Wick High School capacity issues seen as a mixed blessing, as models suggest reverse in depopulation in Caithness
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News that Wick High School could soon be over capacity has been seen as a mixed blessing – creating new challenges in the county but also suggesting a reverse in depopulation.
The new school was opened in 2017 at a cost of £45 million but less than five years later it is edging closer to going over capacity.
At the moment it is already at almost 90 per cent capacity but school roll forecasts for the coming years predict that it will soon go beyond 100 per cent – in 2022/23 it is expected to hit 101 per cent, the year after 103 per cent and on to a peak of 104 per cent in 2024/25.
The roll will continue, according to the forecasts, to be above capacity for the two years after that but dip to 99 per cent in 2028/29 and thereafter remain high until 2031/32.
The cause of the rises have not yet been determined but it was suggested at a meeting of Highland Council's Caithness committee on Wednesday that urban flight triggered by Covid may have led to an influx of people.
Officials have requested urgent action from the council in order to mitigate any potential negative impacts.
But despite the challenges posed by the school roll, the fact that so many families are in the Wick High School catchment area is being seen as a positive sign.
Caithness Committee chairman Councillor Raymond Bremner called for more accurate information, saying this should not have arisen through a report on schools.
“One of the main issues brought to our attention was the fact that, not long after a long-awaited brand new high school has been built in Wick, we are now told that the building will be over capacity within two years and for years to come,” he said.
“From my recollection I was only ever aware of a possible one or two years in the future where this might happen before the school roll would continually fall, reflecting depopulation.
“That would make you ask serious questions about the method of forecasting for a brand new school build."
He added that in almost every other way this should be considered as a really positive development, adding: "We have also now been told that it could be the case that less people are moving away and more people are being attracted to the area.
“We have been warned of the threat of declining populations in Caithness so a capacity issue may actually be highlighting a good news story of a different trend appearing already in terms of population decline.
“We need to have an urgent discussion about what the trend is and what we are planning for in the future.”
Council education officer Alison Donald said: “When it comes to the building and the forecasting of the roll – and I wasn’t there at the time – but I believe the forecasting roll was to be less, we didn’t expect Wick to be attracting so many people and this is a positive thing.
“We had a meeting [on Tuesday] with properties and facilities and we are having a look at how we can go forward. Headteacher Sebastian Sandecki was saying this is a priority, we need to move quickly, so do we do something over the next year that just keeps us going or do we have to change the building.
“They will do a technical report in the next couple of weeks and we have asked for a timescale in that so they come back to us and tell us how they will move forward with, one – building capacity and, two – to change the additional support for the learning environment.”
Cllr Bremner responded, saying: “We have actually a challenge ahead of us and it is a challenge because maybe there is good news there.
“We have been seeking to increase our population and for people to stay in Caithness. It is one of the big challenges and here we have a good news story that is giving us a challenge that is not identified in this report.”
