Cumnock Media

 

S3 pupils from Miss Ewing’s English class have been working on their news reports in class. We have reports on local news, international news, school news and even an update on recent sport news. Well done everyone!

 

The U.S.A is one of three countries to include gun-ownership in their constitution, along with Mexico and Guatemala. The right to “keep and bear arms” is the Second Amendment, which was established in the 18^th Century in an attempt to allow states to protect themselves against threat. There are an estimated 270 million guns in the U.S and since 2013; there has been nearly 300 school shootings in the country – an average of about one a week.

 

School Shooting

An attack on an educational institution, such as a school or university, involving the use of a firearm.

One of the deadliest school shootings ever to take place in America was the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, leaving 20 children under the age of 7 years old and 6 staff members killed. The perpetrator of the attack was a troubled 20 year old, Adam Lanza. Adam gained easy access to his mother’s gun which was kept in their home in Newton, Connecticut. When his mother tried to calm him down and retrieve the gun back, he instantly shot her in head, and then proceeded to kill innocent children and himself after.

One of the most recent, terrifying shootings at a school was in Parkland, Florida on February 14^th.

The perpetrator was Nicolas Cruz, a 19 year-old challenged pupil who was expelled from the school a year earlier due to threatening other pupils. This obviously indicates that Nicolas is as well; extremely young to have any access to a gun at all, but due to American politicians insisting that they keep the law, these horrific incidents will continue to happen almost every day.

 

On 13^th March, 1996, gunman Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 children and a teacher at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland. This remains the deadliest, but very last, massacre in Scotland’s history. Britain’s lawmakers rightly introduced new legislation — the Firearms (Amendment) Act — making registration mandatory for owning shotguns and banning semi-automatic and pump-action weapons. In comparison to America, there have been 1,126 mass shootings since the Sandy Hook school shooting, yet laws about the right to bear arms are still in place today.

So many people in America and the rest of the world are asking the same question. How many of these shootings have to occur before Donald Trump and the rest of America’s lawmakers realise that this law does not have a place in the 21st century?

I personally think that gun control should have been put in place a very long time ago, and sincerely hope that something is done soon about these horrific attacks that are occurring far too often.

 

Shootings over the years

The US has approximately 300 million guns this means there is nearly enough guns for every man, woman and child in the country. Every week there is almost 1 school shooting in the US. In 2015 there were 64 school shootings in the US. There have been approximately 142 school shootings since 2012 in the US. The US government are still refusing to make tougher gun laws even after all the gun attacks that have recently happened in the past years and the people wanting better gun control.

Shootings this year

There have been nine school shootings this year that have resulted in someone being injured or killed. There have been 1,800 deaths only this year caused by guns.

Stoneman Douglas shooting

February 14th 2018 17 people were killed and 17 or more people were injured by the shooter at their school in Parkland, Florida by a 19 year old boy who was confirmed by witnesses as Nikolas Jacob Cruz. The shooting took place at Stoneman Douglas High School during the afternoon. The shooter took a Uber to the school he got to the school at 2:19pm. Nikolas then entered the 3 story building which had 30 classrooms and about 900 pupils also 30 teachers which were located inside them. Nikolas was carrying a AR-15 automatic rifle. He then activated the fire alarm the fire alarm caused confusion to the pupils and teachers as there had already been a drill earlier that day. He then began firing at the pupils and teachers. Near dismissal time other staff members heard the gun shots and therefore active a code red lockdown. The shooting lasted 6 Minutes after Cruz dropped his rifle on the floor and the left by blending in with fleeing students. He was later arrested.

Sandy hook Elementary shooting December 14th 2012 20 children and 6 adults were killed at Sandy hook Elementary school in Newton, Connecticut. The children which attended the elementary that were killed were between the ages of 6 and 7.The gun man shot and killed his own mother at their home before driving to the elementary to take other innocent people lives .The shooter was 20 years old and was named Adam Lanza after the shooting he committed suicide by himself in the head.

