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Please help save my daughter's school by signing the petition at the link below.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/drummond/
Thank you.
Compulsory redundancies will clean up this Council, not only will the tardy high rollers be booted but hopefully some of the wingeing, work-shy, deadbeat drones who ate their job but are too lazy to get another!!!
or hate their job rather, I must be hungry!
Shame about the schools though... can't wait to see what the headlines are when the Castlebrae So Solid Crew combine as one with Liberton High.
The council should not back down because of this mob action. It was interesting to see how few actually turned up though, can't be as big a crisis as the evening news would suggest. The coverage given by the evening news seems very one sided at the moment, maybe we can have some answers to the following questions?Can the evening news find out how many children in Edinburgh attend a school outside their catchment area?Also, can the evening news find out how much additional cost is placed unfairly on the taxpayer each year to allow these children to attend school outside their catchment area?
The vote was 29 to 29 then cooncillor Grubb proud to have been educated at the Royal High had the casting vote.....so on one hand he wants to wear the robes, aye the robe of shame
Children should be taught only and I mean ONLY in their catchement area UNLESS there are to many, then and only then is a BALLOT for those who go to the next neareast school.
If the parents want to pick schools let them go private atherwise take what you are dammed well given.
If the school is failing it is baecause and only because parents do not care enough to get the school to work.
Bottom line they are your brats if you are in a bad area fro a school do one of the following move, pay for private, home school or fight to improve the school
madrab this was no mob action.people have the right to have there views heard and thanks to that chicken Grubb they did not get that chance but they allowed others to address the meeting on other issues why not this issue as well. ask yourself where did the 10million that they will save by shutting all these schools go.
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!!Lisa Ross, can be our Leader!!Now who else can we recruit??
Fly Fifer, have you children? there is a housing shortage in Edinburgh and you cannot afford private because, mortgages are crippling and that is not for some fancy house, just survival, and if your local school is full of deliquents hey you would go some where else
yes, so why do you stay in Edinburgh you obviously CANNOT afford to do so, cut your cloth!!!
There are many countries where the standard of living is better and deliquents are dealt with better.
Do no expect any sympathy for trying to live outwith your means, you do not deserve any.
MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree that the mob have a right to have their views heard as do I. Where there is justification ie. falling pupil numbers I agree that it would be a failing of any party in power not to evaluate resources v pupil numbers. This is the juncture reached and whilst never popular i agree with this decision. We can never have a stage where we keep schools open merely to satisfy the outpoken. Common sense must prevail and I hope that a civilised debate can ensure rather than the 'mob mentality' who have never had a proper education.
Health care has seen a review, police have been reviewed, social services also. Here is a common sense solution to this issue. Teachers have more holdisays per annum then any other profession. Lets realise their full potential and reduce their hildays in line with the private sector and the majority of the public sector and thereafter we could keep most of the schools open with an overall reduction to the public purse.
Sound like common sense.......?
Lisa is one of the Mum's at my daughter's school, she is normally a quiet girl but obviously when its such a passionate issue she can make herself heard.
Well done Lisa I agree with everything you said and congratulate you for having the courage to say it so publically!
I also want to keep local schools that children can walk to not schools three or four miles away.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1338862007
Lisa Ross, a Ladies scorn, don't mess when they are Very Angry, and that includes them councillors!'Lisa Ross' for Leader.
I see Lisa is a "student" with children of 7 and 9
Women are the stronger sex, I bet the councillors were shocked!
Actually, the councils justifications for the school closures are wrong, misleading and contradictory.
People should be sending their children to their local state schools and support them to make them valuable community resources. The schools they have chosen to close are already valuable community resources. My school, Drummond, has 500 pupils and 1000 community users - it doesn't have a falling school roll, it has a rising one, and it's not half empty, it is at 85% capacity - above what the council say is too empty. Other schools like for example the WHEC provide valuable services such as the only Young Mothers Unit in the city.
I think you all need to check your fact, read up on this issue, and then you would realise that it's the council who have it wrong, not the schools.
This is the fault of both the last administration and the current one - they are both to blame and neither should be trusted.
I can think of about 6 politicians who I know I could always count on as trustworthy in the whole of Scotland, and their names are Fox, Kane, Curran, Leckie, Baldassara and Bollan. The rest are just chancers, populists and careerists.
oh yes Charles Linskaill the councillors were shocked!! the councilors should have not run and let the parents have there say. cowards all of them but one thing you can be sure of we aint going any where we will be back.
