It has been very quiet for several weeks now.  However, there are meetings happening and hopefully good news can be announced soon.  I am meeting the architects on Wednesday and so expect to hear about any progress.  In September a group of pupils from the Home Economics department took part in the One World Picnic highlighting local produce.  Their efforts have been rewarded with the prize of £650 towards the construction of a fire pit.  Well done to them.  But we now have the challenge of building it in part of the grounds both where it can be used safely and where construction work does not destroy their achievements!  A welcome problem.

You may recall that our last bulletin explained that the presence of peat on the site has caused some problems which resulted in significant potential extra costs if we go ahead with the development as it is currently proposed.

Since our last update, The Project Team (The Moray Council, hubCo and Scottish Futures Trust) has been working hard to find the best position for the school on the existing site. We need to try to minimise the amount of site works required to bring the costs within budget. We also want to avoid positioning the school on the peat for several reasons:

1) Disturbing peat is not good for the environment as it releases Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere.

2) It is expensive to remediate because it involves filling in, securing supporting structures and moving around a large amount of material to accommodate the school building block.

3) There are some further options we wish to explore to bring down the overall costs of the construction.

We are now more optimistic that an affordable option is near – but we need some time to explore all the options fully. Although this sounds like bad news, we don’t necessarily see it that way. We want to reassure you that in doing this work we will be getting the best school we can, rather than using up a large proportion of the funding just to remediate the site.

Going further into the design stage now is useful as it means we are also saving some time by doing work that would normally be done at the next stage. As you are probably aware, there are only a few key dates in the academic year when an old school can be vacated and a new school handed over – this avoids disturbance of pupils during critical exam periods, for example. Therefore, a key factor which dictates the project timetable is the handover date.

The Scottish Futures Trust is being very supportive and has been involved in the lengthy design meetings recently. We have been assured that the funding is secure. The overall delay to the new build will be minimised and as soon as we have a revised schedule we will let you know.

In other news…we have applied for some additional funding for the 3G sports pitch from sportscotland – if we are successful in our bid, it will help to provide enhanced sports provision for the whole of Elgin.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/03/16134101http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/03/16134101

We hope to have some good news for you next month!

If you have any queries please direct them to ehsproject@moray.gov.uk or telephone 01343

During the holidays one of my colleagues visited Eastwood and was able to see the new school in action.  This is one of the first school buildings constructed through the Scottish Futures Trust.  There were many encouragments in seeing how the building is operating.  It also provided the opportunity to pick up ideas for the new EHS building.

The Senior Leadership Team have just had an excellent meeting with a representative of Balfour Beatty, the company who will be constructing the new building.  We were discussing educational opportunities for collaboration during the build period.  These ranged from pupils being involved in the design of particular areas, a time capsule, work experience, apprenticeship opportunties, talks to classes, art work, environmental projects, a time lapse camera and careers talks.  There were ideas for pupils in almost every department to be involved.  Similarly, there will be opportunities for primary schools to share in these projects.  This was an exciting meeting with plenty of possibilities and in time for us to be ready when construction work does begin.

Following a story in the local press, The Moray Council has issued the following statement to keep pupils, parents, staff and the local community up to date with developments:

“It became apparent at an early stage that a start date of March 2014 was highly ambitious and while everyone involved is keen to see construction begin as soon as possible, they are even more keen that the project provides a new secondary school that is fit for purpose and will serve the local community well for years to come.

“Issues have emerged in relation to ground conditions on part of the site which require to be investigated further.

“As a result, possible courses of action include repositioning the new building within the overall site and options for that are currently being examined in detail.

“The cost implications of these options cannot be accurately quantified at this stage but all parties are continuing to work closely in an endeavour to keep the project within budget.

“What can be said with certainty is that although the project is currently showing an overspend on the original budget figure, it is nowhere near £4million.

“The project and the council continue to be fully supported by the Scottish Futures Trust, and the funding for the project is thus secure.”

Parents who attended last night’s Parents’ Forum meeting had the opportunity to enjoy a fascinating presentation on the new school project from Moray Council staff and a represntative of JMArchitects.  A site plan was discussed as well as the thinking behind some of the provisional plans for the building itself.  This included an explanation of some of the modern materials that will be used to help ensure a good working temperature as well as to discourage gulls and snow from lingering on the roof! 

There was a useful steering group meeting on Monday afternoon.  This group is made up of local councillors, a representative of the Parent Council and Moray Council officials.  It was good to hear about the ongoing meetings and discussions with Hubco and SFT.  Martine Scott, Senior Project Officer is keeping a page on the Moray Council website with up to date information about developments.  You can access it from:

http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_86833.html

All parents of Elgin High School pupils are encouraged to attend the annual meeting of the Parent Forum at 7pm on Tuesday 24th September.  As well as hearing reports from the Parent Council and seeking new members for the coming year, Martine and a representative of JMArchitects will be present to give everyone an update on the project.

Despite the quietness on the Blog, there is a lot happening.  Most of it has been meetings between the various compnaies involved with the project and Moray Council, looking at technical issues.  However, we are starting to plan for the Parent Forum – 7.00pm Tuesday 24 September.  As well as the normal business (volunteers to join the Parent Council are always welcome!) we hope to have representatives from the Architects to provide parents with an update on the design and plans.  Further information will follow.

The summer holidays are nearly over.  A fantastic trip to our partner school in Zambia with a group of pupils provided much to think about and was a reminder that the quality of what happens in a school is of first importance.  I remain full of admiration for the Zambian teachers and pupils working in conditions that can only be described as demanding.  There is much more I could say and many more exciting stories from the trip – we will get more photos of the trip on the EHS website soon.  There was mention that that the Zambian government recognises the need to replace their building.  Will they manage to achieve a replacement in fewer years than it has taken EHS to get to the present stage of planning?!  Meantime in Elgin there have been a number of meetings.  There is still a challenge to agree the final accommodation schedule and this has led to interesting discussions about what is needed to deliver Curriculum for Excellence in 21st century Scotland.

Two interesting days of public consultation took place on Monday and Tuesday.  While the sessions were not busy, those who did attend made some interesting points.  The comments will now be analysed and fed into the development process.  The school holidays start next Friday, so the blog will go quiet for a few weeks.  However, we are expecting to arrange some meetings with the architects and others other the holidays, so more information may follow.  It is also likely that the ground survey will take place soon.  On Tuesday I attended the official opening of the new Elgin Academy.  A good occasion that gave me some ideas for what we can do in August 2015!