Dunblane shooting

The Dunblane shooting was the last school shooting to occur in Scotland since tightening the gun laws since the event. 13th March 1996 Thomas Hamilton entered Dunblane primary school near Stirling and shot 16 young children and their teacher before killing himself.

 

US teachers to carry guns? The President has said he would consider giving teachers guns after the incident which happened in February. Some parents think that it is a completely outrageous idea to arm school teachers and asking Trump to consider his own children and how he would feel about this. Some people think that teacher being armed is a good thing as shootings last approximately 3 mins and it take police to attend the scene about 8 mins to arrive teachers would be able to defend the children by shooting the attacker before anyone get hurt.

I personally think that the idea of teachers having guns is quite stupid as the shooter would be able to harm more people by using the guns if they happen to be not locked away. It would take the teachers a few minutes to reach the gun as they would need to go to where it is stored and unlock it by then people could have been shot by the shooter. I think that president Trump should consider how he would feel if he was in a situation where his children were killed or injured. I think that he should tighten the gun laws as it has a better benefit rather than arming teachers. Some children could feel intimidated by their teacher as they could be threatened by them having a gun and they could use it on them at any moment .School is supposed to be a safe and happy place for children to go to learn new things and socialise with their friends not to be scared for their lives as at any moment they could be shot. Parents might feel unstable at sending their young children to school in case anything happened to them.

 

Since 2013 there has been a massive 300 school shootings in American Schools and this year alone 9 have these have already took place. And we are only in March. However in the UK there has only ever been 1 since 1996 over 20 years ago. So, why does America not have a solution to all of this?

Florida Shooting

On February 14th a day of love and happiness.. we were shocked to find out that there had been 17 young innocent teenagers killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. A former 19 year old student who had been expelled began shooting students and staff with a semi- automatic rifle. The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, blended in with the crowd of fleeing students and was arrested in a residential area of Coral Springs after walking away from the school.

How heart breaking to think that a young child attending such a safe place, school, might not ever come home. No child deserves to have their innocence ripped from them at the hands of a rifle.

The Dunblane Massacre

The Dunblane school massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children and one teacher before killing himself. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history. After this tragic and heart-breaking event, there was a new law introduced. This stopped people in the UK from getting hold of a gun. This law has been really successful because there hasn’t been any School shootings in Scotland since this law has been brought into action.

Sandy Hook

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as six adult staff members. The gunman also shot and killed his mother after she tried to stop him. She was found wearing her pyjamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a rifle. Nancy Lanza was also a teacher, but education officials say that have found no links between her and Sandy Hook Elementary School. After the Sandy Hook school Shooting celebrities banded together and thought “enough was enough”. They all came together and wrote a song to express their opinions and thoughts about school shootings.

Trump Suggests Teachers Get a ‘Bit of a Bonus’ to Carry Guns President Donald Trump says he thinks teachers who bring guns to school should get cash bonuses for their efforts to protect students. Since the Parkland shooting, Mr Trump has repeatedly blamed mental health care deficiencies for the epidemic of gun violence in the United States, and suggested that giving teachers guns could reduce deaths. Donald Trump has also suggested giving between a 10 and 40 percent wage rise to teachers who bring firearms to school to protect their students however this teacher would need to undergo extremely careful training beforehand. During a meeting with student survivors of mass shootings and their parents in the White House, Mr Trump asked those in attendance whether they would support armed teachers in schools. He also suggested that he is interested in exploring increasing awareness of mental health issues. The President said that he does not think that simply increasing the number of armed guards in schools would be enough to stop school shootings. “You can’t hire enough security guards… You need 100, 150 security guards. But you could have concealed [guns] on the teacher,” Mr Trump said. How easy is it for American Citizens to purchase a gun? In America it is really easy to purchase a gun. An experiment was carried out By CNN news. The video showed a 13 year old boy go into different shops trying to buy multiple illegal items, for example cigarettes alcohol, scratch cards and adults magazines, This boy gets turned away time and time again as he clearly doesn’t not look anywhere near 18. The young boy then walks straight into a gun market and within minutes walks away with a riffle. If this young boy can purchase a rifle with his own money who’s to say he won’t cause any damage with it? Should guns be illegal in America? Guns SHOULD be banned in America. America should take into consideration other countries and the results since they have changed their laws about guns. In 2015, there were 33,636 deaths due to firearms in the U.S, while guns used to kill about 50 people in the U.K. More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day (about 85) than in the U.K. in a year. This proves that by reducing the amount of guns in the US can prevent many murders. Something has bound to happen sooner or later…

