Campaigners this week posted an online petition in a bid to enlist worldwide support from former pupils and other concerned individuals.

Meanwhile, parents and guardians will receive a letter today informing them that Wick High is "in an appalling state of neglect and disrepair" and inviting them to come and see the school for themselves at an evening event planned for next month.

The online petition move emerged following a meeting on Monday night of the action committee which drew up a battle plan aimed at securing a new school or, at least, a major refurbishment of the existing building.

The petition is a follow-up to the dossier of dilapidation which was shown by the parent council last week to an invited audience of staff, pupils, councillors, parents and Far North MSP Jamie Stone, who were shocked at the extent of the problems.

The parent council's PowerPoint presentation can also be accessed through our website.

The Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council saw copies of the report which listed a depressing catalogue of defects in the school: rusted radiators and rotten windows frames, peeling paintwork and damp patches on walls, cramped classrooms with little or no storage space, inadequate changing and toilet facilities, water leaks, external cladding falling off buildings, a poor decorative state and a lack of social areas.

Action committee vice-chairwoman Julie Mackinnon said they had been greatly encouraged by the initial response to the campaign. By yesterday afternoon there were 131 petition respondents, including some from abroad.

The action group discussed a number of campaign initiatives in what could be a protracted fight for better conditions for staff and pupils. The exact details are being kept under wraps for the time being.

The plight of the school – described by the parent council as so run-down it is not fit for 21st-century education – was raised in the Scottish Parliament last week by Mr Stone, who produced a copy of the Caithness Courier's front page which led with the campaign launch story.

Mr Stone – who says the school is the worst in his Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency – dispatched a letter last week to Alex Salmond urging the First Minister to intervene on the issue.

This week Mr Stone welcomed the online petition launch, which he described as an effective means of gathering support. He said: "The successful campaign to retain a consultant-led maternity unit at Wick demonstrated that people power can make a difference, and I'm sure that the petition will be effective. Once the petition closes, I will be happy to present it to the Scottish Parliament."

He said he was awaiting a reply to his letter asking Mr Salmond to step in and make Wick High a fast-track priority. He had also invited Mr Salmond to come north and see the lamentable state of Wick High at first hand, although early indications from the Scottish Government have not been promising.

Schools and skills minister Maureen Watt said last week it was a matter for the Highland Council and it wasn't up to the Scottish Government to intervene and decide the local authority's priorities.

The Highland Council's director of education, culture and sport, Hugh Fraser, replying to a letter from Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon, said there was no provision for a new Wick High School in the council's plans. The school was included in a refurbishment programme in which Thurso High had first priority, followed by two Nairn schools and then Wick High.

Sabine Richards, who gave the presentation last week as a member of the parent council's building subcommittee, said they were taking great encouragement from the early support for their campaign. She said pupils and staff were particularly pleased that a stand was being taken over the unacceptable conditions at the school.

Some campaign supporters have declared that the best option would be to demolish the school – which they claim is "falling to pieces" – and build a new one. Rector Alister Traill has admitted he "cringes with embarrassment" every time he welcomes visitors to Wick High.

In a new development, the parent council is extending a written invitation to the parents and guardians of the school's 800 pupils to visit it and see for themselves the extent to which the building has deteriorated.

In a letter being distributed today (Friday), Professor Iain Baikie, who chairs the parent council, summarises the defects and adds: "Every part of the school is a disgrace. If you ask your child, they themselves have called it a 'dump'.

"We want a new environment for the future of our children and for the staff who put so much into the school. A new Wick High School could be a beacon of science, engineering and technology and could provide a hub of energy and talent to renew our county in the post-Dounreay era which is coming so soon."

Prof Baikie says in the letter that the parent council feels it is critically important that all parents know what is going on in the school. Describing Wick High as being "in an appalling state of neglect and disrepair", and in places potentially dangerous, he identifies a number of major problems.

"The gym/swimming pool is of a 1960s build that is potentially unsafe and we do not believe the council has been following up recommendations of engineers in 2004 to have it properly checked," he writes. "On March 5 the swimming pool was closed on health-and-safety grounds and will remain this way for the foreseeable future.

"Likewise engineers' recommendations in 2004 concerning the crack under the stairwell in the maths block have not been followed up. The crack is growing and another one is appearing on the opposite staircase.

"The 'new building' (built in the 1960s!) has possible asbestos concerns, is in an appalling state of repair, leaks and is boiling in summer and freezing in winter.

"The 'main building' (96 years old) has almost no temperature control and is in a dismal state of dilapidation.

"Classrooms throughout the school have not changed since the 1960s and 1970s. The school is not big enough – the canteen is too small, four toilets for 860 pupils, nowhere for the children to go in breaks at all, no S6 common room, narrow corridors linking each building.

"The outside is dilapidated and bits of cladding keep falling off. So much is outdated that the school is continually plagued by breakdowns which are disrupting the life of the school."

Parents and guardians who visit the school on Tuesday, April 22, at 7pm, will hear a presentation on the state of Wick High following a tour of the building.

Those who will be unable to attend are being asked to return a form to the school and indicate whether they would be willing to assist in the campaign.

n.donaldson@nosn.co.uk

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend