Parents at an overcrowded city primary school have praised staff and have “fully welcomed” possible plans to convert a disused janitor’s lodge for lessons.
St Peter’s RC school in Old Aberdeen has an official maximum capacity of 198 pupils, but will begin next term with a role of 261 which has prompted urgent talks with the city council.
Temporary huts in the playground, the school’s library, a classroom and Old Aberdeen House – the home of the city’s archives – are being used for classroom space.
A report on the long-term strategy for overcoming the crowding will be presented to the council’s education committee in November.
But now the school’s parent council have issued a statement on behalf of parents Anna-Maija Rist, Louise Janssen, Stephanie Brock and Sarah Costello praising the school and staff.
It reads: “We would like to emphasise that, regardless of the conditions of their learning space, our children have a happy, safe time learning and developing at St Peter’s.
“Indeed, the condition of the school estate does not affect the attainment levels of our children whose abilities are frequently recognised at local and national competitions in different subjects.
“This is a testament to the dedicated school management and hard-working and inspiring teachers who are excellent at making the most of the facilities they have.
“Of course, we do want our children to equitably benefit from the same level of modern facilities as children in other Aberdeen schools do, and we want these improvements to happen in a timely manner.
“As a parent council, we have worked intensively with Aberdeen City Council for more than a year now to progress solutions, both for the short and for the long-term future of our school.
“We are reasonably satisfied with the advances that are currently being made. Given that there is a realistic limit to what can be achieved in the short term, we fully welcome the idea of having the extra capacity in the janitor’s cottage on our school grounds for music, library and EAL teaching.
“Our community welcomes a robust school roll and we look forward to working with Aberdeen City Council to find a solution where our school can comfortably accommodate all families who want to benefit from the nurturing and academically aspiring ethos of St Peter’s RC Primary School.”