As of 2013, there have been 290 school shootings in America yet in Britain there

hasn’t been a school shooting since 1996.

There has been a massive amount of shootings in America, so why do they still not have a solution to all this?

The Dunblane school massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 children and one teacher before killing himself. After this the UK government decided to introduce a gun law which meant citizens of the UK cannot get a hold of a gun. This has worked as a law because since the Dumblane shooting in 1996 there has not been another shooting.

However, in America guns are still legal and massacres like this still happen regularly. Since 2014 there has been on average a school shooting every week, leaving parents and US citizens worried everyday not knowing what to expect when they leave the house. On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Seventeen people were killed and fifteen more were taken to hospitals, making it one of the world’s deadliest school massacres.

This was a tragic event that fell on the 14th February, Valentine’s Day as children left for school sharing their last goodbyes and saying “I love you”.

Unknown to them, a cold hearted 19 year old was intentionally going to shoot the pupils of their school. No child should have to leave their parent worried and heartbroken, wondering if their child was going to return from school or if they would receive a phone call saying there child died. Emma Gonzalez, a 17 year old survivor of the school shooting in Parkland says “But this is not about me. This is about hope — and maybe, finally, a chance for change” as she hopes to make a law restricting people from buying guns, hoping that there will be less shootings and less tragic events meaning less broken hearts and no more wounds left unhealed.

Robert Runcie used to be a father of 3 and is now only a father to 1. “I walked all 3 of my children to school that morning not knowing only 1 of them will come home, not knowing it would be our last goodbye. I now walk her into school without her sisters, without her friends, without her teacher.”  In America, anyone can buy a gun. An experiment was carried out a few years ago with a 13 year old showing him going into shops trying to buy illegal things. When he shows his ID he is turned away. He then walks into a gun market and walks back out with a rifle within minutes. If this young boy can buy a gun who’s to say he won’t walk into school the next day and open fire?

Guns should now be illegal in America. Americans should take a look at previous mass shootings in other countries, they have banned guns and there hasn’t been a shooting since. This can prove that by banning guns in the USA we can reduce the amount of shootings and deaths around the world. If not me, who? If not now, when? Something has got to happen, sooner than later

 

Since 2013 there has been an average of one school shooting a week in the US.

Every town reported that there have been 290 school shootings since the catastrophic massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, more than 5 years ago.

Since 1990, there have been 22 shootings at elementary and secondary schools in which two or more people were killed, not including those perpetrators who committed suicide.

Sandy Hook

The Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting is the most memorable school shooting which happened in 2012 at the hands of Adam Lanza. Adam had been diagnosed with several behaviour disorders, including Asperger syndrome, OCD, and his father Peter suspected he had schizophrenia but that still does not explain how he could enter a school and start firing at young pupils. Adam got his hands on us mother’s gun. His mother, Nancy Lanza tried to stop him but he shot her at close range, killing her. Later he drove to Sandy Hook elementary and walked into the school, used 45 rounds and took the lives of 27 young pupils and teachers. After Adam shot the victims he then put a bullet into his own head.

