St Johns School Board letter to Parents

22 September 06

Dear Parents

As you know, Edinburgh City Council have recently announced a public consultation to gather views regarding the proposals to rebuild St John’s (and also neighbouring Portobello High School). The proposal document, on which the consultation is based, is quite lengthy, but if you would like to read it in full, you can either view a copy outside the school office or you can download it from http://egfl.net/parents/ . The Council have also commissioned a feasibility study by a firm of architects. Unfortunately this is not available online, but can be viewed outside the school office, or in Portobello Library

In summary, the document suggests 3 options for a new PHS and  4 options for a new St John’s building . The options suggested by the Council  for PHS are : rebuilt on current site (assuming St John’s moves elsewhere);rebuild on Portobello Golf Course ; rebuild on Portobello Park (the football pitches at the top of Portobello Golf Course)

For St John’s, the Council proposal document states:

St John’s Primary School Replacement

While the main generator for this project is the reprovision of Portobello High School, it would also be desirable to seek the replacement of St John’s Primary School given its fitness for purpose.  The school building falls well short of the generic brief for primary schools, particularly with significantly undersized rooms and insufficient accommodation in the main building necessitating the use of Temporary Units.  Nor does the school have outdoor sports facilities on-site.

One of the three options for the High School necessitates the relocation of St John’s as part of the proposal.  The opportunity also exists for St John’s to be relocated alongside the High School with the other site options should sufficient funding exist. 

The options for the redevelopment of St John’s are:

The site of the existing Portobello High School – should the high school relocate, then the surplus site could become available for the redevelopment of St John’s. This would represent the least long term implications for St John’s, with the school remaining central to its catchment.

Portobello Park pitches – either alongside a relocated High School, or as a stand alone facility should Portobello remain on its existing site.  The main issue with this would be the loss of the existing park to the community – should both schools relocate here it would be difficult to retain any public pitches within the park area.  This location is fairly central to the primary school’s catchment area.

Portobello Golf Course - either alongside a relocated High School, or as a stand alone facility should Portobello remain on its existing site.  The main issue with this would be the loss of the golf course to the community.  This location is central to the primary school’s catchment area.

Bingham Park – also requiring a loss of part of an existing park to the community, this site is poorly located within the catchment area and is more difficult to access given the narrow streets.  The primary school will generate the requirement for more escorted trips to and from school for the younger pupils (whether by car, bus or walking) and thus its location is particularly important.

As part of the consultation process, the Council have promised to listen to the views of parents. The Council have confirmed that contributors are welcome to bring other suggestions to the debate. St John’s School Board have already asked that the Council consider 2 brownfield sites for St John’s (the current Powerleague site on Portobello High Street, and the Scottish Power site near the Kings Road roundabout).  This would allow the new Portobello High School to be rebuilt on the existing site. An advantage for St John’s of this is that St Johns would be relocated first, which means that St John’s would get its new school more quickly, but also that it would be guaranteed the first “bite” at the funding.

The outcome of this consultation process is critical to our future. We have a strong case in our need for a new school building, and we have a real opportunity now to have a say in where and what we get.  A meeting will be held, here in the school, on 4 October at 7.00pm, and we urge you to come along to get more information about the various options and to discuss what you think will be best for St John’s School and for our whole community

If you would like to make any comments or ask any questions before the meeting, please feel free to write to the school board c/o the school office, or email us on

We look forward to hearing your views