I am on Wave 102 news this morning about my call to increase funding for improvements across 7 schools in the city including Ancrum Road and Blackness Primary Schools. Click ‘play’ to listen :
Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
On the day the First Minister opened the refurbished Dundee College premises, along with my colleague Cllr David May, Convener of Angus Council’s Infrastructure Committee, I met with Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Alan Mitchell, regarding our joint concerns at huge cuts to the college budgets at Angus College and Dundee College. The Chamber of Commerce [...]
Tuesday update
Posted: August 23, 2011 in Education, Glenagnes Road, Jericho House, Park Place Nursery School, Park Place Primary School, River Crescent, St Joseph's Primary SchoolToday, I took part in the Jericho House Support Group latest meeting, at which we discussed and planned events for this very worthwhile project, including a dance during November and also a play Jericho House is planning on the subject of recovery from alcoholism. It is hoped the play will run during West End Christmas Week. [...]
Dundee pupils should be listened to and their concerns addressed
Posted: April 4, 2011 in Dundee City Council, EducationI have today said that the City Council and its Education Convener should be prepared to sit down with Dundee pupils who are protesting about the council’s education cuts to listen to their concerns and see what can be done to address them. This follows the protest outside Tayside House on Friday when the pupils were told [...]
This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting parents of children at Law Nursery; they are very concerned at SNP plans to close the nursery on its long standing and highly successful site and relocate it within Rosebank Primary School. I accepted a petition with 1161 signatures on it – an indication of real concern [...]
Thursday …
Posted: February 24, 2011 in Affordable Housing, Ancrum Drive, Dundee City Council, Education, Lochee ParkAfter a visit to Ancrum Drive to discuss impending works that the City Council will undertake to ensure the flooding problem from Lochee Park into residents’ gardens is tackled, I attended a very interesting briefing on the private sector house condition survey in Dundee, undertaken by David Adamson and Partners. This contained very interesting information [...]
Tavish Scott : Liberal Democrats improving the Scottish Budget for students and colleges
Posted: February 9, 2011 in Education, Liberal Democrats, Tavish Scott MSPDear Fraser Today’s Scottish Budget is a major boost for students and colleges. It has delighted the National Union of Students who have said: “The Scottish Liberal Democrats have worked very hard for students on this issue” and “This is great news”. It will help tackle a crisis faced in Scotland’s colleges from 1st April [...]
Education in Dundee – budget concerns raised
Posted: February 4, 2011 in Dundee City Council, EducationI have today raised with Dundee City Council’s Director of Education the following questions and concerns about budget proposals affecting education in Dundee : Jim I would be grateful if you can clarify the following questions for me as soon as possible and certainly in advance of next Thursday’s Policy & Resources Committee meeting. a) [...]
I was on Wave 102 (click ‘play’ above to listen) and Radio Tay news today about the council budget, again making the point that there was merit in all-party discussions with our Head Teachers to reach the best possible solution for management arrangements in our schools. Having discussed proposals from the Labour Group with Cllr [...]
Last couple of days …
Posted: September 10, 2010 in Education, NHS Tayside, Tayside Police, University of DundeeYesterday, as well as attending the latest meeting of the West End Schools’ Project Board and my weekly surgery at Blackness Primary School, I had the pleasure of attending a civic reception at the City Chambers to highlight Dundee’s support for the Perth 800 celebrations and for Perth’s bid for city status. Both Dundee Lord [...]
Busy Monday …
Posted: August 23, 2010 in Dundee City Council, Education, Logie Estate, Pennycook Lane, Sinderins Court, South Tay StreetIn addition to holding two surgeries today : * I had a positive meeting with the Chair, Chief Executive and Head of Pharmacy at NHS Tayside about the transportation of drugs issue I have highlighted recently. The NHS representatives agreed to put the policy before the Board’s Improvement & Quality Committee for discussion and have [...]
A constituent recently wrote to me expessing concern that there appears to be still no criteria for the new national exams that will be replacing Standard Grades. He asked if this meant that teaching staff have to start teaching the new curriculum, but with no idea about the detail of the exams that they should [...]
Meetings tonight – and tomorrow
Posted: February 10, 2010 in Dundee West Transition Town Group, Education, Riverside Nature Park, Tayside Police, West End Community Council, West End Festival 2010It was good to see residents turning out at the Police Community Surgery at Blackness Library at teatime today. I spoke with a number of residents about local issues, including cycling matters, the begging concern, litter and parking. West End Community Council’s meeting tonight featured a useful presentation on the proposed Riverside Nature Park, as [...]
Tonight, I attended a very interesting and informative meeting of the Harris Academy Parent Council. A detailed overview of the school’s extensive preparations for the Curriculum for Excellence was given. Along with Jim Thewliss, Head Teacher, I spoke about the latest developments on the Harris rebuilding/improvements project. Yesterday, the Director of Education gave me the [...]
Parking, buses and school class sizes …
Posted: January 12, 2010 in Buses, Dundee City Council, Education, parkingLast night’s City Council committee meetings were lengthy, at some three hours in total, and a number of important subjects were discussed, including : Parking : The long-awaited report on residents’ parking, looking at five areas of the city including the area approximately east of Sinderins from Roseangle/Magdalen Yard Road in the south to Blackness [...]