Dunblane

Thomas Hamilton, aged 43, a disgraced former Scout master whose behaviour had attracted the attention of the police, turned one of his four guns on himself after killing or injuring all but one of a class of 29 five and six year-olds at Dunblane primary school, near Stirling. 3 out of 12 children in hospital were on the critical list.  Sadly 16 pupils were killed. Dunblane was the last school shooting in the UK, Scotland. This is because our government has tightened the laws on guns.

Sadly 16 pupils were killed. Dunblane was the last school shooting in the UK, Scotland. This is because our government has tightened the laws on guns.

 

Florida Shooting On the surface they are a normal family – mum, dad and four children. They lived in a small, safe town in America. Nikolas Cruz, 19, told police he was responsible for the shooting and added the he hid extra ammunition in his backpack and shot students in the hallway and on school grounds. Cruz arrived at the school by taking an Uber car, took the rifle out of the case and began shooting in classrooms. He then dropped AR-15 assault rifle he used and his vest to blend in with the students. Cruz then left the school and ran along with the other students fleeing to blend in. After that he then went to subway for a drink and then went to McDonalds.

After walking out McDonalds he was taken into police custody. This all took place on February 14th 2018. How easy is it to purchase a gun in America? It is not that hard to buy a gun in America. Hundreds of stores sells guns, from big chains like Walmart to family shops like Kens sporting Goods & Liquor store. Customers are asked to fill in a form that asks them for their name, address, place of birth, race and citizenship. In 1968, you could order just about anything and it could be shipped to your door. CNN had uploaded a video of a 13 year old boy trying to buy a case of beers but the women told him no, he couldn’t because he was under age. He then goes to buy a scratch card and the working tells him no because he is too young again. Next he goes and tries to buy a gun and within moments he is walking out with a rifle. This was an experiment to show us how easy it was to buy a gun. If a 13 year old boy can buy a gun that easily then what is stopping him from going into a school with open fire injuring and killing many young innocent people.

Personally I think guns should be illegal because there have been too many shootings in America and too many deaths, but yet the country still hasn’t made it illegal which I think is terrible. It makes you think because guns are illegal in Scotland and there hasn’t been any school shootings since 1996 so I think Americas solution should make guns illegal if they want to stop shootings and they shouldn’t give the teachers guns because in my opinion that is a crazy way to stop school shootings. What would you do? Would you give the teachers guns?

Shootings Over the Years

The US has approximately 300 million guns, meaning there are nearly enough guns for every man, woman and child in the country.

Since 2013 there have been 290 school shootings, shortly after Sandy Hook. These incidents range from mass shootings to accidental discharges of firearms.

Shootings This year

Just 9 weeks into 2018, there have been 9 shootings at US schools that have resulted in injury or death.

The shooting in Parkland is the 18th incident in which a gun has been

discharged on a school campus in the US this year. More than 1,800

people have been killed by guns this year alone.

Sandy Hook Elementary School

A gunman rampaged through Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, firing a semi-automatic rifle before killing himself.

After Killing his mother, the shooter stole a number of guns and drove his mother’s car 5 miles to the school, which he attended as a child.

He shot and took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults also killing his mother in their home.

US Teachers to Carry Guns?

Efforts to arm teachers and school staff were jumpstarted when a shooting took place at Sandy Hook Elementary. I think the fact that children have to go into a classroom with an armed teacher is terrifying. Children are supposed to feel safe at school and school should be the safest place for them. The teachers shouldn’t have to be armed, but instead there should be tighter gun laws which could hopefully result in peace at these schools and communities to lay their minds at rest. Having tighter guns laws would result in parents being able to leave their children in a safe environment and not having to worry about their safety. State lawmakers are beginning to consider legislation while school officials are pushing for an increase in classroom resources but not guns.

