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Towerlands Primary School is a nursery and primary school serving the western area of the Bourtreehill Estate in Irvine North Ayrshire. The school is the only school in North Ayrshire with a integrated Hearing Impairment Unit[1], capable of teaching deaf children from Nursery right through to the start of Senior School. As of 2012 the school is one of three in the area marked for closure as part of North Ayrshire’s “Irvine East Primary School Project”[2]. The other schools in the area cited for closure are Fencedyke Primary School serving the Eastern End of Bourtreehill, and Broomlands Primary School which serves the Broomlands Housing Scheme.
History[edit]
During the 1960's The IDC was set up to over the transformation of Irvine into a “New Town” Bourtreehill was one of the IDC's Developments. The goal of the IDC(Irvine Development Corporation) was to increase the population of Irvine to 116,000 people, to do this it set about building new housing estates. One of these estates was the Bourtreehill Estate[3]. This estate was built approximately 1 mile to the north of the village of Dreghorn. At the same time the Broomlands Housing Estate which sits to the south of Bourtreehill was built.
These new estates would be provided with a total of 4 primary schools and serviced by the senior school. The 4 primary schools serving this area are Towerlands Primary School, Broomlands Primary School, Fencedyke Primary School and the Roman-Catholic School St. John Ogilvie. The three non-denominational schools were built by the IDC at the same time as the housing estate. St. John Ogilvie opened in January 1984[4].
Towerlands Primary School Opened in 1975 initially its catchment area was the eastern side of the Bourtreehill estate.
Hearing Impairment Unit[edit]
The school has an integrated hearing unit making it unique in Ayrshire for it's ability to cater for Deaf children from Nursery through to the start of Senior School. In 2006 the Scottish Sensory Center published a paper by Marian Grimes titled “Moving On” cited Towerlands as the only school in North Ayrshire with a integrated hearing impairment unit[1].
This integration allows the child to take part in mainstream education alongside children of all abilities, something with is seen as beneficial by all parents whose children attend the school. Most staff and some pupils also know British Sign Language(BSL). Pupils at the school are frequently able to attend after school clubs run by the the staff from the hearing unit teaching them BSL, These classes are usually fully subscribed.
On February the 8th 2012 the school took part in the “Sign to Sing” Challenge along with over 900 other schools[5].
Closure[edit]
First Attempt[edit]
As part of a review of schools in 2008 NAC had tried to close the schools and during this consultation decided to leave the schools alone.
Second Attempt[edit]
In March 2010 the Education Executive met again to disuses the closure, at this time pupil numbers at all 3 schools were still falling the Education Executive agreed to a second consultation.1 By the August of 2010 the Education Executive had agreed, and issued the consultation to all interested parties.2 In October 2010 North Ayrshire Council announced that Towerlands, Fencedyke and Broomlands Primary Schools would be shut and one new school would be built to replace them.
Announcement[edit]
On the 18th of August 2010 North Ayrshire Council announced its intention to hold a series of meetings at the 3 schools cited for closure.3 The first meeting would be held on the 30th of August 2010 at Towerlands Primary School.
Consultation[edit]
The public consultation period regarding the closure of the schools rand from the 16th of August 2010 till the 14th of February 2011. The consultation period for stakeholders started in February 2010 and will run until December 2014.4
The consultative document stated that:
- The Hearing Impairment Unit would be incorporated into the new school.
- That the Broomlands site was the preferred one
- That the New School would open in the August of 2014
It also stated that the 3 main reasons for this decision were:
- That the council wants to make the most effective and efficient use of resources to ensure high quality teaching and learning and to minimize spending on school buildings not being used to there full capacity.
- To ensure that as many children as possible are taught in high quality learning environments.
- That the low school rolls at these primary schools mean that less than half of these buildings are being fully used. It is anticipated that this would deteriorate in the future and levels of occupancy in these schools would decline to 42% by 2020.
References[edit]
1http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/Schools-Consultations/Irvine%20East.aspx
2http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/Documents/EducationalServices/IrvineEastOutcomeReport.pdf 1 1.1
3http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/na/PublicNotices.nsf/DateCategory?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=August%202010
4http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/Documents/EducationalServices/IrvineEast_InputForm.pdf
Boiler Certificate[edit]
A boiler certificate is issued to a Steam Locomotive, usually on completion of a Boiler Hydraulic Test it certifies the boilers strength under pressure and is usually carried out when the boiler is removed from the locomotive. Currently the General Boiler Examination lasts for 7 years.
Historic Useage[edit]
This document is used to confirm that the boiler fitted to a steam locomotive complies with the design specifications.
Current UK[edit]
Under the current UK legislation the boiler certificate is refereed to as the General Boiler Examination. In order for a Steam Locomotive to obtain acceptance to operate on the British Railway Network it must be registered and in order for it to be registered it must obtain a Certificate of Engineering Acceptance the conditions for which are laid out in GM/RT2000[1]. Before this certificate can be issued for a steam locomotive the operator must first obtain the Certificate of Conformances as detailed in the document GM/RT2003Unit[2]. There are 3 CoC's that must be met before the CoEA can be issued they are: 1. Maintenance 2. Overhaul Policy 3. Safety Examination.
General Boiler Examination[edit]
The General Boiler Examination forms part of the Certificate of Conformation: Safety Examination. This examination can some times be refered to as the Hydraulic Pressure test. Once the boiler has passed it is valid for 7 years, however should it be necessary this maybe extended upto 10 years from the General Boiler Test if an Intermediate Boiler Examination has taken place[2].
Requirements[edit]
The requirements for the General Boiler Examination are laid out in document MT/276 a copy of which is not available on-line.