A CAMPBELTOWN councillor has criticised plans to merge Dunoon’s three primary schools into one campus before building a new Campbeltown Grammar School.
Councillor Rory Colville, Liberal Democrat member for South Kintyre, feels that the Scottish government should fund a new school as Campbeltown Grammar was excluded from the Scottish government’s recently-published plans for 14 new secondary schools – even though many of the schools to be re-built are in better condition than the Kintyre one.
The Scottish government announced recently that, as part of its plans to improve Scotland’s primary schools, Dunoon, Kirn and St Mun’s Primary Schools would be amalgamated.

Cllr Colville said: “‘We were told there was no money set aside and here we have something that has not even been discussed by the council being approved.”
An Argyll and Bute spokeswoman, however, suggests that Councillor Colville is barking up the wrong tree as primary and secondary school building projects are funded from different pots. The spokeswoman said: “So far the council has only been invited to bid for funding for primary schools under the government's School Building Programme. We did this in accordance with the criteria set for evaluation of bids, and have gained a positive response in relation to our proposals for a Dunoon Primary Campus.
“Should the opportunity to bid for secondary resources arise in the future, we will be well prepared to make the case for addressing the requirements of Campbeltown Grammar School.”

We asked Argyll and Bute Council what consultation plans it had for the proposed merger and the spokeswoman said: “It is too early to develop consultation. At this stage, we merely have a concept plan and indicative costs so have now been invited to enter a business process with the Scottish Futures Trust. An initial meeting is planned for early in the New Year.
Parental opposition to the plan seems to be growing. A group has been formed on social networking website Facebook called ‘Dunoon Schools Stay Small’ which currently has 87 members.
Comments on the site’s notice board include: “Crazy! Dunoon Primary has an excellent learning support unit and the kids are happy and settled. Some of them don't like large group situations, change or noise, so how is moving them into a larger school with more pupils going to benefit them? I can see it being unsettling for all involved. Why try to fix what isn't broken?”
Another poster states: “What a load of garbage. All government bodies are trying to maintain a sense of community, yet this is a step towards stripping that away. 
“How many teachers would lose their jobs? What size would the classes be? The safety and security of the children needs to be maintained, small schools struggle with this – imagine a big school.”
Group founder Elizabeth Gorman told the Standard: “All the local schools work really well educationally and that is their main task - so lets build upon what we already have. My eldest (six-years-old) attends Kirn. She thrives in the fabulous community environment which Mr Wylie and his team work very hard to nurture and maintain. Yes, the school needs refurbished and it is scandalous that we have to raise our own funds to re design the playground - but it is a great school and you only have to wander about the corridors to know the children are happy.
“My initial aim of the group was to gather numbers sooner rather than later - so that if we need to form rank to protest and petition we are not fumbling around at the last minute.
“Secondly, Facebook is a great way of spreading the word and getting people united - it will be a good forum to share information and generally keep people informed.
“Thirdly, hopefully by grouping together we can prevent apathy setting in and prevent people from feeling like this is a foregone conclusion.
“Fourthly, I would hope that it can help us form a strong single argument against the idea - not just an emotional bag of personal points which will not help our position at all. We need to be professional about this to make a difference.”
A scheme to have the town’s three primary schools sharing a campus with the Grammar School in 2004 led to 500 demonstrators marching on the offices of Argyll and Bute Council to hand over a 1,500-signature petition objecting to the plan.