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LATEST NEWS Friday 28th September
I have spoken to East Renfrewshire Council Education Department who are now working through the details of the announcement. It is hoped that work on building the new school will start in a year to eighteen months from now.
While planning permission will have to be agreed the idea is to build the new school in Cowan Park on the land next to the existing school. Barrhead High will continue to operate as normal throughout and once the work is complete the school will transfer over and the old building will be demolished. The current suggestion is at that point world class outdoor schools sports facilities would be built on the site of the old school. This is a similar approach to current rebuilding of Eastwood High.
All in all the work may take up to two years to complete which would mean the school may open in 2015.
Jim
Wednesday 26th September 2012
I wanted to post the great news as soon as I heard - Barrhead is to get a new secondary school.
For years I have been campaigning with the Barrhead Labour Party so that the town could get the new school it deserves. Almost 4,000 people have signed the Labour Party petition over the past five years. I wanted to share this good news with you as soon as I heard.
I also wanted to say thank you to you and so many other people who have supported the campaign by signing our petition. Every time we stood on the Main Street asking for support the people of Barrhead responded. Local MSPs Ken Macintosh and Hugh Henry as well as our Labour Councillors have really got behind the campaign.
My only regret is that I just wish I could have written to you with this good news years ago. You might remember that the SNP promised that if they won the election to the Scottish Parliament they would stick to Labour's plans to build the new school. Some people believed them and voted for them. Fast forward 5 years and they haven't laid a single brick in the new school. If they had stuck to Labour's timetable the school would have been built and open by now. Barrhead High would have been the most modern school in Scotland today. That has been a real waste of time and hundreds of Barrhead pupils have had to put up with a really tired building.
One of the highlights of the campaign was meeting so many people and listening to their trips down memory lane from their time at Barrhead High over the years. I met a parent whose son is at the school. The dad left the school twenty years ago and couldn't believe it hadn't been rebuilt since. I met a granny who signed the petition five years ago because her granddaughter was just about to start at the school. Her granddaughter will leave the school next year without having a single day in the new school. In the past weeks I have met many parents who said they signed up to the campaign so that it would be built by the time their toddler went to school.
Today, because of your support we can finally say to those parents that it will be.
Thank you.
Jim
You can show your support by signing the petition here
10th September 2012
Parent Council take to the streets as Labour piles on the pressure for new Barrhead High
Barrhead's MP Jim Murphy was this week again out and about gathering support for his campaign for a new Barrhead High School. This week he was joined by Barrhead High Parent Council representatives as they asked local people to show their support.
The local MP has been campaigning for a new Barrhead high school for five years and has collected 4,000 signatures. He is regularly seen out on the Main Street or outside Tesco asking people to sign up to support the campaign.
This week he was joined by Alison Cairns, Barrhead Parent Council Chair, and fellow Parent Council members from the school.
Alison Cairns, Barrhead high Parent Council Chair, said
“We are delighted to see continued improvement in exam results, which was celebrated at an awards ceremony last week, despite the failing school building.
“If our young people and teachers had the building they deserve, the potential for the future would be unlimited and would benefit the whole community.
“Jim will be joining us at the next parent council meeting to discuss just how we can take the campaign forward and put real pressure on the forces that be to get our kids a new school.”
Jim Murphy added
“I have been campaigning on this issue for years now. We have spoken to thousands of residents and gathered over 4000 signatures. But I won’t be stopping until we get the school.
“It is great to have Alison, Kathryn and Cameron join us on the campaign trail today. They’ve told me just how badly a new school is needed and we will be discussing ways we can increase the pressure on the government.
“I can't believe that the SNP government in Edinburgh has been in power for five years and despite promising a new school they have failed to deliver. If they had stuck to their promise the school would have been built and open by now and be the most modern school in Scotland. They have really let Barrhead down."
If you want to join the campaign, sign the petition on Jim Murphy's website at www.jimmurphymp.com
ENDS
Other Campaign news
Hundreds more sign up for new Barrhead High School, 10th November 2009
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104933
Video Blog on Campaign for a new Barrhead High School
, 6th November 2009
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104931
Eastwood and Barrhead High- SNP fail to deliver again, 19 June 2009
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104700
Pressure mounts on SNP Government to listen, 21 May 2009
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104527
SNP fail on Eastwood and Barrhead High Schools, 31 March 2009
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104476
Get on With It. We want new schools not more warm words, 04 September 2008
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104350
Campaign for new Barrhead and Eastwood High. Latest News!, 18 June 2008
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/news-room/News-desk/news.aspx?p=104297