Community feedback has been key in considering potential sites for a new school campus on Mull and councillors are expected to decide on a preferred site in the coming months.
The council held a series of public drop-in events in September and officers have analysed the responses to see what is important to those affected. The drop-in events took place in 10 locations on Mull and Iona, in addition to an online survey and dedicated pupil workshops. In total, 352 people submitted their views.
The feedback highlighted eight key themes as follows:
Location: Many felt primary and/or ELC provision should be kept in Tobermory, meaning that a split site with a more centralised high school was the most commonly requested solution to providing an equitable and accessible campus. The Scottish Government’s LEIP funding, however, is based on a ‘like for like’ replacement, for example existing pupil capacity numbers and community facilities within the existing Tobermory Campus only. Any facilities beyond the ‘like for like’ criteria would not be funded.
Equity: A new campus should provide equality for as many people as possible. This feedback was often combined with comments about keeping families together and creating more social cohesion between communities in the north and south.
Accessibility: A new campus should be easily accessible from good transport networks, with plenty of parking and safe pick up and drop off areas. There should also be an opportunity to develop and use existing walking and cycling routes so pupils and staff can walk and cycle to school.
Community stability: It should help create community stability and sustainability, whether by attracting and retaining people to live and work in the area, or by supporting local businesses. For some, this was about a specific location – for example, supporting the stability of the Ross of Mull or avoiding depopulation of the north. For others, it was about the sustainability of Mull and the islands as a whole.
Expanded curriculum: A new campus should have the ability to provide more subjects, including vocational subjects, by providing more space and/or creating easier access for teachers to travel to the campus from Oban to provide specialist teaching.
Access to facilities: Access to good facilities both on campus and close by was a key theme throughout the sessions. This includes space for sports facilities and other outdoor activities such as learning and socialising. It also includes equitable access to after-school clubs so children do not have to rush away to catch ferries or travel long bus journeys.
Travel: Concerns were raised about the increase in travel if children were to be transported to a new campus outside Tobermory. The key issues raised were winter weather, road conditions, lack of buses, and access for families without cars. People also expressed concern about the impact on children spending long portions of their day travelling, especially younger children.
Family unity: Keeping families together and avoiding children having to leave home through the week to board was a key theme. However, Iona residents strongly requested the right to retain access to funded places at Oban High School, as is the current arrangement, regardless of where a campus is located on Mull. Since the drop-in sessions, the community of Iona have unanimously requested to maintain this arrangement.
The council has now shortlisted potential sites for a new 2-18 campus on the island and officers are in the process of conducting a detailed analysis of each one. A group of experts will review and score the shortlisted sites to ensure a well-informed recommendation. The community feedback received will play a large part in this. A recommendation paper is expected to be ready by the end of December, following which it will go to a meeting of the full council for a final site decision.
The council’s Policy Lead for Education, Councillor Audrey Forrest, said: “These engagement events were a great opportunity to gauge what is important to our local communities when considering potential sites for a new campus on Mull.
“I know many people expressed a desire for two separate campuses; a secondary and primary, but we have to be realistic about what we can achieve with the funding available. It is clear there are mixed views on many aspects and we will need to seriously consider several factors as we prepare to move forward to the next stage.â€
You can find more information about the project on the council website.