Dunblane School Massacre The Dunblane School Massacre took place on March 13, 1996, in which a gunman invaded a primary school in the small Scottish town of Dunblane and shot to 16 young children and a teacher before turning the gun on himself. This is the only school shooting that took place in Scotland and when this event took place there were instantly stricter gun laws made for Scotland, England and Wales. Compared to America, Scotland certainly make changes even after one school shooting and the only one that has taken place in Scotland, although there have been many more in America and just about no changes have been made. This shows just how serious these shootings are in America, compared to lots of different places in the world. Scotland just being one small country to be compared and already you can see how tremendous the statistics are for even one state to be compared. There are only ten states in the US that haven’t had a school shooting since the return of the century.

The USA is facing a serious gun problem. For every 100 people there are 90 guns.

The people of the US are split in their views on gun control. With President Trump promising to keep the right to “bear arms” people fear for themselves and their families. It is becoming easier for people to get their hands on a gun and therefore crime in the US is becoming more lethal.

This year alone there have been around 18 school shootings in the US. This is including guns being fired without causing injury and guns being shot and causing injuries or fatalities.

In the USA people want tougher gun control. People are beginning to fear for their family’s safety as something as simple as going to school can be dangerous. For example, on the 14th of December 2012, 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7 as well as 6 adult staff member were fatally shot at the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. There were only 2 non-fatal injuries.

Most recently on the 14th of February 2018 in Parkland Florida 17 people were shot and killed by a gunman who walked in to the high school freely. More than 20 people were injured. The victims were pupils and teachers ranging in age from 14- 49.

Survivors are fighting for tougher gun control after they lost their friends and teachers yet President Trump is refusing to listen.

UK and Gun Violence On the 13th of March 1996 in Dunblane, Scotland a 44 year old man called Thomas Hamilton broke in to the town’s primary school and started shooting a class of 5 year olds and the teacher. Hamilton had previously been accused of showing paedophilic behaviour but this had amounted to nothing. His neighbours said that his podgy face and insinuating voice had made their flesh crawl. Including himself Hamilton killed 18 people, 16 being children. Tennis star Andy Murray was in the school when the gunman entered. Luckily Murray’s teacher took them in to a nearby room and there they were kept safe. After this shooting the UK tightened gun control and there hasn’t been another school shooting since. The UK had one school shooting and did everything they could to prevent it happening again whereas the US has had on average 1 school shooting per week this year and instead of doing something about it President Trump has said that they should arm teachers. The UK will never understand the gun culture in the US but it shouldn’t take thousands of people dying or being injured to think about making stricter gun laws.

 

Miss Ewing’s English class have used Mrs Carmichael’s Modern Studies topic on gun control in the USA to research and write their own online news articles. The following reports are the result of their own work which was created under strict time deadlines replicating as much as possible the immediacy of the news room.

The class are going to try and record and upload short news items later today so remember to tune back in!

S3_PHOTOS

 

Dunblane Survivors

 

The American School Shooting Crisis – Abbie

The U.S.A is one of three countries to include gun-ownership in their constitution, along with Mexico and Guatemala. The right to “keep and bear arms” is the Second Amendment, which was established in the 18th Century in an attempt to allow states to protect themselves against threat.

There are an estimated 270 million guns in the U.S and since 2013, there has been nearly 300 school shootings in the country – an average of about one a week.

School Shooting – An attack on an educational institution, such as a school or university, involving the use of a firearm.

One of the deadliest school shootings ever to take place in America was the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, leaving 20 children under the age of 7 years old and 6 staff members killed. The perpetrator of the attack was a troubled 20 year old, Adam Lanza. Adam gained easy access to his mother’s gun which was kept in their home in Newton, Connecticut. When his mother tried to calm him down and retrieve the gun back, he instantly shot her in head, then proceeded to kill innocent children and himself after.

