North Ayrshire Council’s plan to create a Three Towns
educational campus has been dealt another hammer-blow.
The local authority’s proposal to merge Stevenston’s
Auchenharvie Academy with Ardrossan Academy and two schools for children with
additional support needs – Irvine’s Haysholm School and Ardrossan’s James
McFarlane School – has already been rejected by 77% of respondents to a public
consultation. Now, the3towns can reveal
that the Parent Council of Haysholm School has submitted a scathing response to
the idea that children with additional needs could be accommodated within a ‘nest’
at the proposed mainstream super-school.
The Haysholm response begins, “We find very concerning
that some Council officials, when meeting with parents from other schools
involved, are stating that ‘Haysholm Parent Council’ is in favour of the
proposal. We are not, we have never been
and we will never be in favour of
any amalgamation of Haysholm School within the Three Towns Campus. We are in favour of enhanced facilities within
the current environment or a merge with James McFarlane.”
In response to the Council’s public consultation, 60%
of Haysholm parents clearly stated their opposition to the planned merger.
In its new submission to the Council, Haysholm Parent
Council flags-up that the local authority’s SNP administration had considered
but rejected an option to merge just the two schools for children with
additional needs. Had that option been
chosen, the total cost for a state-of-the-art facility would have been £9m,
with the Council and the Scottish Government each contributing £4.5m. The option chosen by the Council – to merge
all four schools – comes at a projected cost of £42m (£22m from the Scottish
Government and £20m from NAC).
In response to a Council ‘Estate Management Update’
from August 2012, which referred to the proposed merger providing an
opportunity to “further consolidate the secondary estate and also allow an opportunity
to significantly invest in the Special School Estate to deliver a modern fit
for purpose provision for our children, young people, staff and community,” Haysholm
Parent Council states, “It does not say this is a Nest within a secondary
mainstream school which would cost less and help with their cost-cutting
exercise rather than create a standalone modern building that
would be fit for purpose and provide a safe, suitable and comfortable
learning environment for children and young people with severe and complex
additional support needs.”
The parents then explain the reason for their
opposition to the proposed merger of additional needs children within a mainstream
secondary school, “Imagine if
you cuddled a teddy bear and, instead of feeling it soft, it was as sharp as
needles. Or you turned on a light and
found its buzz unbearably loud and painful.
You’d probably be driven to extreme anxiety. Everyday life is like this for many children
with autism. They can experience over-sensitivity
or under-sensitivity to sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. But through sensory therapy and modification
of the environment, their lives can be made more bearable. Our children get this
in the present environment. In the
proposed campus, our children would not only have to adjust to a new
environment, but also new children, staff, travel times, smells, noise - even
without a bell ringing every 55minutes, 1500 children do make noise anyway - and
visual stimulation.
“Our autistic children enjoy
and rely on routines to help make sense of their daily life and the world
around them. When things change –
perhaps the minibus they always travel on has been diverted or is stuck in
traffic – this can lead to serious panic attacks. Think how often things can change around you. For a child with autism, even the smallest
changes can be extremely distressing and confusing.
“Eighty-percent of children
and young people with Autism are at greater risk of developing depression and
mental health conditions. Merging them
into the new setting is not going to reduce this risk at all.”
Also in the Parent Council
document is reference to how the neighbouring local authority, East Ayrshire
Council – also SNP-controlled – has taken a different approach to the one
proposed by North Ayrshire Council. The
report says, “East Ayrshire Council is providing
their most vulnerable pupils with a state-of-the-art modern learning
environment, while North Ayrshire Council, for our most vulnerable pupils, is
suggesting a mix-match masked by ‘inclusion’ jargon and funds needs.”
Haysholm parents then ask, “If
building super-schools was a Scottish Government policy, how is it that East
Ayrshire Council has taken a different route,” adding, “Councillor Douglas
Reid, SNP Leader of East Ayrshire Council has supported with all the other SNP
councillors the building of this new facility for children with Additional
Support Needs, yet his SNP counterparts in North Ayrshire are backing a Council
official’s proposal that would cause our most vulnerable children untold
trauma, anxiety and stress. Are SNP
local policies different from the national ones?”
The Haysholm response to the
Council concludes by quoting Cllr Tony Gurney, North Ayrshire’s SNP Cabinet
member for Education, who said the local authority’s public consultation had
been “extremely valuable” and that the SNP
administration would “continue to speak to everyone involved
as we seek to find the best possible arrangement for our children.”
However, Haysholm Parent Council replied, “That’s
not good enough! The Three Towns Campus
does not meet the needs of children and young adults with complex additional
support needs!
“The majority of Haysholm’s children and parents
are against the proposed amalgamation into the Three Towns School Campus! Haysholm’s Children are North Ayrshire’s most vulnerable pupils!
Haysholm’s Children are your
most vulnerable pupils!”
The Parent Council has sent its
response to all 30 North Ayrshire councillors asking, “Please vote against the
proposed amalgamation and the creation of the Three Towns School Campus.”
Last week a public meeting
organised by Auchenharvie Parent Council also unanimously opposed the proposed
schools merger and called on North Ayrshire councillors to vote against the
plan when it is considered by the full Council, expected to be at a meeting
scheduled for November 7.
A majority of Ardrossan
residents responding to the Council’s public consultation also rejected the
plan (56%), despite the town being earmarked for the location of the proposed
Three Towns campus.
Of the four schools that would
be merged if the plan went ahead, only respondents from James McFarlane School
supported the idea (67%).
