for that.
While the meeting saw some calls for an extensive refurbishment rather than a new build made - with the warning that the school could lose out in terms of facilities - one parent has stated that the best way forward is to “aspire to excellence” for future generations of kids and build a new school.
Stephen Birtwhistle, whose petition demanding a new school for Buckie has gathered over 1200 signatures, pulled no punches as to the direction he believes the council should be taking.
He said: “I was a bit disappointed by the meeting, to be honest.
“What I took away from it was basically there’s no money and the council are going to have to go back to the Scottish Government begging for more.
“Even if they do get more money, there was absolutely no guarantee given that Buckie would get it.
“We heard the view at the meeting that the condition of the school isn’t having an impact on the children’s learning, but I’ve had literally hundreds of people tell me the opposite. It’s regularly taking kids up to 20 minutes to log onto computers and after they do, they crash. Add in time for them to come into class, get their coats off and books out, there’s half the lesson gone before they’ve done anything.
“Despite this they do quite well, and the staff are doing a fantastic job, but we should be aspiring to excellence. Imagine what the kids could achieve if they had the right tools? We shouldn’t be accepting second best.”
Mr Birtwhistle went on to say that while he was very much against knocking down the old BCHS buildings on West Cathcart Street, the premises could be repurposed to serve other community uses while a brand new school was put in place next door to them on the current site.
He commented: “Do the old buildings - which I love - actually have to remain as a school?”
On the Friday before the meeting, a small group, including the chairmen of the BCHS parent council David Malcolm and Buckie and District Council Peter West, were given a tour of the school by senior students.
Reflecting on the meeting, Mr Birtwhistle continued: “I was also disappointed that such a small group was selected to go on the tour, which most people didn’t know about.
“Personally I think it might’ve been more useful if people qualified in assessing the state of the buildings, like an architect or surveyor, had been invited along so we could get a clearer idea of where things stand.”
He went on to take issue with a point made after the meeting by Mr Malcolm with regard to the possible loss of facilities - including the four gym halls - if a new build was put in place. Citing the example of the new Lossiemouth High School, Mr Malcolm said that the school’s gym was open to the wider community which meant that people were “wondering around the school”, a situation he argued “isn’t safe”.
Mr Birtwhistle commented: “It was disappointing to hear the comment about Lossie High gym.
“There’s separate reception and parking areas and access to the school itself is security locked.”
While the fate of future Scottish Government funding will only be revealed in the wake of next May’s Scottish Parliament elections, the road ahead for BCHS parents was clear.
Mr Birtwhistle added: “The only thing for parents to do is to keep the pressure up and not accept second best for our children.”