The V&A - looking back, then forward

The Courier series on the transformational effect of buildings such as the Guggenheim was inspired; it strengthens confidence in the V&A project which has huge economic and cultural potential for our city.

However, a series of stories across the local national press about the secrecy surrounding the increasing cost of the project have not been helpful. As an NUJ member I am not prepared to blame the journalists for that.

One of the things I hope the independent enquiry will look into is the way the story of increasing costs was handled. As Professor Beatriz Plaza of the University of the Basque Country points out in this morning's Courier, honesty over budgets is vital to gain public trust. In Bilbao, they set a realistic budget of $100 million and stuck to it.

So our enquiry needs to look at the original budget and whether it was ever remotely realistic for a building of this type. It needs to look at the way the people who decided on the Kengo Kuma building assessed the likely cost of constructing it. For me, everything begins there.

We were warned at the time that the building could not be constructed for £45 million. Well done Jack Searle and Dundee Civic Trust who expressed doubts in 2010 about the construction costs of the Kuma design (see link below).

We have been promised that the enquiry will have the freedom to look at anything it considers relevant. Councillors will also have the opportunity to give their views to the enquiry. That's good; let's do this in an open, constructive spirit for the good of our city. And then let's look forward and deliver this project on time and on the (new) budget.

Story re Dundee Civic Trust and the V&A ... http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/dundee-civic-trust-recommends-half-of-v-a-designs-be-rejected-1.26847


 

Should we close Menzieshill High?

Dundee's Education Department has proposed the closure of Menzieshill High School, and parents and the community are being consulted via meetings and online surveys. As councillors we will take our decisions when the consultation responses come in.

I've been at two 'official' meetings and one protest meeting, listened to parents' arguments for keeping the school open, tried to respond to those who simply cannot understand why the council would close such a popular school.

There are some debates about practical matters like transport which I think the Council can deal with. The bigger picture is about the quality of education.

In the US there is a strong lobby for smaller schools; people think there is less pupil violence and higher levels of achievement if schools are small. On the other hand, Dundee's Education Department believes Menzieshill pupils will achieve more in the new, bigger school.

I try not to just accept what council officials tell me, so I went looking for independent research and found a 2002 report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/SPP01/SPP01.pdf).

115 pages later, I discovered there is very little evidence to suggest that big schools are better than small schools, or that small schools are better than big schools. It does seem fairly clear that bigger schools are more cost effective and can offer a wider range of subjects.

Then I looked up Parentzone (http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone/) and checked how well the pupils in Menzieshill do in exams, compared to Harris. Generally Harris is above the Scottish average, sometimes well above. Menzieshill is generally below the average.

I believe this is because Harris Academy is not truly a local school. Harris has a role of 940, and of those 490 live outside the Harris catchment. My guess is that parents with high aspirations for their children are bypassing their local schools and sending their children to Harris. To put it bluntly, Harris has higher numbers of clever kids. Already 150 pupils from the Menzieshill catchment choose to go to Harris.

So what would it mean to close Menzieshill? Harris would be full of children from its new catchment area ... Lochee, Menzieshill, West End, parts of Coldside and the city centre. There would be very little room for pupils from other parts of the city. Harris would be a real, local school.

Menzieshill pupils would have the chance to be educated in a state of the art building with better facilities (although Harris sports pitches are at a distance from the school, it will have a brand new pool, dance studios, music rooms and a recording studio, among other excellent features).

In future, pupils living in the catchment areas of Baldragon, Craigie High and Braeview would be much more likely to send their children to their local school, and those schools would benefit from having a more balanced intake. Plus the Council would eventually save nearly £2 million a year and avoid the inevitable costs of upgrading an old school.

So everyone wins? Well, maybe. It's clear that there is strong opposition from a significant portion of Menzieshill parents, and some pupils. I have very little idea what the Harris parents think because very few turned up to the consultation meeting. I'd be interested to know what the Harris pupils think about it all. Some Rosebank parents do not want to see families split between Morgan and Harris, and we're working on that.

No decisions can be taken until the consultation is over, and I strongly urge people to send in their views. The consultation paper is at http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/content/closure-menzieshill-high-school and the email address to use is education@dundeecity.gov.uk.

Personally I am beginning to think that closure is the best option, because the pupils in Menzieshill and Lochee will have better opportunities to learn and thrive in a brand new building with a long tradition of excellence. But I haven't made up my mind yet, and the debate continues.

Thanks for supporting me ... now support Chris

A wee word of thanks to the hundreds of people who voted for me to fight Dundee West for the SNP. As announced today, Chris Law will be our candidate. Chris burst on the scene with his Spirit of Independence Campaign and he has provided the excitement new members were seeking.

We now have to get Chris elected; he has a strong body of support behind him and that should now translate into a big team for leafleting, doorknocking and social media too. Good luck Chris; time Dundee West had an SNP MP.

What now for me? The prospect of a normal life, I guess, and that doesn't sound so bad. And I still have plenty of work to do in Coldside. That's what I'll be concentrating on for the next two years.