Fighting for our schools

IN one corner of the sunshine-yellow gym is a row of air beds, neatly covered with duvet covers or sleeping bags. Across the other side is a trestle table laden with sandwiches, biscuits, crisps and bottles of Irn-Bru.

There is also a fridge, TV, karaoke machine, microwave, a pile of books and a laptop.

The mums, dads, grans and grandpas of pupils at St Gregory's Primary School in Maryhill, Glasgow, can't say how long they'll continue their sit-in at the school gym. But it seems like they've got enough supplies to last until Christmas.

It's a similar story next door at Wyndford Primary, which has also been taken over by a group of parents and other community members staging the protest over Glasgow City Council's plans to close both schools.

And though neither of the buildings look much - in St Gregory's the paint is peeling from the walls and both buildings are dated and dreary - to the parents, they are of vital importance.

They believe the community of Wyndford will be left with nothing if they are closed, a feeling which sparked the drastic action at the start of the Easter holidays.

Gran-of-three Ruby Grant, 56, has been in St Gregory's gym almost constantly since the group gained access on Friday.

Police were called when the parents first locked themselves in, but the protesters have now largely been left alone.

Though Ruby admits she was initially "terrified" by what they were doing, she said there's now a buzz about the protest, especially as they have had pledges of support from as far afield as Canada and Italy.

Since Friday, members of the group, which is mostly made up of , have taken turns at keeping the protests going, with between 10 and 15 of them bedding down each night on the wooden floors of both gym halls, and others coming and going throughout the day.

All say they would never have dreamed of doing anything like this before - until they found out in January about the council's plans to close 25 schools and nurseries across Glasgow.

They want council leader Steven Purcell to do a U-turn over the proposals, which are due to be voted on by councillors on April 23, or at least offer an alternative solution.

It is planned children from Wyndford Primary will be sent to Parkview Primary, 1.4miles away, and St Gregory's pupils will go to St Mary's, which is 1.2miles away.

Ruby said: "Mr Purcell made us feel very angry so we had to stand up and fight for our children as they are not old enough to do it for themselves."

Selina Tyrell's three children all go to St Gregory's. The 49-year-old said that as well as getting the publicity they sought, protesters are enjoying the experience.

She said: "I've never laughed so much in my life. You sleep next to people you never thought you would! There are people you only just would say hello to and now you know them. If anything, it's making this community a tighter one."

In order not to attract attention, the protesters had no supplies when they moved in. Everything from baby wipes to bananas have come from the community and local businesses who have been handing in donations via the windows or firedoors.

Over at Wyndford, Donna McKenzie, 37, said: "We have had take away food donated, the local fruit shop is delivering this afternoon and the hairdressers sent pies. We never dreamed we'd get this much support. It's overwhelming."

Back at St Gregory's, when asked how long they plan to go on, Ruby points out a glowing candle on a window which was lit when the sit-in began.

She said: "It's the second candle we've lit - the first lasted 3 days - and we've had plenty more donated.

"We do not want the kids' education to be disrupted so we should be out for them starting back after Easter ... but who knows?" The feeling is mutual for Donna McKenzie, who is part of the protest at neighbouring Wyndford Primary The protesting parents, above, have been buoyed by local support, as demonstrated by the banner flying at a local tower block, far right Pictures: Marc Turner

Closure plans will improve education'

By Ewan Fergus GLASGOW City Council insists the school closure plan is needed to tackle deteriorating buildings and falling rolls.

Its plan aims to reduce the number of children being taught in what the council says are "crumbling and under-occupied buildings".

The proposals would involve moving just over 2000 children in 13 primary schools and 12 nurseries into other accommodation.

As part of the strategy, £5million would be spent on refurbishment at the receiving schools and nurseries.

Officials say that in the first year the amount invested in schools will be greater than any savings made and they say there will be no compulsory redundancies.

In the past decade the council has spent £550million on improving the condition and quality of its school buildings.

A total of 64 new schools have been built and five others refurbished.

The completion of the current phase of the modernisation programme will see more children being educated in better quality buildings.

But the council says a number of other schools and nurseries are no longer fit for use.

It claims their condition has deteriorated to such an extent it is having an adverse impact on pupils' education.

At the same time, school occupancy levels are dropping. The average occupancy level of the schools involved in the proposals is 40%.

A council spokesman said: "We received more than 8000 formal responses to our six-week consultation, during which we held 46 public meetings, including four separate ones for parents at the schools involved in this protest."

"The responses are being collated and councillors will receive a comprehensive report before they make any decisions on these proposals on April 23."

Any agreed mergers will take effect from August.