Tonight, I attended a very interesting and informative meeting of the Harris Academy Parent Council. A detailed overview of the school's extensive preparations for the Curriculum for Excellence was given. Along with Jim Thewliss, Head Teacher, I spoke about the latest developments on the Harris rebuilding/improvements project. Yesterday, the Director of Education gave me the following update on the project :"There will be a site meeting this week with a representative from Historic Scotland to discuss possible options re the listed building issue.
There has been no formal meeting with Scottish Futures Trust since the original meeting, but an SFT adviser has been identified for each council and informal discussions have begun.
The accommodation schedule for the new school is being prepared currently in conjunction with the school. Meetings between now and 11th February are planned with school staff to establish a baseline of necessary accommodation. A meeting, chaired by Michael Wood*, will take place week commencing 15th February to finalise the accommodation schedule. This will contribute to the development of the new feasibility study which is likely to be presented to committee in May/June 2010. Our planning still assumes a 'new build' cost of £28m."
The accommodation schedule for the new school is being prepared currently in conjunction with the school. Meetings between now and 11th February are planned with school staff to establish a baseline of necessary accommodation. A meeting, chaired by Michael Wood*, will take place week commencing 15th February to finalise the accommodation schedule. This will contribute to the development of the new feasibility study which is likely to be presented to committee in May/June 2010. Our planning still assumes a 'new build' cost of £28m."
* Michael Wood is the City Council's Head of Secondary Education. The site meeting with Historic Scotland referred to above took place earlier today.