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!!
A bunch of screaming hysterical women decend mob handed on the elected chamber and demand that sensible rationalisation of schools (necessary to an overspend in the EDUCATION budget) be either cancelled (result = increase in next years council tax of 20, 30 % ?) or other budgets suffer, just so THEY can pick and choose where THEIR kids can go to school.NO WAY !!!
I think we maybe overlooking how easy it will actually be for this school plan to work !
Surely when the trams come it will make it easier for the kids to get to their new schools ?
#8 Your standard of literacy, punctuation and grammar suggests that you yourself have had a bad experience of the school system, and perhaps this is colouring your views?
Fly Fifer, I don't live in Edinburgh , in fact a good 60 miles away but do realise the problems in Edinburgh being originally from there, and perhaps a lot of the |Fifers who are adding to pollution and enjoy working there should let people have freedom of choice!
Just don't put Paul Nolan in charge of the petty cash !!!!!!!!
The Fly Fifer
What exactly has this got to do with you?With all due respect, sort out your own mess and leave the Edinburgh folk to sort out theirs.
21. Road RagaMost of us men need a screaming hysterical woman to keep us in line. If they didn't, the country would be in a right state... and the dishes would be piling up in your sink ;-)
What on earth is all the fuss about here?
Closing a few deadbeat schools etc will not really make much difference will it?
Make people send the children to local schools and make them walk there.
All this namby pamby 'choice' is not helping.
Ewan Aitken is probably behind this nonsensical protest and why is the so called spokesman from Edinburgh University allowed to stick his unhelpful oar in?
This whole thing smacks of orchestration. The schemies are revolting!
Hmmm and by the way. This was the front page story (yes 'story') in the EEN tonight, and yet a mere, derisory 20 odd comments.
EEN we don't care.
I am a bit miffed at paying £12.00 for a decent show though.
Fly Fifer, you are a complete and utter clown! If you can't afford Edinburgh then get out. What?
Why should anybody who was born and bread here and helped to build this city into what it is today leave?
Why should it cost £115,000 to buy a 2 bedroom ex-council house here in Pilton? It's scandalous, capitalism gone mad.
The school closures aren't about cost savings, they can be easily acheived by sorting out the mess that is the outsourced IT functions that BT are contracted to do, a fortune they make for very little in return.
Also the wastage in procurement is frightening, very high prices for supplies that can always be found far cheaper, from pc's to toilet paper, i know i've battled to get better suppliers on the so called system many times.
This is about land, plain and simple. There's not a lot left, so schools are next. More luxury, sorry, paper thin flats for finance professionals to work in robotville that Edinburgh has become, alongside coffee shops to sit and show off their latest blackberry or bore each other with their lack of life.
And guess where far too many of the real Edinburghers are, and, will be in even greater numbers, yep, good ol' Fife!
It's mini London folks, a frightening thought. Stop the cuts and save what's left of the Edinburgh natives.
Fly Fifer,
What sort of logic is that? You are living outwith your means because you can't afford to go private? What the hell do you think we pay our taxes for?
#29, 'Well-said', its our Edinburgh and those of our Children!And they were not "screaming hysterical women" just very angry women, thats voice and thoughts, can only be heard in this mannor, LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!!
Why does the Evening News not put the blame where it belongs - THE LABOUR PARTY.
They froze council tax to try and buy votes and ran down the councils reserves.
They built very few council houses hence people were forced to either pay inflated house prices or move out to East, West or Midlothian or even Fife.
Falling schools rolls are the result and the PFI improved schools will cost Edinburgh a fortune over the next 20 years - all thanks to LABOUR!!!
Surcharge the LABOUR councillors and the officials who let this happen deficit arise.
Why does the the Evening News not report the facts rather than Labour inspired spin. Are you in denial over the election result?
"Closing a few deadbeat schools etc will not really make much difference will it?
Make people send the children to local schools and make them walk there."
Are you for real??? dont u understand the bigger implications of this? A lot of these schools are very highly rated schools, its purely cos of the value of the land their on, money is obviously more important than the social and emotional upheaval on these children and their families.
And how "local" is local?? Are we talking 0.5 - 1 mile?? NO, were talking up to 3/4 miles just to get to school for some areas.
What about the youths that may be separated from friends, or the youths that are a bit vulnerable and see school as a stable part of their life...and what about results? how long is it going to take to fix this damage once it is done....what are the long term financial implications?
