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STV News
07-06-2025
- General
- STV News
Primary school to partly reopen after building issues uncovered by Storm Eowyn
Parts of Maddiston Primary School campus will be back in use for the new term although the main building will not reopen until August 2026. The school closed in February after damage caused by Storm Eowyn revealed significant construction problems throughout the 17-year-old building, caused by mortar that was 'significantly deficient.' As the scale of the defects became clear, the decision was taken in February to shut the building and decant around 500 pupils to three primary schools across the district. Falkirk Council's director of education, Jon Reid, wrote to all parents and carers this week to tell them the arrangements for the school year starting in August. He said the school will be able to use the new extension and existing modular units, which have been unaffected by the construction defects found throughout the main school. In his letter, Reid confirmed that the school would not reopen until at least August 2026. He said: 'This is clearly disappointing news, but it is essential that the building meets all necessary building standards before staff and pupils return.' The letter also confirms that Maddiston Community Centre will be used for PE and lunch arrangements. The extension will accommodate three Primary 1 classes and two Primary 2 classes, while one P2/3 class and two Primary 3 classes will be in the Modular Units. Primaries 4 and 5 will go to Wallacestone Primary, and Primary 6 and 7 will be in Bantaskin Primary. The Timezone and Inclusion class pupils will continue to attend Moray Primary and Carrongrange High School. Reid said the arrangements 'allow us to make the best use of available facilities across our school estate, scale back the transport arrangements in place and ensure a stable and high-quality experience for all pupils and staff while working toward a full return to Maddiston.' A report going to Falkirk Council's executive on June 19 revealed that the mortar used in the construction was 'significantly deficient, providing inadequate bonding to the surrounding stone'. The cost is estimated to be around £5m, and the work will likely take at least a year. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Record
06-06-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Falkirk pupils to use 'parts' of closed primary school for new term
The extension and modular units at the storm damaged Maddiston Primary School campus will be used for younger pupils next term Parts of Maddiston Primary School campus, near Falkirk, will be back in use for the new term although the main building will not reopen until August 2026 at the earliest. The school closed in February, after damage caused by Storm Eowyn revealed significant construction problems that were present throughout the 17-year- old building caused by mortar that was "significantly deficient". As the scale of the defects became clear, the decision was taken by Falkirk Council in February to shut the building and decant around 500 pupils to three primary schools across the district. Falkirk Council's director of education, Jon Reid, wrote to all parents and carers this week to tell them the arrangements for the school year starting in August. He said the school will be able to use the new extension and existing modular units which have been unaffected by the construction defects that have been found throughout the main school. In his letter, Mr Reid confirmed that the school would not reopen until at least August 2026. He said "This is clearly disappointing news, but it is essential that the building meets all necessary building standards before staff and pupils return." The letter also confirms that Maddiston Community Centre will be used for PE and lunch arrangements. The extension will accommodate three Primary 1 classes and two Primary 2 classes while one P2/3 class and two Primary 3 classes will be in the Modular Units. Primaries 4 and 5 will go to Wallacestone Primary and Primaries 6 and 7 will be in Bantaskin Primary. The Timezone and Inclusion class pupils will continue to attend Moray Primary and Carrongrange High School. Mr Reid said that the arrangements "allow us to make the best use of available facilities across our school estate, scale back the transport arrangements in place and ensure a stable and high-quality experience for all pupils and staff while work toward a full return to Maddiston." A report going to Falkirk Council's executive on June 19 revealed that the mortar used in the construction was "significantly deficient, providing inadequate bonding to the surrounding stone". The cost is estimated be around £5 million and the work is likely to take at least a year.
Daily Record
14-05-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Funding boost for Falkirk schools to tackle poverty gap 'vital to pupils'
A team working with pupils, families and schools is making it easier for pupils to attend school Extra funding to help close the attainment gap between the most and least deprived pupils in Falkirk is 'vital' to schools, the council's director of education has said. This year, Falkirk Council has been allocated £1.3 million of Scottish Government funding that is being targeted to reduce the poverty related attainment gap. (SEF). Known as the Strategic Equity Fund, this pot of money has substantially increased over the past three years - from £300,000 to £900,000 last year. It's all part of the government's bid to address the fact that children from deprived areas are much less likely to leave school with the sort of qualifications that would take them into a well-paying job. Falkirk's director of education, Jon Reid, says the Scottish Government money is so important that it should be regarded as core funding. He told the meeting that closing the poverty related attainment gap is a vital ambition as there is strong evidence that getting qualifications is linked to higher earnings in later life. "Ultimately, its about lifetime earnings and the impact that has on the individual's life and their family's lives," he said. "There is a real moral drive to do it - to lift young people out of the situation they are in and try and offer them something better for their life." The work is long-term and the real impact won't be measurable until the pupils who benefit are old enough to sit exams. But one of the areas that is already seeing positive change is attendance. The funding has allowed a new team of support workers to be established, who work with pupils, their families and schools to break down any barriers that might be stopping them going to school. The inclusion support team works with pupils who have less than 85 per cent attendance - most often pupils from poorer backgrounds, the statistics clearly show. But education support officer Gayle Martin Brown says that positive changes are already being seen. "The team has only been in place for five months but we have made some great inroads there," she said. "What we see when there is persistent non-attendance, it's not a quick fix and it's not necessarily about the pupil not wanting to come to school. "Most often, it's quite complex welfare issues at home. "Our team then go in, work with families, understand the root cause of why they are not attending. "We know that sometimes non-attendance is caused by poverty within a household and they feel they can't afford to send their child, or mental health is decreasing because of poverty." The support is not designed to be long-term but the inclusion support workers help build trust between the pupils, families and the school to reset the relationship. They also reach out to other services where needed, including the NHS, Falkirk's mental association FDAMH, and welfare benefits advisers. Ms Martin Brown said: "They are a really skilled team and they can improve outcomes for young people, but also they can take the strain away from schools. "Time and time again, schools are expected to be more than just an education service and where other services have less and less capacity, schools are the only constant who see that child on a day to day basis." The new team includes one member of staff who is working in Early Years. Ms Martin Brown explained: "That's about prevention. Before they get to the stage of being S3 and poor attenders - which is really difficult to turn round - can we look at referrals from the age of three?" While the success of the work will not be known immediately - until results start to come through from pupils sitting exams - one of the changes they hope to see is a reduction in the number of pupils who leave after S4 with no qualifications. The intention is to offer a wider range of qualifications - including HNCs and Foundation Apprenticeships - which pupils can study for without having to leave school and all the support that it provides. "We are trying to open the door on as many opportunities as possible," said Jill Pringle, Falkirk's head of education. Councillor Claire Aitken, elected last October, said that as a new councillor she had been really impressed by the work the schools are doing to support families in poverty. "Up until I started doing this I had no idea about the work that goes into the schools in dealing with kids who come from poverty and I think it's absolutely fantastic what you are doing," she said. But while the funding is very welcome - and will continue until 2027 - the education team are aware that it is not guaranteed beyond that, when a new Scottish Government will be elected. But Mr Reid says the work is so vital to schools that the money, which was classed as additional funding, should be regarded as 'core'. He told the meeting: "A lot of the things we are talking about today - improvements in outcomes across a whole range of measures - all of that takes skilled intervention and skilled programmes. "And if you want that to happen then you have to pay for it. "If the funding were to stop, I don't think we'd be sitting here today having this conversation about the improvement in outcomes. "And that's about individual young people because behind all these statistics, there are families and young people whose life chances would be affected in a negative way."
