Dear Roddie,
I write to you regarding the ongoing issues relating to Stornoway Primary school which you will be aware of having been present at the committees where it has been discussed.
I am most concerned that due to the spatial issues in the school, staff are under severe pressure to do their jobs but, may I say, are coping admirably and are showing great professionalism.
This is also an issue of listening to those who are most affected by the decision-making in the Comhairle. For years, parents, parent councils and local councillors have been highlighting the worsening situation of overcrowding. A number of these parents had been promised better facilities when the closure of Sandwickhill was being discussed. Are they going to be continually disregarded?
Stornoway Primary is the biggest primary school on the island by a long way and yet does not have adequate storage facilities. It does not have an all-weather pitch that children can play all the year round and this surely has an impact on their sporting development. Teachers are working in cloakrooms and corridors. The role is rising and the spatial issues will worsen.
The Stornoway Primary needs investment to ensure all children have equity of provision at such a crucial stage of their development.
In addition, the increased housing around Sandwickhill school surely makes the case for the reopening which would return a much loved school back to a growing community and ease spatial stresses on Stornoway Primary.
I ask you on behalf of the families in Stornoway, as the new leader of the council, to invest in Stornoway Primary and also to conduct a feasibility study for the re-opening of Sandwickhill school. You have a great opportunity to make a difference,
Regards,
Councillor Rae Mackenzie,
Stornoway South
