The replacement Queensferry High School currently awaiting planning permission will be built to a capacity of 1,200. Due to the growth of Queensferry through the housing sites allocated in the Local Development Plan (which local Liberal Democrat councillors opposed), a catchment review is required to reduce the number of primary schools feeding into Queensferry High.
Without a catchment review the projections for the new Queensferry High School suggest a capacity of up to 1800 would be required. This is significantly more than the largest high schools in the city and would be too large a school to establish on the available school site.
The report to the Council’s education committee stated the catchment review would most likely involve the transfer of Kirkliston from the current Queensferry High School catchment area to the catchment area for the new High School which is proposed in the west of Edinburgh.
The Council also agreed that discussions should take place with West Lothian Council to determine whether an alternative option would be for Kirkliston Primary School to feed into a new nondenominational high school planned for Winchburgh.
Council officials have been running an informal consultation on the options.
Two presentation evenings were recently held at Kirkliston Pimary and Queensferry Secondary. The Parent Councils of both schools worked hard to hear the views from members of both school communities in order that a detailed response could be submitted
to the Council as part of that informal consultation process. The consultation ran until Friday 24 November and Council officials have been considering the responses received.
You can see the full details through the letter which was issued to parents below along with a map showing the location of the new Winchburgh school and possible sites for the new West of Edinburgh High School.
As your local councillors, we are not yet taking a position on the options available but are keen to hear local views. The final decision will be taken by the full Council and a further update is expected this month.
We will keep residents posted as these matters move forward.