Published on:
23
March 2023
Lochies School will benefit from an innovative new build school, specifically designed to meet the evolving needs of our children and young people with complex needs.
This exciting development will be co-located alongside the Wellbeing Hub, offering accessible sport, health and leisure opportunities to enrich the health and wellbeing opportunities for young people and their families.
Lochies School, which currently has 36 pupils, is currently situated alongside Deerpark Primary. The new school will be located at The Pavilions in Alloa West, with an indicative opening date of 2027. The new school will be designed to accommodate up to 54 pupils.
Council previously agreed to relocate Lochies School from Sauchie to Alloa, which resulted in a formal consultation, as required under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. The outcome of that consultation was reported at Council today.
The consultation included engagement with families, children and staff as well a public consultation. There were 104 responses to the online public consultation survey with 79% of respondents in favour of the proposal and 21% of respondents opposed to this proposal.
During the consultation, an officer from Education Scotland met staff, parents, carers and children from Lochies Primary School. Following this meeting, Education Scotland prepared a report on the consultation which concludes that the Council’s proposal is of clear educational benefit for children and young people accessing Lochies School.
Lochies is a school for primary aged children with profound, multiple, severe and complex additional support needs, who require a significant level of additional support to access learning. An options appraisal notes that, whilst the experienced staff team meet the needs of children well, the building itself was a barrier.
Councillor Graham Lindsay, Education spokesperson said: “Our Learning Estate Strategy sets out our ambitious priorities for education in Clackmannanshire.
"We’ve already delivered fantastic modern facilities including the impressive Tullibody South Campus and the extended and refurbished Early Learning and Childcare provision at Park Primary School.
"We want to see that progress continue with modern, flexible and inclusive facilities for all Clackmannanshire’s children and young people, including those with additional support needs.”