Must do better that is the stern message to the company responsible for managing the new “state-of-the-art” Grove Academy building in Broughty Ferry, amid allegations it is failing to provide a comfortable environment for staff and pupils.
Delivering his annual report at the school prize-giving in the Caird Hall last week, retiring rector John Hunter suggested that the building may not have lived up to all the very high expectations placed upon it. Far from offering the warm yet airy facilities expected of a purpose-built school in the 21st century, it appears the new building struggles to cope with the vagaries of Scottish weather.
Parents, pupils and guests at the ceremony were taken aback when Mr Hunter voiced his unexpected criticism of the new building, which opened officially in a blaze of glory last year. One mother told The Courier the rector had made his feelings on uncomfortable working conditions in the building crystal clear.
“Mr Hunter said that it was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter,” she said. “It seems that, despite investigations into the cause of the problem, the best advice that’s been offered so far is to tell the teachers to open and close the windows.”
The building was constructed under the £90 million public private partnership (PPP) project, which delivered eight new schools for Dundee Claypotts, Craigowl, Downfield, Fintry, Rowantree and St Andrew’s primaries, as well as St Paul’s and Grove academies.
The new schools were provided by private consortium Discovery Education, which includes Robertson Facilities Management, the company that retains responsibility for maintenance and non-teaching services for 30 years. In return the council pays an annual fee, which the Scottish Government previously estimated would amount to a total of £390 million over the 30-year contract. The council will take over ownership of the schools at the end of the deal.
A survey of staff, pupils and parents at the PPP schools reported last year that most described facilities as “excellent” or “good.” However, in his report, then director of education Jim Collins noted “faulty heating components” had to be replaced at Grove.
Last week’s Grove prize-giving was attended by council administration leader and local councillor Ken Guild, who confirmed that Mr Hunter had made his feelings about the temperature in the building clear in his address.
“One of the problems of PPP schools is that, although the council runs the school, the responsibility for the building itself lies with Robertson,” he said. “This is something I will be taking up with the new director of education and I will ask him to contact Robertson with a view to resolving the problems.”
A spokesman for Robertson Facilities Management said, “Robertson is committed to providing high standards of facilities management, customer service and after care. We provide a 24-hour helpline for customers that delivers support on issues relating to the buildings we manage.
“We take all formal complaints very seriously and investigate them thoroughly. Customers are encouraged to report any issues through the formal channels so that we can investigate and rectify them as quickly as possible, normally well within the pre-agreed timescale.”
Classes started in the new Grove building at the end of 2009 but the school was only opened officially in March last year by First Minister Alex Salmond, who said the facilities were “fantastic.” He described the opening as a momentous day in Grove’s 120-year history.
The design of the building has frequently attracted the epithets “state-of-the-art” and “innovative.” It includes modern classrooms, a library, assembly hall, sports hall, dance studio, fitness suite and a 25-metre, six-lane swimming pool.