Schools Share Temporary New Home
Port Glasgow High and St Stephen’s High School have come together in temporary shared accommodation ahead of their new £47 million home being built.
Inverclyde Council’s Schools Estate Team has completed the modifi cation of the St Stephen’s High School campus in Port Glasgow, which will be home to the two schools for the next two years.
Education and Lifelong Learning Convener Councillor Terry Loughran said:
“This is the fi rst time we have put two secondary schools on the same site and we were determined from the outset to provide as high a standard of accommodation as possible for the sake of the young people. Although this is only a temporary arrangement while the new campus is being built, for some pupils it will be the last place they learn in an Inverclyde school and it is essential that their experience is a positive one. We had considered using the former Wellington Academy building for Port Glasgow High but the school communities were keen to keep both schools within the boundaries of Port Glasgow.”
Eight temporary classrooms and a new entrance, reception and administration area for Port Glasgow High have been installed and all classrooms on the campus have been fi tted with interactive whiteboards. Dining and social areas have been upgraded and improved facilities provided for specialist subjects such as science and music. Additional car parking has been provided within the campus grounds with overspill capacity close by.
Port Glasgow High and St Stephen’s will retain their separate identities and school uniforms. The schools will share ICT, art, music and technical classrooms as well as the dining hall, assembly hall and PE facilities.
Councillor Loughran added “Ensuring that both schools retain their individual identities within the temporary campus will mirror that of the new shared campus, making the transition to the new campus as seamless as possible.
A working-group has been co-ordinating the project for the new and temporary shared campuses and is chaired by Councillor Stephen McCabe.
He said “There is an interesting historical dimension to Port Glasgow High relocating to the St Stephen’s campus as ‘B’ Block was the school’s previous home until the early 1970’s when it moved to a new building at Slaemuir. Now, Port Glasgow High is coming ‘home’ as we progress the exciting £47 million new Shared Campus. This is the single biggest capital project ever undertaken by Inverclyde Council as we continue to deliver on our promise for fi rst class education facilities in Port Glasgow. It has taken us four years to get to this point and at every stage we have consulted with the local community and taken on board their views and opinions. Not only will the new shared campus be a centre of excellence for education and leisure in Port Glasgow it will also provide a new enterprise centre that will offer opportunities for adults.”
Port Glasgow High School and St Stephen’s High School will move into the state-of-the-art building in August 2013.
Lilybank and Glenburn special needs schools will be brought together on the same site in a new Additional Support Needs (ASN) school which will also include a nursery.
Port Glasgow High and St Stephen’s will retain their separate identities and school uniforms. Some classroom areas will be shared and both schools and the Additional Support Needs School will be linked to the central hub.
Port Glasgow High Head Teacher Alan Dick and St Stephen’s High Head Teacher Stephen Parsons said: “We are delighted that the shared campus will allow both schools to continue to serve the communities of Port Glasgow and the East End of Greenock. There has been a great deal of work behind the scenes by staff, pupils and the wider community in preparing for the new temporary shared campus, and of course we are grateful to the Schools Estate team in ensuring the new arrangements are in place. We look forward to welcoming all staff and pupils on Thursday morning. It gives us great confi dence that a shared campus will provide a fi rst class education for all the young people and we look forward to having new custom- built facilities in 2013.
Leisure facilities will include a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA), fully equipped fi tness suite and gymnasium and two all weather pitches. The ASN School will have a play area and its own, smaller MUGA.
Gryffe High Activities 2011
The annual Activities programme took place at the end of May for pupils in S1, S2 and S3 while those in S4 to S6 were otherwise engaged with SQA examinations. A wide range of activities were enjoyed by over 500 pupils.
These included trips abroad to Barcelona and Paris, a group entitled “Surfi ng Sensation” which spent the days on the Moray coast, numerous groups enjoying day trips for golf, football, karting, cycling, swimming, visits to Edinburgh Zoo as well as visits to theme parks and leisure centres. There were also a number of inschool activities such as crafts and cards, novelty cakes and circus skills.
The support of staff in taking on the organisation and responsibility for these activities, not forgetting their participation, is highly commendable. Without the energy and commitment of our staff, teaching and non-teaching, these opportunities, which are one of the highlights of the school year, would not be possible.
Woodlands Nursery
We’ve had a fun packed summer with a Woodland’s mini Olympics, den building, smoothie making, Egyptian art, making bling jewellery, a baking day plus numerous trips to fab places like Saltcoats beach, the Science Centre, Laser Quest at Xscape, Kelvingrove Art Museum and the Maritime Museum at Irvine. We are proud to have received a glowing report from the Care Commission from their recent unannounced visit and assessment of our Out of School Care. Well done to all our staff for their continuous hard work and efforts!
We’re busy working towards our Green Flag accreditation which is awarded to schools and nurseries who meet very strict guidelines. Being situated in the woods, this is an area which is especially close to our hearts. We recently held a family
Gardening Night was a great success despite the rain! We had lots of fun activities which included planting and making bird feeders. On the night we sold a range of fair trade products to help support Houston as a Fair Trade village too.
We would like to extend a warm Woodlands welcome to all of our new arrivals. We would also like to welcome our trainees Shannon, Angela and Rebecca who will work between the Nursery and Out of School Club.
Congratulations to Stephanie Bell in our Baby Room who has recently passed her SVQ 3 Children’s Care Learning and Development. With our Rising 5 graduates starting school, we continue to follow their progress and help with their school settling in period. For those children attending P1 at St Fillan’s, Houston Primary and Bridge of Weir Primary, we make a special visit on their fi rst day and a follow up visit in October. We have found this eases their transition from nursery to school and also shows that the children are still very much a part of the Woodland’s family.
SQA at Gryffe High
We fi nished last session on a high, via our Awards Ceremony, where we celebrated the signifi cant achievements of so many of our pupils. I am delighted to say that we start this new term in a similar frame of mind.
Our Fourth, Fifth and Sixth year pupils, on the whole, did very well in their SQA examinations.
Fourth year results improved signifi cantly from last year and from the December Preliminary Examinations and on analysis showed the majority of pupils exceeded their expectations.
Our Fifth year results were very good, although not matching last session’s exceptionally high results. Our Sixth year results, at fi rst glance looked impressive, as was their contribution to the life of the school.
48 |SEPTEMBER 2011 | your LOCAL news every month - in print and online |
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