The Kintyre Forum

The recent announcement that Argyll & Bute Council are to invest £6 million in a new Grammar School in Campbeltown will ensure future generations in Campbeltown are at last educated in an acceptable environment.

It's testement to the staff and pupils of the current Campbeltown Grammar that they have suffered a building that in 2010 was highlighted as one of the two most dilapidated high school buildings in Scotland. The Scottish Governement at the time announced their financial support, through the Schools for the Future programme, to the secondary school and the Council's recent funding announcement has confirmed Campbeltown and Kintyre will get a new secondary school they richly deserve in the next three to four years. (correct us if it is less or more please!)

When the contribution from the Scottish Government is taken into account,the value of the new buildings will be £27.5m.

The big question on everyone's lips is where will the new school be cited? 10 possible sites have been identified for evaluation with the current site one and Kinloch Green to be another (and story has it is a front runner (but then again this is Campbeltown and by next week it will be Davaar Island ))

So what are your thoughts on the location of our secondary school? Bearing in mind this will be the education establishment for futures to come and not a quick fix.

It is great news and not before time!

Current site of the Grammar highlighted in blue below

where would it fit on kinloch green with the big pitch thing going there too x

Wasn't the original idea for the primary/secondery campus to be in the field beside the hostpital where the running track used to be ?
Seems an ideal location.

I can't think of many places that are big enough to house the new school and still have a sports area without ripping up the green areas of Campbeltown. I think it would be better to be built on the site area it is on with fruit trees planted as a windbreak.

Maybe someone, possibly WC1, will be able to give an answer to this.

When the present school opened in 1969 was it envisaged that it would only have a lifespan of 40 years?

Having been one of the pupils who spent part of their school career in both the old and new CGS buildings, it really doesn't seem that long since we moved into a brand new shiny school for it now to be described as one of the most dilapidated school buildings in Scotland.

Considering that the previous CGS building in Stewart Road is still functional, it tells us that they don't make buildings like they used to. (or they didn't in the 1960s)

There is an options appraisal process under way to decide upon the most appropriate place for the new school. It will be a secondary school only, I think that the footprint of the new school will be much smaller than the existing one given the projected roll of the school.

I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate for me to be drawn into this discussion, but I'll take up a couple of points from the previous two posts.

it really doesn't seem that long since we moved into a brand new shiny school for it now to be described as one of the most dilapidated school buildings in Scotland

The present buildings (opened on Friday 13 June 1969) were very much of their time. Remember there was no need then for the sort of electrical system that the extensive use of computers gave rise to in more recent times. The type of PE taught then didn't need the sorts of games halls that are the norm now. The science and home economics departments are no longer 'state of the art'. The Council has made a reasonable job of maintaining and adapting the buildings over the years, but there comes a point when the cost of maintaining flat roofs and 1960s external cladding becomes a case of throwing good money after bad. The decision to go for replacement is essentially made for you.

Considering that the previous CGS building in Stewart Road is still functional, it tells us that they don't make buildings like they used to. (or they didn't in the 1960s)

Still functional, Maurice, but not as a secondary school, and actually it was barely fit for that purpose when the 'new' school opened in 1969.

John Semple makes an important point:

the footprint of the new school will be much smaller than the existing one given the projected roll of the school

New schools are built to a 'footprint' based on so many square metres per pupil and a maximum cost of so many pounds to the square metre. The school roll has been dropping like a stone in recent years. My own calculations, based on the numbers of pupils in the primary schools, projected a roll of 396 by 2016. It's likely to be closer to 320 based on current numbers (down from about 520 at present). That means that any new school will be very much smaller than the present one, so it will have fewer classrooms, science labs, etc.

More to the point, if there are to be PE and sports facilities comparable to the recent new builds at Lochgilphead and Rothesay etc. then there may not also be a hall similar to the present hall, with significant implications for school far less community events. The new schools at Lochgilphead etc. have very good teaching spaces for both practical and non-practical subjects, but their single worst aspect is in my view the lack of a proper school hall and stage - the multi-purpose "hall/canteen/social space" they have just doesn't work and the 'stage' is worse than useless as a stage. But there will have to be compromises to stay within the 'footprint' and the financial envelope that gives rise to.

The Council will be involving a broad cross-section of community organisations in discussing what the new school should be like and it would not be daft to make sure all community interests are represented, if possible finding ways of levering in extra funding beyond the basic capital budget so that vital community facilities can continue to be part of the school's provision.

Sorry for the excessive length of this post and also if I've stood on anyone's toes!