Victoria Park concerns – feedback from the Director of Education
Posted: December 18, 2009 in Dundee City Council, EducationAs reported in tonight’s ‘Evening Telegraph’, the City Council’s Director of Education has responded to me about the department’s proposals for use of Victoria Park by the schools on the proposed shared campus on the former Logie Secondary School site as follows : “You are correct that this project will need to come forward as [...]
Update – West End Schools
Posted: December 12, 2009 in Education, Park Place Nursery School, Park Place Primary School, St Joseph's Primary SchoolFurther to my article yesterday about the Scottish Government’s to allow the City Council deregulation from the Schools Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 1967 (as amended), that will allow the St Joseph’s Primary, and Park Place Primary and Nursery Schools Project to go ahead on the former Logie Secondary site in Dundee, I [...]
Yesterday, the Director of Education advised me that Scottish Government has approved the City Council’s application for deregulation in respect of the proposal to build two new primary schools and a nursery to replace the current Park Place and St Joseph’s Primary Schools buildings and Park Place Nursery, on a shared campus on the site [...]
The Scottish Liberal Democrats on Saturday informed all four parties in the Scottish Parliament that we intended to propose a motion of no confidence in Fiona Hyslop as Education Secretary. The First Minister has now bowed to pressure and sacked the Education Secretary. Commenting, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott MSP, said, “Since the weekend [...]
As residents will be aware, the City Council has sought deregulation from the 1967 School Premises (general requirements and standards) (Scotland) Regulations in respect of the proposal to build new primary school facilities for St Joseph’s and Park Place Primary Schools and a new Park Place Nursery School. A decision by Scottish Government has taken [...]
The Courier this morning covers the issue of road safety outside Dundee schools, including my own comments. You can read this by going to http://tinyurl.com/schoolrdsafety.
Two Friday updates
Posted: October 23, 2009 in Abbotsford Place, Blackness Avenue, Blackness Primary School, Education, HawkhillUpdate 1 : Replacement School Crossing Patroller for Blackness Primary School at Hawkhill – latest from Dundee City Council this afternoon : “Good Afternoon Cllr Macpherson, I am pleased to inform you that we have now been able to arrange for the above SCP to be manned with effect from lunch time on Tue 27 [...]
Hawkhill crossing – good news
Posted: October 22, 2009 in Blackness Primary School, Education, HawkhillFurther to my article earlier this week about pupil safety concerns crossing the Hawkhill by-pass due to the lack of a school crossing patroller (to view go to http://tinyurl.com/scphawkhill), I was pleased to have received assurances today from the City Council’s Director of Education that a temporary school crossing patroller will be in place from the [...]
Hawkhill : primary school crossing concerns
Posted: October 20, 2009 in Blackness Primary School, EducationAs reported in the Courier over the weekend, I have expressed concern about the safety of Blackness Primary School pupils crossing the extremely busy Hawkhill by-pass, where there is currently no school crossing patroller. Parents have expressed concern to me that, with the schools coming back after the autumn holiday earlier this week, there is [...]
Harris Academy : Feedback from the Director of Education
Posted: September 30, 2009 in Dundee City Council, Education, Harris AcademyContrary to the rather unfortunate tone of the comments made by the SNP MSP for Dundee West in today’s ‘Courier’ about the Harris Academy rebuilding project, there is in fact absolutely no certainty as yet regarding the actual level of funding (nor the timescales) for the project – as the response this morning from Dundee [...]
Good news for Harris Academy – but detail of extent of funding and timescale required
Posted: September 28, 2009 in Education, Harris AcademyFurther to the reports in the press over the weekend, if you go to http://tinyurl.com/harriswave102, you can hear the early morning news on Wave 102, in which I made the point that we required urgent clarity on the funding of buildings improvements at Harris Academy. See also the article in today’s “Courier” – http://tinyurl.com/harriscourier. The [...]
Harris Academy : vital there is clarity over funding for upgrade
Posted: September 27, 2009 in Education, Harris AcademyI have today said that, given media reports today about schools to be included in the Scottish Government’s capital improvements, it is vital that there is immediate clarity from Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning over government plans – and assurance that Harris Academy will be included in the funding. I have [...]
In 2007, the SNP won thousands of votes on a promise – an explicitly clear promise – to cut all primary school P1, P2 and P3 classes to a maximum of 18 pupils. There has been no real progress on this in the past two and a half years. Why? Because the SNP government, having [...]
Harris Academy : Scottish Government must recognise case for upgrade
Posted: September 21, 2009 in Education, Harris AcademyI have today called for Scottish Government to indicate as soon as possible its decision on possible inclusion of Harris Academy in its intended secondary schools improvements programme through the Scottish Futures Trust. My previous update on feedback I received from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning can be viewed by going [...]
Yesterday, the City Council launched an initiative to further improve attendance in Dundee´s schools. You can read more about this from the “Evening Telegraph”, including my own comments welcoming the initiative – by going to http://tinyurl.com/dundeeschool. The new initiative has to be reviewed after a period of time to ensure it is actually achieving what [...]
