Just two formal objections have been received by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture following its public notice setting out proposal to relocate St Thomas’ Church of England Primary School in Douglas to the site of Scoill Vallajeelt, also in Douglas.
The proposal would see the schools share a single site, but both would remain separate schools with their own names, identities, headteachers, teachers and governors.
The current St Thomas’ school building, which dates back to 1875, has facilities which are inadequate for modern-day education. The town centre site is surrounded on all sides, making redevelopment or expansion difficult and expensive.
The Department has today published its response to the two objections, setting out how the concerns raised have already been addressed. The Department will seek approval for the co-location under the Education Act 2001 at the April 2018 sitting of Tynwald.
The co-location has the support of both schools’ governing bodies.
The two objections raised concerns about separation of those with religious beliefs; the loss of an inclusive school environment at Scoill Vallajeelt; limitations with the Scoill Vallajeelt building; traffic concerns; secondary school catchment areas; costs of the relocation; and a desire to integrate the two schools.
Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, Graham Cregeen MHK, said:
'The Department’s response to these two objections clearly sets out that the issues raised have already been considered and addressed.
'Co-location at the Scoill Vallajeelt site makes use of an existing, relatively new but underutilised school, enabling us to provide a modern and appropriate learning environment for pupils at St Thomas’ Primary School, which is simply no longer fit-for-purpose.
'This means better educational facilities for pupils and represents value for money for the taxpayer.'
In its response the Department made a number of points:
- The two schools will continue to operate as they do now albeit they will share a site
- Pupils from both schools will have times through the day when they will mix together such as break times and lunchtimes
- There will be dedicated classrooms and facilities for each school to use
- The dining room, halls and outdoor areas will all be shared
- Scoill Vallajeelt has room for 350 pupils however there are only 200 currently on the roll giving ample space to accommodate the 61 pupils at St Thomas’ with capacity for future growth of either school
- A traffic survey was undertaken when Scoill Vallajeelt’s capacity was extended from 142 to 350 with an extension in 2005 – this showed that the peak flow anticipated was manageable
- There will be some money expendedto adapt the building so that it can accommodate two separate schools, some of which will be met from the sale of St Thomas’ site
If approved by Tynwald, the two schools would share the Scoill Vallajeelt building from the beginning of the 2018/19 academic year.
