North Lanarkshire Council set to close four primary schools and two children’s nurseries

Apr 1 2010

PARENTS battling to save a Bellshill pri-mary school last week lost the fight.

North Lanarkshire Council on Thursday gave the go-ahead for the closure of Belvidere Primary.

Education there will end in June, at the conclusion of the current school year, and children will transfer to either Noble, Lawmuir or Mossend Primaries.

The council’s learning and leisure committee approved the closure of Belvidere and three other primaries: St Francis of Assisi, Cumbernauld; St Matthew’s, Wishaw, and Gartsherrie, Coatbridge.

Two children’s nurseries, one of them at Newarthill, have also been axed.

Cash-strapped North Lanarkshire calculate that the closures will save £1.2m a year and help them tackle the problem of over-capacity in schools.

Officials claimed that with a school roll of 84 and a capacity of 217 places, education at Belvidere Primary, in Belvidere Road, was no longer sustainable.

There were 290 empty places in nearby non-denominational schools which, according to officials, offered a higher range of educational opportunities and performed to a higher standard.

However, many parents disagreed and a petition against the plan, with 1285 signatures, was submitted to the council.

Objectors complained that 99-year-old Belvidere was performing well, compared with other primaries in the area.

They said the council plan disregarded the views of hard-up parents who would have to fork out for new uniforms.

Staff complained that the scheme would have a disruptive impact on education and the school’s parent council were concerned that the three ‘receiving’ schools might not have the capacity to cope with the influx of Belvidere youngsters.

The teachers’ union, EIS, also challenged the closure proposal, as did Hamilton North and Bellshill MSP Michael McMahon.

He said £180,000 had been spent on Belvidere in recent years, making it more than fit for purpose.

Officials estimate that closure of Belvidere will yield annual average revenue savings of £237,679, while the decision to axe the Newarthill Nursery Centre, Loanhead Road, will save £133,000.

Under the changes agreed last week, the nursery will close and from August children will transfer to nursery classes at St Teresa’s Primary and Keir Hardie Primary, both Newarthill.

There were 39 objections to the plan to axe the nursery plus submissions from Mr McMahon, Newarthill Community Council and Motherwell North Labour Party branch.

However, after considering the responses, the learning committee voted 20-13 to close Belvidere and 20-12 to pull the plug on Newarthill Nursery Centre.

Learning committee chairman Jim Logue said: “We have 8500 surplus primary places in North Lanarkshire, equivalent to 40 average-sized schools.

“This means we are heating, lighting and maintaining empty classrooms at a time when we face unprecedented financial challenges.”

He said HM Inspectorate had not challenged the proposals and considered there would be no detriment to any pupils affected.

All displaced staff would be redeployed and plans were to be put in place to help parents and pupils move to their new schools.

Councillor Logue added: "We understand parents will be disappointed with this decision and the uncertainty it brings. However, we are confident their children's education will be enhanced because they will attend larger schools, which can offer a wider range of educational opportunities.”

Mr McMahon slammed the closures of Belvidere and Newarthill Nursery and said he would be examining legislation to see if there was a way of referring the decisions to the Scottish Government.

He said allowing primary schools to absorb nursery classes would add to the burden on head teachers and administration staff at the schools.

Mr McMahon added: “The Scottish Government is always banging on about class sizes yet the funding levels for primary schools has been cut.

“Local authorities have to do more with less and in North Lanarkshire’s case they have looked at schools that are under-capacity and, rather than fill those spare places, they are going to move the Belvidere children to neighbouring schools and increase class sizes. It’s a shambles.”