Dealing with Hillside’s rising school roll

Parents and carers of children at Hillside School have been sent a letter with information on how Aberdeenshire Council proposes to deal with pressures from a rising roll.
The letter from council officers says that the school has now been operational for two years, with just over a year in the new building. However enrolments have far exceeding expectations.
The school has a published capacity of 372 pupils with a 70-place nursery. It was built with a core capacity of 484. In August 2018 there are 379 pupils enrolled at Hillside for P1-P7.
The classrooms are allocated in two wings of the building in groups of four and five classrooms around three central breakout areas with two larger classrooms, one of which is the nursery.
Currently all out-of-zone placing requests are being refused.  Aberdeenshire Council policy also states that two reserved spaces must be retained per year group for in zone pupils likely to move into the catchment area during the course of a school session.
The published school roll forecast predicts that the roll of the school will increase over the coming years, with 582 pupils expected for 2021. The published forecast is updated annually, however the council’s Learning Estates team also maintains a live forecast that is updated regularly throughout the year as new information becomes available. The school roll forecasts incorporates data from NHS and from approved housing developments.
The maximum class sizes are as follows:
P1 – 25 pupils
P2, P3 – 30 pupils
P4, P5, P6, P7 – 33 pupils
Composite classes – 25 pupils
These maximum class sizes can be exceeded when a team teaching approach is employed (i.e. two teachers). This adheres to the ratio of teachers to children, and is used in a growing number of schools across Aberdeenshire. It is proven to have educational benefits for all.
Classroom 30, adjacent to the current nursery, will be used from August to accommodate P1 pupils with a team teaching arrangement. This adopts Early Level practice which is promoted across Scotland.
There are long-term solutions being considered through the Aberdeenshire Council Education Options Appraisal Process. Once this has been completed, further communication shall be issued to parents. The long-term solutions include rezoning, an extension, and/or permanent use of multi-purpose spaces as classrooms.

Date for sports hub meeting

Portlethen Sports Hub’s next meeting will be on Monday 18 June at 7.30pm in the academy admin conference room. The hub’s meetings are open to anyone interested in sport as well as local clubs.
 
At the recent AGM Lynne Erskine was re-elected to the chair, with Helen Sleeth as vice chair, Bridget Scott as secretary and Gordon McIver as treasurer.
 
The hub discusses a wide range of issues including the provision of training courses, participation in the Portlethen Gala, artificial pitch, and so on. At the last meeting there were updates on badminton, running, archery, fitness classes, Sooyang Do, and the pitches at Hillside (lack of involvement from other groups).

Another road closure

The council’s roads service tells me that BT will be laying duct in the carriageway which means the U67K from C5K at Nether Muirskie to U67K Bogfon Cottage (west of Maryculter) will be closed from Wednesday 20 June until Sunday 24 June. Pedestrian access to be maintained. Vehicular access to affected properties to be maintained whenever possible.

Bettridge AGM in the diary

The Bettridge Centre in Newtonhill hosts its annual general meeting along with a cheese and wine evening on Thursday 14 June at 7.30pm. I am looking forward to hearing more about what they have been up to this past year and what the plans are for the next 12 months.

Meanwhile the Bettridge has the Dad’s Army Radio Show this Saturday 9 June at 7.30pm. Tickets are available online via this link (http://www.bettridgecentre.org.uk/whats-on.html) or directly from the centre (01569 731320). Anyone locally who needs assistance to get to the centre can call to arrange a free lift.

See you there?

Dementia: New plan to find missing people

A scheme to help trace people living with dementia more quickly after they are reported missing has been launched in the North East at the start of Dementia Awareness Week in Scotland.

The Herbert Protocol is national scheme which will be rolled out across the North East by Police Scotland with NHS Grampian, Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership, Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Moray Health and Care Social Partnership, Alzheimer Scotland and VSA.

Inspector Carron McKellar explains: “Almost 23,000 people are reported missing every year in Scotland with over 500 of these reports relating to people living with dementia.

“In the North East, 4% of reports of missing persons in 2017/18 involved people living with dementia.