One of the most recent, terrifying shootings at a school was in Parkland, Florida on February 14th . The perpetrator was Nicolas Cruz, a 19 year-old challenged pupil who was expelled from the school a year earlier due to threatening other pupils. This obviously indicates that Nicolas is aswell, extremely young to have any access to a gun at all, but due to American politicians insisting that they keep the law, these horrific incidents will continue to happen almost every day. On 13th March,1996, gunman Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 children and a teacher at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland. This remains the deadliest, but very last, massacre in Scotland’s history. Britain’s lawmakers rightly introduced new legislation — the Firearms (Amendment) Act — making registration mandatory for owning shotguns and banning semi-automatic and pump-action weapons. In comparison to America, there has been 1,126 mass shootings since the Sandy Hook school shooting, yet laws about the right to bear arms are still in place today.

So many people in America and the rest of the world are asking the same question. How many of these shootings have to occur before Donald Trump and the rest of Americas lawmakers realise that this law does not have a place in the 21st century? In conclusion, I think that gun control should have been put in place a very long time ago, and sincerely hope that something is done soon about these horrific attacks that are occurring far too often.

Is the super school a good idea?

This is an exclusive report from three school pupils who will be pupils in the new school, but not for long when it is finished. They will be presenting their facts and argument on the environmental effects of this new campus giant. Many people strongly object to where the new school will be built, and we will look more deeply into this matter.

Firstly, Cumnock Academy and Auchinleck Academy are certainly not new buildings. In fact Cumnock Academy itself was first used as an academy in 1969. We believe that actually building four new buildings for Greenmill, Barshare, Cumnock Academy and Auchinleck Academy would be much more efficient, eco-friendly and less costly that building a new campus costing billions of pounds. This is partly because there is a major problem with the location of this new campus. Some people say that the location (Broomfield running track and rugby/football pitches) is for the best and it will be the most eco-friendly place for the campus. Some teachers we interviewed over this matter have said that because they are not local themselves, the location does not impact them greatly at all. However, this was not the case with one long-term teacher at Cumnock Academy, who was concerned with the traffic and environmental effects of the new school being where it is planned to be.

“I would be concerned about the traffic around Broomfield. I think there will be a lot of pollution from cars. I think this would be a massive shame for Broomfield.” While being interviewed, the teacher also revealed that the new school being built will very probably have complications with classes in the Physical Education department. She suspects that although there are meant to be extensive playing grounds and outdoor areas, there will always be classes outside, even in the colder months.

 There is one thing that many people do agree on though. The number of pupils expected to be in the new school is rather alarming for some teachers. The majority of teachers have said that they don’t like the number of pupils. Even with split areas for different year groups in the school, the amount of pupils mean that teachers will have bigger classes and longer hours of teaching.

Report by Beth S., Evie S. and Charlie M.

Second-year pupils from Cumnock Academy.

MULTI-MILLION SUPER CAMPUS FOR AYRSHIRE 
by Carrie G.

New £64million super campus for Cumnock in East Ayrshire will join
primary and secondary school in areas of Auchinleck, Cumnock, New
Cumnock, Mauchline and many more. When built it will be one of the
largest schools in Europe. The school has caused concern among the
local people due to a lack of clarity about travel plans, traffic,
and the demolition of Broomfield which is the proposed site for 
the new school.

 

The building of a new school may not be news for many, however, for this small town the construction of a £64 million ‘Super Campus’ is definitely a big deal.
Though this article will consider the merging of the Cumnock and Auchinleck communities, much of the focus will be on Cumnock as the majority of the schools that are moving into the new campus are located there.

 

 

 

 

Many of the schools in the local area are not fulfilled to their capacity and therefore are wasting millions of pounds in running costs every year.

The school buildings that currently exist in the area have an age of anywhere
from 42 years old to over 100 years old. While we are proud to have schools in Cumnock and Auchinleck with such history however the age of these buildings can and sadly does mean many are now falling into disrepair and are costing the local authority a lot of money to keep them up and running. For example Greenmill Primary, which was previously the old Cumnock Academy building, has parts of the building which are over 170 years old. This is a beautiful old building but that is exactly the problem. It is too out dated and on too many different levels that it causes an access problem for pupils with a physical disability.

