The parent council mounted a campaign this week after spotlighting the lamentable state of the school and condemning it as "shocking", "appalling" and "disgraceful".

Rector Alister Traill, who took Highland councillors, Far North MSP Jamie Stone, parents and community council representatives on an eye-opening tour of what he termed the "drab, dreary school", admitted it was in such a bad state that he was embarrassed whenever he had to receive visitors.

The poor surroundings were said to provide pupils with little motivation, while maintenance was a constant drain on the rector's budget.

The school tour and ensuing presentation on Monday evening was organised by the parent council's building subcommittee, which decided that the state of affairs could not be allowed to continue. Speakers declared that the situation was so desperate that emergency funding must be made available now for major refurbishment of the school or a completely new building constructed.

The PowerPoint presentation was delivered in a drab science classroom by parent Sabine Richards.

Mrs Richards reviewed a dossier of dilapidation which painted a dismal picture: rusted radiators and rotten window frames; peeling paintwork and damp patches on walls; cramped classrooms with no storage space or provision for modern equipment; an antiquated boiler which causes repeated disruption; inadequate changing facilities; a swimming pool which is almost unusable; damaged ceilings throughout; water leaks in many areas; external cladding falling off buildings; persistent diesel fumes; poor decorative state; inadequate storage; an "alarming" crack underneath a stairwell; and a lack of social areas, IT and toilet facilities – three toilets to serve 800 pupils.

Mrs Richards said that the school had been decaying since the 1970s and revealed that in recent months they had had to contend with a heating failure had lasted for 10 days, burst pipes and an asbestos scare which closed the new block.

She said that following the latest reorganisation of the Highland Council, the parents had decided that it was high time action was taken and an assessment of the state of the school was carried out by the building subcommittee.

Mrs Richards said some of the parents who had not attended the school for their secondary education were "shocked" and "appalled" at what greeted them during the tour, comments echoed by former pupils who could not credit the deterioration in the school since they had attended it.

The school had a "D" rating from the Highland Council which, said Mrs Richards, made it unfit for the delivery of education in the 21st century. Some of the repairs highlighted in inspections by the Highland Council had either not been carried out or had been attended to but had given further trouble.

"The swimming pool is on the verge of being unusable," said Mrs Richards, who added that there was a question mark over its hygiene. Pupils did not want to swim in it. The pool was subject to leaks, had no working filters, and needed regrouting and tiles replaced.

An "alarming" crack had appeared in the maths block and an assessment, although approved, had not been carried out. She added that the windows rotated through 360 degrees, which she described as "extremely unsafe".

The new block was something of a contradiction as it had been erected in the 1960s. It was closed for a few weeks following an asbestos scare recently. No relevant check on the building had been carried out since 1998.

Mrs Richards commented: "I know that asbestos is supposed to be okay if you don't touch it, but this is a building where the ceilings are open. It may not be a health risk but, as an outsider, it looks pretty scary to me.

"We don't know whether this building, which alternates between being very hot or very cold, is safe, and would like an assurance that it is and that we don't need to worry about the asbestos."

Mrs Richards said that a practice had been adopted of painting unsafe external areas a warning yellow, but she added: "They are going to have to come up with another colour because there are so many yellow parts already."

She conceded: "We have a wonderful all-weather pitch but the other pitches are unusable at certain times of the year. The school is a dump. It is a really depressing environment for kids to be in, let alone the teachers."

Mrs Richards also drew attention to the fact that there were no social areas in the school, forcing pupils to sit in stairwells and narrow corridors, canteen facilities were inadequate for a roll of 800, and, she said, despite the school advocating a healthy- eating policy, the pupils were virtually being "driven to the chip shop".

The corridors linking the various blocks were so narrow that it caused congestion while pupils changed classes and it was not unknown for pupils to be swept along in the crush and end up in a different department than their intended destination.

Mrs Richards turned to the socio-economic disadvantages of having a school in such a dilapidated condition.

She said Caithness was undergoing a change with the decommissioning of Dounreay and was looking for inward investment, making infrastructure an important factor. Families hoping to move into the area would think twice about sending their kids to "a depressing dump like Wick High" – no matter how good Mr Traill and his staff were.

The presentation won unanimous support from the audience.

First to respond was Landward Caithness councillor Robert Coghill, who suggested that the First Minister or minister for education be invited north.

He said: "The school is not fit for purpose – I would not blame the teachers if they walked out."

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MSP Jamie Stone pledged to raise the issue with First Minister Alex Salmond.

Mr Stone described Wick High as "the worst school in my constituency", adding: "There is no doubt about that."

Mr Stone agreed with an earlier speaker that it was crucial that they solicit the support of the Highland Council, even though the authority was not able to provide funding.

He also expressed the hope that the issue would attract maximum publicity so that everyone concerned would appreciate how desperate the situation was.

Professor Iain Baikie, who chaired the proceedings, said that they had to be the voice of their children. The situation was so urgent that it could not wait for capital to become available in five or 10 years' time but had to be remedied now.

Landward Caithness councillor David Flear said he thought that Thurso High School was in a poor state, but added: "This school is worse."

He felt that although the Highland Council's budget was set for the next five years, the Wick High situation warranted an urgent review.

Mr Flear added: "There can't be any other school worse than this in the Highlands – otherwise they would be working in shacks."

Wick councillor Graeme Smith said that, in order to make any headway, radical action was required.

He said: "The problem is that you are not going to get a £7 million grant [the cost of refurbishment] out of the capital budget. It is not going to happen."

Mr Smith suggested that Inverness was getting preference on new schools because it was an expanding area and added: "I think that is completely wrong."

He added that Wick High had been in the Highland Council's five-year programme but had slipped back and back.

Wick councillor Bill Fernie said that what was needed was a massive injection of cash into the Highland Council's budget which was presently committed for some years to come. Since becoming chairman of the education, culture and sport committee last year he had received regular approaches from councillors to consider the schools in their areas.

The difficulty was that to accommodate one of the schools meant that others had to "go down the list", and Mr Fernie said that even if the money was on the table now for Wick High it would be three or four years before refurbishment or a new school materialised.

Prof Baikie said it may be possible to short-circuit the exercise by making a political submission.

Mr Fernie agreed and said that the condition of schools was a major problem throughout Scotland. He stressed: "It is only by government intervention that we will get money to tackle it."

Prof Baikie said that, even though the Highland Council was not able to provide cash, its support would be useful. The fact that there were other schools needing help was, however, no consolation to Wick High.

Rector Mr Traill revealed that the strain on his maintenance budget was so great that he was having to transfer funds from other budgets to keep pace with necessary repairs.

He went on: "I cringe with embarrassment when people come into school to see me or make presentations."

Graham Nichols, area manager for education, culture and sport, said the authority was working hard with a limited budget and added: "The bottom line is that the council simply does not have enough money to address the problems."

Anne Dunnett, the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, was concerned about the risk to pupils attending Wick High School.

She said that had the school been a business or an industrial unit there would have been a high health-and-safety requirement.

Miss Dunnett posed the question: "Are we going to wait until a kid is seriously hurt before action is taken?"

Coreen Campbell, chairwoman of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council, praised the rector and staff for their excellent efforts notwithstanding the state the school was in. She said: "I never realised how bad it was."

It was agreed that First Minister Alex Salmond and a delegation from the Highland Council's education, culture and sport committee be invited to hear Mrs Richards' presentation.

Alternatively, if this was not possible, a group from the school would travel to Inverness.

n.donaldson@nosn.co.uk

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