Dingwall schools’ future: ‘It’s time to grasp this opportunity’
Column by councillor Sarah Atkin
It is no exaggeration to say that the Highland Investment Programme paper, presented at the last meeting of the Highland Council, is the most important and likely the most consequential, I will vote for in my time as a Highland councillor.
Not just for young people in my own ward – Fortrose Academy pupils and the children who attend Dingwall-located schools, like St Clement’s – but for the whole of the Highlands.
This is the point I made when I spoke in the debate and will reiterate here. This is a HIGHLAND investment programme.
The investment is made possible because a percentage of council tax is helping raise the necessary capital. So, this investment plan does not belong to elected members; nor to officers or to any sectional interest or stakeholder group. It belongs to every Highland taxpayer and their families.
Elected members are the custodians of this plan on behalf of the biggest stakeholder group of all – Highland taxpayers and citizens. We have duty as local councillors to the entire Highland Investment Programme.
To the big picture. We have a responsibility to spend wisely and to seek the best possible deals. Also, where possible, we need to achieve economies of scale, especially where these will deliver outstandingly favourable educational opportunities and outcomes – as proposed for Dingwall, with locating St Clement’s and Dingwall Primary School on one site, but as separate schools.
The plan presented is only contentious if people choose to make it so.
When the context changes, plans change. Back in 2022, the Highland Investment Plan wasn’t even a blink in the eye. Now it is a reality. The context for Dingwall has changed – for the better.
From wondering how on earth we’d ever find the money to build a new St Clement’s, with co-location via the Highland Investment Plan, a new primary school can also be built within this funding envelope. I called this a ‘win, win’ because it is.
There are likely very few (if any?) elected members who have worked at both St Clement’s and Dingwall Primary Schools. So, I speak with some degree of knowledge and ‘hands on’ experience.
I have long advocated for St Clement’s. Its intake comes from Evanton, Alness, Invergordon, Fearn, out past Beauly and from villages in my ward on the Black Isle, as well as Dingwall. So, many elected members have a direct interest in the present and the future pupils of this school.
My spell working at St Clement’s taught me so much about the potential of children. Always looking for what can be achieved. The small wins are a big deal. To me, staff worked miracles, despite the chronic lack of space.
However, a big part of the life of the school and its educational ‘offer’, was being able to access what the town and local schools had and not to be ‘hidden’ from view. I know from my days that this mattered hugely to educators.
Dingwall Primary School showed me that inclusion can work, even with the most challenging children. One town. One school. Everybody together.
Like the children of St Clement’s, the 400-plus children at Dingwall Primary School, many of whom will be deprived and vulnerable, deserve the promise of a first class building too. As do the staff who work in both schools.
The Highland Investment Plan is a plan for the whole Highlands. All elected members must be mindful of that. I am, of course, thrilled that this phase one investment will benefit my ward and that a school Black Isle children attend – St Clement’s – ensured Dingwall was a major focus for phase one investment too.
It would be truly tragic for the co-location vision to be jeopardised and for any projects to miss out. What we voted for is the best solution for all the children of Dingwall, for the town of Dingwall and for the sustainability of the programme in the years and decades ahead.
It’s time to grasp this opportunity.
Cllr Sarah Atkin is a Highland Independent and Vice-Chair of Housing & Property Committee. She writes in an independent capacity.