It’s not just the buildings themselves that are outdated and in need of repair but the facilities within the buildings too. Obviously it would be a difficult task to modernise any building that is over a century old however when you combine a lack resources with a lack of funding in deprived areas like Cumnock and Auchinleck the existing schools are bound to be

more than a bit behind times. However the new campus will be built using a grant from the Scottish government that will simply go to waste if unused.

Obviously when you want to slap a brand new ‘super school’ into the middle of a small community and, in the process, bulldoze schools that the majority of the population attended as a child themselves, there will be objections. I sympathise with the people in Cumnock and Auchinleck who have protested to the construction of a new campus. I understand that the plans for the school essentially involve tearing apart an area that holds many memories for a lot of people, however I currently attend Cumnock Academy and while I will be sad to see it torn down, the area is in desperate need of new resources and I agree whole heartedly with the statement “Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together”.

There have been many negative things said about the campus and the main focus of these complaints is the loss of a large open area of Broomfield; which is the proposed site for the new campus .However what the people protesting the ‘destruction’ of Broomfield don’t realise is that it is not demolition but a renovation.

The plans for the school clearly show brand new and better facilities to replace those being removed for the construction of the campus. In fact the new facilities will not only be an upgrade on the existing ones but they will also be made more available for use by the public outside school hours. The majority of Cumnock residents have attended this school but I wonder when the last time they took a look inside it was. I wonder if they saw the old fashioned classroom space, the paint peeling from the damaged walls and froze themselves sitting in one of the classrooms because the heating doesn’t always work. I wonder if then they’d realise how badly the residents of East Ayrshire need this new campus

While planning this article I thought it made sense to meet with the architects of the new campus, after all who better to explain the amazing new facilities that the community will be gaining than the people who designed them.

I met with architect Adam McGhee of Sheppard Robson, who kindly showed me the plans and explained the choices that have been made concerning the Knockroon Campus. He told me of the many amazing resources that will be included in the new school. This includes study areas, internet access, better access to technology and many more. For example a hydro therapy pool, one of which currently exists in Hillside Primary School however the relocation of this resource will mean that families will be able to access it more easily and on a more frequently basis, outside of school hours if needed.Regardless of claims by certain groups within the community the new campus will be an asset to the local area. Granted we may have to tear up Broomfield in order to construct it, but in return for a muddy field with poor drainage, a worn out running track and a ruined pavilion we will be gaining two amazing rugby full sized cushioned rugby and football pitches, an upgrade to the existing AstroTurf at Cumnock Academy, a new running track, various garden and outdoor learning spaces and better covered walkways, paths and access to Broomfield. As someone who has to walk across Broomfield to get to and from school every day, I can tell you that it is in desperate need of an upgrade unless of course you like your child walking through small lakes to get to school in the morning.

As a pupil of Cumnock Academy who has lived in Cumnock her whole life, I have many memories of Cumnock Academy, which is why I sympathise with the people who don’t want to see it demolished.

My mother, father and grandfather went to this school; I had hoped my brothers and sister would go there too. I’ll admit, to begin with I was sceptical of the idea of this school but I now realise that having a £64 million super campus, one of the largest schools in Europe no less, built in our area can only mean more opportunities for the community. While there have been concerns over environmental issues and traffic congestion, I’m hoping to comfort you with the fact that rather than a loss of brown space, we will in fact be gaining better quality green areas and an increase in trees and hopefully wildlife. The concerns about traffic congestion I can put to rest as the plans for the school show that the main premise is a park and stride idea, where cars will be kept away from the play areas around the school and pupils will be encouraged to either walk through what is currently the Cumnock academy site or from a nearby car park should they require more assistance.

This is an improvement on the current academy sites which both have very little play space and what little space we have is located right next to a car park; a source of many safety concerns for many parents and staff. This campus is a major win for the community and rather than protesting it we should be working with the local authority to make it an even better place for future generations