“The Herbert Protocol is named after Normandy veteran George Herbert who lived with dementia. He sadly died in 2011 after he went missing in England looking for his childhood home. The protocol was originally devised by Norfolk Police to compile information about a person which could be used if a vulnerable person was reported as missing. The protocol has since been adopted by other forces across England and Wales since its original introduction.

“It is well known that people living with dementia can suffer from loss of short term memory but can easily recall memories from decades earlier. Sometimes we find that those who are reported missing are attempting to make their way to a place of previous significance to them.

“The Herbert Protocol consists of a form that anyone can access from the Police Scotland website. It can be printed off and completed for any vulnerable person where there is concern that they could potentially go missing in the future. The form records vital information such as where the person grew up, favourite places, former or current hobbies, GP contact details and also a picture of the person, with consent to share this on social media should it be required.

“If a person living with dementia does go missing, in addition to our usual checks of family members, last sightings, hospitals, etc. we would use the information captured on the form, to help identify where best to deploy our officers and issue appeals on social media and traditional media for any sightings.

“It can be distressing for family members to give important details when their loved one has disappeared so by completing the Herbert Protocol form before any incident occurs, it will make things easier for families and help officers respond more quickly.

“By having this information already compiled it will save precious time and mean that enquiries can be progressed immediately, and tailored to the known details of that person.”

A similar local scheme was used in the Garioch area from 2010.

Councillors call for report on pitches plans

Two petitions were presented to the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee today about the provision of an all-weather pitch in Portlethen.

Councillors spent 90 minutes discussing the issue, hearing from representatives of Portlethen Community Council and the South Aberdeenshire Hockey Club as well as council officers.

The conclusion was that councillors have instructed a report from officers to be presented to the next meeting. The report should cover the options for a 3G pitch (suitable for football) in Portlethen, steps that can be taken to reduce water-logging of the three grass pitches at the academy, and identify sports provision deficiencies in the town, including a sports pitches strategy.

The background is of course that council officers and Robertsons (who provide the school for the council) agreed earlier this year that the existing 2G artificial pitch had reached the end of its life and should be replaced. Work is due to take place during the summer holidays.

However although 2G is suitable for hockey, netball, cricket, tennis and basketball, it is not suitable for football. This resulted in the petitions which called for a 3G pitch which is ideal for football – but not these other sports.

Portlethen’s 2G pitch hosts hockey matches, with the South Aberdeenshire club – one of only two in the Shire – drawing members from across Kincardine and Mearns. Their representative told councillors their club would probably fold if a 3G pitch were installed.

The needs of the minority sports had to be balanced against the needs of the much larger footballing community. The meeting heard that the academy favour a 2G pitch so that a wide range of sports can be offered as part of the curriculum.

Officers told the meeting that they could see not rationale for not providing a like-for-like replacement. They emphasised that this is primarily a school resource. However they conceded that the way the decision had been taken could have been better in hindsight with consultation with local councillors and the community.

It was emphasised that there could be financial implications if the decision to install a 2G pitch were reversed.

A report on the immediate issues will be brought to the next committee meeting on 26 June, with a fuller report on wider matters after the summer recess.

Councillors only had two options open to us today – either note the petitions or call for a further report, which is what we did.

Obviously much more was said over an hour and a half, but these are the key points. There was a press reporter there, so it will be interesting to see what the papers say.

Road closure at Batchart

Openreach will be carrying out works in carriageway manholes locally so it will be necessary to close the C30K country road from Heathburn to Batchart Steadings at Blairs.

This work starts on Monday 18 June for five days between the hours of 9.30 and 3.30pm each day.

The work is to be carried out in two sections, as shown on the maps, with the second phase lasting two days starting on Monday 25 June, during the same working hours.

  

Meanwhile, BT will carrying out works in the manholes on carriageway on the B9077 South Deeside Road, from the C30K junction eastwards to Riverbank at Blairs, from Monday 11 June for five days. There will be a temporary 30mph speed limit for five days between 9.30 and 3.30pm for safety reasons.