Issue - meetings

City-Wide / Strategic

2.1      to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to adopt an approach which favoured the improvement and repurposing of existing assets, over the construction of new school buildings, where this was appropriate, and to ensure that where new school buildings were required, these were designed from the outset, to comply with the low carbon criteria set out within the Learning Estate Investment Programme, and where appropriate, with the Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard.  (Recommendation A1)

2.2      to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to ensure that all new primary schools were designed with a minimum pupil capacity of 434, and all new secondary schools were designed with a minimum pupil capacity of 1000, in order to support high quality learning and teaching. (Recommendation A2)

2.3      to note that potential changes in pupil population across the city were likely to require a reduction in the number of operational schools over the next 10 years, and that within this and future editions of the School Estate Plan, officers would bring forward specific options and recommendations for making changes to the school estate to ensure optimum efficiency and sustainability of the estate as a whole. (Recommendation A3)

2.4      to note that where appropriate, officers would seek opportunities to make use of available capacity within schools for other purposes, including the delivery of additional services, in order to make efficient use of available space within the estate which also benefitted local communities. (Recommendation A4)

2.5      to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to carry out a review of signage in all schools and upgrade / replace signage where required to improve accessibility for all users and to refer this to the budget process. (Recommendation A5)

2.6      to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to present a delivery plan for implementing the agreed actions in this report to the next meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee, and thereafter, to present an annual update to the School Estate Plan to the Education and Children’s Services Committee, commencing from September 2023, to report on progress with the agreed actions and to update these as appropriate, in light of the most recently available data. (Recommendation A6)

Denominational Primary Schools

2.7      to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to make arrangements to carry out a feasibility study and stakeholder engagement to identify options for ensuring appropriate and sustainable long term denominational primary school provision for the city to meet forecast demand, and report back to the Education and Children’s Services Committee with recommendations. (Recommendation RC1)

Secondary Schools in the North of Aberdeen

2.8      to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to make arrangements to carry out a feasibility study and stakeholder engagement to identify options for reducing the predicted long term excess secondary school capacity in Grandhome, Oldmachar and Bridge of Don, and report back with an outline business case for consideration by the Education and Children’s Services Committee. (Recommendation NA1)

2.9      to instruct the Chief Officer  ...  view the full decision text for item 14

With reference to article 10 of the minute of its previous meeting of 14 June 2022, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented the finalised School Estate Plan for approval.  The report advised that the Plan set out the recommended actions to be undertaken to develop the school estate over the next ten years and beyond, supporting the delivery of the Council’s Property and Estates Strategy and the National Learning Estate Strategy.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

City-Wide / Strategic

2.1      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to adopt an approach which favoured the improvement and repurposing of existing assets, over the construction of new school buildings, where this was appropriate, and to ensure that where new school buildings were required, these were designed from the outset, to comply with the low carbon criteria set out within the Learning Estate Investment Programme, and where appropriate, with the Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard;

2.2      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to ensure that all new primary schools were designed with a minimum pupil capacity of 434, and all new secondary schools were designed with a minimum pupil capacity of 1000, in order to support high quality learning and teaching;

2.3      note that potential changes in pupil population across the city were likely to require a reduction in the number of operational schools over the next 10 years, and that within this and future editions of the School Estate Plan, officers would bring forward specific options and recommendations for making changes to the school estate to ensure optimum efficiency and sustainability of the estate as a whole;

2.4      note that where appropriate, officers would seek opportunities to make use of available capacity within schools for other purposes, including the delivery of additional services, in order to make efficient use of available space within the estate which would also benefit local communities;

2.5      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to carry out a review of

signage in all schools and upgrade / replace signage where required to

improve accessibility for all users and agree to refer this to the budget process;

2.6      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to present a delivery plan for implementing the agreed actions in this report to the next meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee, and thereafter, to present an annual update to the School Estate Plan to the Education and Children’s Services Committee, commencing from September 2023, to report on progress with the agreed actions and to update these as appropriate, in light of the most recently available data;

Denominational Primary Schools

2.7      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to make arrangements to carry out a feasibility study and stakeholder engagement to identify options for ensuring appropriate and sustainable long term denominational primary school provision for the city to meet forecast demand, and report back to the Education and Children’s Services Committee with recommendations;

Secondary Schools in the North of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14