Your darn right us Edinburgh parents have a right to be outraged, this is a despicable move, which has completely neglected our youths best interests and let them down badly.
Its sheer GREED and completely outrageous.
In other words, some of the schools stand on priceless ground, for the property developers.Think about it!££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
£200k+ plus for a "match-box" 4 on a level, maybe more and how high? Nice back-handers there? and then, grade A Concil tax forever!YES thats better than paying out for Schools! is it NOT?Not in our eyes, Political YES!CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is it "common sense" to close 13 primary schools now when the council says there will be about 2,000-2,500 more pupils in primary schools in 2024 than there are now? Is it "common sense" to close a secondary school and require more building on another site?
As I've said before on these boards, I think there may well be sound long-term economic and reasons (as well as the social and environmental reasons) for keeping schools open until the roles start rising again, as the council predicts they will do.
The estimates of Scotland's future population have been rising over the past few years, so the low-point in numbers may be reached sooner than we think.
#9 It went paying extra so that selfish idiots like you could send their children to a half empty school outside their catchment area. The clowns at the council education department did not only keep these half empty schools open, but staffed them as if they were full of children. This resulted in the overspend in the education department. Most well educated primary children should be able to understand this, do you?
I was at the City Chambers this morning. A screaming mob of women? I don't think so. women, men and children - mostly noisy because they are ANGRY, Angry at being misled at the election, angry at losing their local schools and centres or angry because there are millions of pounds of cuts planned in addition to all these closures and potentially hundreds of people will lose their jobs. Council staff work hard (well most do) and provide valuable services that make Edinburgh a good place to live - for everyone. The Holyrood goverment will be imposing a freeze on council charge rises in preparation for bringing in local income tax. This will favour the rich and few others - projections show a HUGE shortfall so there will be even more cuts and closures - it's important for them to get expenditure down now while it can still be blamed on the last administration. Local income tax will not be local - it will be set nationally. Councillors will have little say in how much is raised or how it is spent. LONG LIVE DEMOCRACY. FIGHT THE CUTS AND CLOSURES NOW
#38, this is NO racist remark at-all and dont for one minute anyone think it, but what I have seen in Edinburgh, when you talk numbers going up to fill our schools, is correct, but its our immigrants children that are filling these places not us, it makes me only sad, that children seem to-be more important to have for our immigrants, than we do, have we in the UK forgotten about life and only 'think-money'
39. madrab
The people of this city own these assets. They are ours, bought and payed for our taxes and our parents and grandparents taxes. The parks we enjoy were gifted to the city by Victorian and early 20th century philanthropists. Are you happy for them to be sold off for peanuts to developers?Are you happy that we no longer own our own hospital? Are you happy that the developers have got their eye on every piece of public land because they know that it's worth a fortune. This school closure has nothing to do with cost efficiencies... this is a paltry £10M compared to the amount spent on the trams, the Iraq war and the renewal of trident. THIS IS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE SELLING OFF OF THE ASSETS OF THE CITY BY INSCRUPULOUS COUNCILLORS TO INSCRUPULOUS ENTREPRENEURS.This is a 21st Century landgrab.This is a 21st Century clearance.The people of Edinburgh are being forced out of their home town and are having to go live in West, East or Mid Lothian....and if you have kids, do you think that they'll be able to afford the £125,000 it costs for a one bedroom flat these days? Well it won't even be a consideration soon because they won't have any nurseries or schools to go to.For working class people with kids it's going to be like the 1920's again.
What about Deaf school at the Donaldson For the Deaf Edinburgh will be shut for good Poor deaf chidren and new school go too far at West Lothian!!!!!!
There's a great story about Donaldson's. It's probably the most beautiful building in Edinburgh. Apparently when Queen Victoria caught site of it, she wanted it for her official Scottish residence instead of Holyrood Palace. She asked the City Fathers if this could be arranged.... and they basically told her to poke it. She was not amused... and from that day on, she had a rather stormy relationship with Edinburgh, which is why she has a statue up to her in Leith... but not in Edinburgh.
But aye.... you can imagine that the developers must be falling over themselves to get a piece of Donaldson’s... for exactly the same reason as they want to empty Drummond and house Broughton and St Mary’s in the old Drummond building... bottom line is they want Broughton Primary building... 'cause it's beautiful. Ideal for flats or a hotel.
