Month: January 2019

THURSDAY 31st Jan – Parent council meeting

Letter from PC re upcoming meeting – estates review

Letter sent to ALL parents of Breadalbane Academy by BA Parent Council…

Breadalbane Parent Council

Parent Council Meeting: 6:30pm, Thursday 31 January, Breadalbane Academy

Dear Parent or Carer,

Did you know that the future of Pitlochry High School is under review? And that this review has serious implications for the future of Breadalbane Academy.  Perth and Kinross Council is considering five options for the future of Pitlochry High School:

  1. 1. Close Pitlochry High School.
  2. 2. Improve the condition of Pitlochry High School and keep the school open.
  3. 3. Pitlochry High School pupils to stay in Pitlochry for S5 and S6. 
  4. 4. Extend the catchment area of Pitlochry to increase the number of kids going there.
  5. 5. Move pupils to Breadalbane Academy in S4 rather than S5. 

Breadalbane Academy Parent Council is particularly concerned about option 3: extending Pitlochry High School, so that pupils stay there in S5 and S6. If that happens, Breadalbane Academy could potentially lose around 70 pupils (based on data provided by PKC). That means cuts in funding and teacher numbers.

With fewer teachers it may be difficult or impossible to run Advanced Higher courses.  Specialist and vocational courses, such as rural studies, outdoor studies, uniformed-services outreach and computer studies, may also come under threat.  

Nor is this only a concern for parents and pupils in the Breadalbane Academy catchment. Even with an S5 and S6, Pitlochry High School would also be one of the smallest secondary schools on mainland Scotland. This means it would face the same challenges. 

As a parent council, we are talking to Perth and Kinross Council to try and understand if it can guarantee pupils at Breadalbane Academy and across Highland Perthshire the same breadth and depth of education they benefit from today, should these reforms go ahead. 

We want to hear your views and we need your help to get the message across to PKCour message fed into the Estates review process. . No matter what happens at Pitlochry High School, we want the council toa guarantee that all children in Highland Perthshire will still have access to the same standard of education they do today. 

Come to the parent council meeting at 6:30pm, Thursday 31 January, at Breadalbane Academy. 

Best regards

Co-chairs, Breadalbane Academy Parent Council

**THIS IMPACTS ALL YOUR CHILDREN!