'Copy and paste' claim over Wick schools report
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THE consultation over the future of primary schools in Wick is under investigation by Scottish ministers for using an “exact copy” of a statement relating to a school in north Tayside.
The use of the same statement was discovered by the parent of a child at Hillhead Primary School who typed extracts into Google after noting unfamiliar material in the Highland Council’s educational benefits statement.
However, the Highland Council has defended its use of Angus Council’s document for the Arbroath schools project claiming it is only a generic framework and presents “a model template of good practice” that sets out features that would appear in any new primary school in Scotland.
The Highland Council’s head of support services for education, culture and sport, Ron Mackenzie, said that when producing the proposal document last autumn, officials looked at other documentation relating to work in areas of the Highlands and also in other councils.
It was during this time that the local authority’s partner consultants, Caledonian Economics, recommended the Angus Council template, which was also to amalgamate two schools.
“The template is based on good practice and we are very comfortable with this framework on the basis that a new school in Wick will pretty much be the same as one in Arbroath in generic terms. There are, of course, specific local issues to take into account,” said Mr Mackenzie.
“In the spirit of having the best in Scotland we wanted to adopt that template.”
Mr Mackenzie said the generic template was used just to set out a general indication of what to expect and that stakeholder engagement will be key to any detailed plans.
However, the use of the other document has put a question mark over the timescale of the new schools. It was announced last week that the consultation process carried out by the Highland Council over the past year into primary school provision in Wick is to be put under the spotlight.
Hillhead Parent Council chairman Dr Ewen Pearson said alarm bells rang when some of the statement “just didn’t make sense”.
“There are mentions of things like digital signage – parts that seemed completely alien,” said Dr Pearson.
“One of the parents had the foresight to Google sections of the text and came up with the Angus Council document.
“It’s hard for parents to accept that this process has been thorough when we have proved that this section has been copied.”
He added: “If it has all been done properly then why has it been called in?”
The apparent “copy and paste” job of the educational benefits statement could lead to delays in plans to see Hillhead and North school join together in a new building in Girnigoe Street and a similar merger between Pulteneytown Academy and South school at a new facility alongside the planned new high school, as the education minister Mike Russell examines the consultation process in full.
In a letter to the council’s education, culture and sport services director, Hugh Fraser, published online, the Scottish Government’s head of school infrastructure unit, Jonathan Moore, confirmed that the copied section is the reason the process is being scrutinised.
“They [the Scottish ministers] are of the view that while there may be some similarities, the schools in question are different and unique to the communities they serve and, as a result, the educational benefits to be realised will not be identical,” writes Mr Moore.
“Therefore, as presented, it may not be possible for parents and others to judge precisely and clearly the educational benefits to accrue from the proposal.”
However, Mr Mackenzie stressed that the best interests of education in Wick were at the heart of the decision to use the template as it would apply to any new primary school in Scotland and would help deliver the best possible learning environment.
“We felt that it was a model template and was thorough and what we would regard as a quality document,” he said.
“We picked up aspects they identified in an excellent school which would deliver the curriculum for excellence.
“If I had my time again I would probably acknowledge the fact that we did use it in the proposal document and certainly for future documents I would make that distinction.”
Mr Mackenzie stressed that an “unprecedented” amount of work was put in by both the Highland Council and Caledonian Economics before the statutory consultation.
He added that no payment was made for the Angus Council document as it was in the public domain. His “big concern at the moment” is that there could be a protracted delay.
“I need to understand from Scottish ministers what further information they require from us because I think our intentions are quite clear here,” said Mr Mackenzie.
“There is no doubt we are trying to create excellent facilities in Wick.”
*Do you think the Highland Council was right to use a ‘template’ document?
