Local people are being urged to get themselves along to Vale of Leven Academy in Alexandria at 7pm on Tuesday to make their feelings known about the hugely unpopular Labour council proposals to alter the arrangements for transport for pupils attending mainstream schools in the area, including the primary schools listed below.
Likely to be there, but not certain to be are Labour councillors Claire Steel, Education convener; Council Labour leader Martin Rooney and Cllr Jim Bollan, of the Community Party, who has come out strongly against the plan to downgrade transport arrangements for pupils at local secondary and primary schools. Meanwhile, if you look at the lists, Saint has been dropped from the main lists of names of the saints to whom Catholic schools are dedicated. This could be a sensitive matter for some, but so far as we know there has been no consultation on this either at Church or Council level and the Council refuse to speak to us if we ask them any questions. It seems the new Labour administration are part of Sturgeon’s Secret Scotland.
The Council issued the following:
In terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, West Dunbartonshire Council is now formally embarking upon a consultation with regard to the proposal to alter arrangements for the provision of transport by West Dunbartonshire Council for pupils attending mainstream schools. The following schools are affected by this Proposal Document:
- Gartocharn Primary School
- Knoxland Primary School
- Linnvale Primary School
- Eunan’s Primary School
- Mary’s (Alexandria) Primary School
- Mary’s (Duntocher) Primary School
- Patrick’s Primary School
- Clydebank High School
- Dumbarton Academy
- Our Lady & St. Patrick’s High School
- Peter the Apostle High School
- Vale of Leven Academy
We would welcome views from parents/carers, interested parties, and members of the community on the proposal.
Consultation Period:
The consultation will run from Thursday 9 March 2023 – until midnight on Tuesday 9 May 2023 (a total of 31 days when the schools are open for pupils)
Proposal Document:
The Proposal Document can be accessed here: School Transport Consultation
and copies will also be available from the reception point at the follow buildings:
- Gartocharn Primary School, Ross Loan, Gartocharn, Alexandria, G83 8NE
- Knoxland Primary School, Leven Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QU
- Linnvale Primary School, Livingstone Street. Linnvale, Clydebank, G81 2RL
- Eunan’s Primary School, Gilmour Street, Clydebank, G81 2BW
- Mary’s (Alexandria) Primary School, Bank Street, Alexandria, G83 0UJ
- Mary’s (Duntocher) Primary School, Chapel Road, Duntocher, Clydebank, G81 6DL
- Patrick’s Primary School, Crosslet Road, Dumbarton, G82 2LQ
- Clydebank High School, Janetta Street, Clydebank, G81 3EJ
- Dumbarton Academy, Crosslet Road, Dumbarton, G82 2AJ
- Our Lady & St. Patrick’s High School, Howatshaws Road, Bellsmyre, Dumbarton, G82 3DR
- Peter the Apostle High School, Kirkoswald Drive, Clydebank, G81 2DB
- Vale of Leven Academy, Main Street, Alexandria, G83 0BH
- West Dunbartonshire Council, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton G82 1QL
Your view counts:
There are a number of ways you can get involved and participate in the consultation:
- You can complete the online survey (link) – https://forms.gle/R6KkwBzfV5o4AGSS9
- You can put your response in writing to Laura Mason, the Chief Education Officer at West Dunbartonshire Council, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton. G82 1QL, or by email educationconsultation@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
- You can attend one of the meeting in Clydebank.
- You may wish to put your view forward on an individual basis rather than participating in the public meeting or you may have some questions you want to ask and you can contact us on 01389 737391, leave a message with your contact details and one of our education officers will call you.
Public Meetings
We would like to invite interested parties to attend one of the public consultation meetings. The meetings provide an opportunity for interested parties to hear more about the proposal, ask questions about the proposal and have their views recorded so that they could be taken into account as part of the consultation process. Representatives from Educational Services will be in attendance to present the proposal and answer questions. Public meetings will be held as follows:
- Tuesday 18 April 2023 – 7.00 p.m.
Our Lady & St. Patrick’s High School, Howatshaws Road, Bellsmyre, Dumbarton, G82 3DR
- Wednesday 19 April 2023 – 7.00 p.m.
St. Peter the Apostle High School, Kirkoswald Drive, Clydebank, G81 2DB
- Tuesday 25 April 2023 – 7.00 p..m.
Vale of Leven Academy, Main Street, Alexandria, G83 0BH
Next Steps
After the consultation process has been completed, we will undertake the following action:
Education Scotland
When we have collated the information from the consultation exercise, we provide Education Scotland with information on the proposal and the responses to the survey. The information will be passed to them on 15 May 2023 and they have 3 weeks to consider this and provide us with their response report.
Consultation Report published
The Consultation Report will be published on our website on 12 June 2023 – 4 July 2023. This will allow time for interested parties to review the report prior to a final decision being made by the Committee.
Report to Educational Services Committee
The outcome of the statutory consultation will be reported to Committee at its meeting on 5 July 2023.