#43 Lady inwaiting, are you by your name tag 'P' (Baby)?Very good point, if this school is under threat, that will make me very angry!Special needs Children, in my books, deserve all the Love and help they can get!OH YES, Donaldson For the Deaf Edinburgh, sits on treasured land for the greedy pigs, but till the day I die, I will not have any Special needs child at risk from any school closure.And let in be known, I will be up there with Lisa Ross and changes wont take our schools away!Don't even touch that one, or I will be next prime minister for Scotland!!
I think a lot of special needs kids could be accomodated in mainstream schools... and should be too. I believe in inclusion, but there is a special case for the deaf. Modern specialised treatments and therapies are best administered in schools for the deaf.
12. The Fly Fifer
Well said!
#46 Witty Nom de plume, Pilrig, CORRECT! in the Children's Human RIGHTS ACT, every Child has the RIGHT to get and have the access to mainstream schools and everything else in life, I don't expect he 'Loony-Council' to take this on-board'But 'BY-GOD' if they dont then WAR is on!This as you can see really 'rattles-my-cage'Call it the Protection element, call it what you want!Children are our FUTURE NOT US!Protect and BE protected! FULL-STOP!!!!
worra lorra hot air
The Donaldsons story is years old
Apart from the Fifer and those weirdos from far out to sea the successive Labour councils and governments have created the situation in which the City finds itself and YOU voted for them. Now you have governments of a different complexion for who YOU have voted
Ah but how many did actually vote - damn few. I would be interested to know how many of the protesters voted.
What is a young mother's unit - sounds painful
Road Raga you say a increase in next years council tax of 20, 30 %
think you will find its more like 8-9%
you also say -other budgets suffer, just so THEY can pick and choose where THEIR kids can go to school.NO WAY !!!
wrong again this is not about what school your child goes to its about a lot more than that.ask yourself how long before the other bugets get hit as well not long you can be sure of that.
iam not a "THEY " iam a father who wants the best for my daughters and i feel that if they shut our school my kids will suffer due to increased class sizes and a longer trip to school each day
i wonder who paid for the loony councillors lunch (bet it was 10x better than school dinners????) and taxis home?. maybe they should have had school dinners and a bus ride home and save us some cash??
hopefully this woman was detained by edinburghs finest for a breach of the peace, but i think i saw the only police officer putting signs outside meadowbank?
#44 Witty
Surely you're not suggesting that our elected councillors have noticed that Drummond High sits on possibly the most valuable and attractively sited piece of land in the city centre? On the edge of the New Town, minutes from Princes Street? Shame on you......
Typical of this Council - closing schools because of alleged budget overspend, but happy to spend millions and millions on a tram system which many foresee to be a flop.
It is time they looked again at their priorities which should be the education and welfare of our young people in smaller class sizes and not ridiculous glory seeking and uneconomic huge capital spend ventures.
Teachers or trams?
Dark Light!
i think its the councillors who should be lifted by edinburghs finest for a 10 million plus rip off of edinburghs tax payers
The Lib Dems and SNP voted not to hear the schools deputations ? That's the type of disgraceful behaviour you would expect in a dictatorship. People are entitled to have their say and when that is denied they get very angry.
And what happened to the SNP ? We were being told by posters on this site that the local SNP wouldn't accept these proposals. What happened ?
They did as they were told by officials and the Lib Dems.
Bunch of spineless no-hopers.
I cant believe the short sightedness and pure stupidity of some people that post on these forums. Those of you with a well thought out and valid view to post, please do not waste time feeding the trolls.
Whatever the rights and wrongs about putting children into schools outwith their catchment area, it is every parents right to choose where they school their child. So called "middle class flight" where parents choose to send their child to what they believe is a better school than their catchment school is believed to have an impact of the attainment levels at both schools. It's long been feared amongst those of us that choose (or have little choice but) to send our child to our catchment school, that the end result would be the closure of the local schools we depend on, or at very least it feeds the spiral of drop in attainment and reputation causing more parents to send their children elsewhere. The council are allowing these "better" schools to take on more children than they have capacity for. If they enforced capacity levels then many of the "half empty" schools would not be half empty.
The rise in immigrants attending schools in Edinburgh does not appear to have been factored in. I am not alone in noticing the influx and although the official role figures for schools this session won't be available till next month, simply by talking to those working in schools, the roles of many affected appears to be rising.
Parents, take heart from the fact the vote was so close. Ignore the idiots with nothing constructive to say and continue to fight. This council has to be made aware that at the end of the day, they are accountable to us. We pay taxes. Chase up those that don't! Let us find every way we can to shame this council into appropriate action.
