Greater Fort William Education Review
The Highland Council has written to head teachers, parent councils and community councils in the Greater Fort William area to assure them that they will be fully consulted over a review of pre-school and primary education provision in the area and that no changes will be introduced until the finance is in place to provide better facilities than exist at present. The Council has appointed Caledonian Economics Limited to carry out an option appraisal exercise, which will involve information gathering including, current building conditions, school roll forecasts, existing and future school capacity projections, educational and community benefits and resource implications.
A number of options will be examined and include improved provision at:-
• Fort William Primary and Upper Achintore Primary;
• Caol Primary and Banavie Primary; and
• Fort William RC Primary and Lochyside RC Primary.
The project will also consider how the development of a dedicated Gaelic school for the Greater Fort William area will be achieved.
Caledonian Economics has extensive experience of carrying out similar projects in partnership with other local authorities in Scotland.
Ron Mackenzie, Head of Support Services, The Highland Council’s Education Culture and Sport Service, explained: “The information gathered will be used to inform future plans and no decisions will be taken during this phase of the project. Thereafter, councillors will consider the various options produced and will determine which options will be taken forward for inclusion within the statutory consultation process.
“During the information gathering stage of the option appraisal project there will be extensive consultation with all stake-holders including elected members, the relevant Head Teachers, Parent Councils, Community Councils and Pre School representative groups. There will also be a communication strategy that will ensure that the Greater Fort William communities are kept informed of progress with the option appraisal project.”