High School of Dundee

High School of Dundee

The Acquisition of the Post Office Building

Your Questions Answered

1. Why did the school buy the former Post Office?

At the High School we are ambitious to maintain our position at the forefront of Scottish education. To do so we are always looking at opportunities to develop our curriculum, co-curriculum, resources and, last but not least, facilities and accommodation. The acquisition of this building is a stunning, once in a generation opportunity to create state of the art facilities for the benefit of our current and future pupils.

2. How much did it cost?

We are not at liberty to say precisely what it cost at this stage. However, we acquired the building at a very competitive price and were able to do so without needing to take out a loan. The price was well within what we feel we could afford and the acquisition of this building represents a planned investment in the future of the High School which will reap rewards many times over in terms of the benefit it will bring to the pupils, both current and future.

3. What impact will this have on the level of fees? Will our fees go up by large amounts in the years to come?

No. The PO Building has been acquired without the need for a loan. We are planning to borrow to redevelop the building, but this will be within our current capacity to service any interest payments which have been calculated on the back of a rigorous, robust financial planning process and associated business plan over a number of years. In fact the financial management of this project is a continuation of the prudent approach to school finance that has characterised all the exciting developments carried out in recent years. The total cost of redevelopment is likely to be several millions but this will be accommodated over a number of years in our medium to long term business plan.

4. What is the school going to do with the building?

We have not made any definitive or final decisions in this regard, as we will wait until we have consulted architects before we do this. However, we have ambitious plans for developing a state of the art facility for the performing and visual arts, housing the music, drama and art and design departments, and will also include new dining and other social areas for pupils.

5. Will learning and teaching be disrupted by all the building works?

No. The building is separate from the current school buildings so there will be no disruption to learning and teaching during the development process. That is one of the added benefits of this acquisition.

6. When will the building works start?

We will begin by tidying up and stripping out the building immediately. This is not an insignificant task, given the size of the building. In parallel to that we will begin a thorough tendering process to commission a firm of architects. The successful firm will be tasked with producing plans that will enable us to tackle the project through a staged programme of development over a number of years. Planning permission will also be sought at the earliest opportunity. These first steps will take us up to Autumn 2013. We will then aim to start building work at the earliest appropriate point thereafter. Given all the imponderables it is difficult to state with certainty when the building process will actually start. However, we are keen to move it forwards at the fastest pace possible. We will of course keep pupils, parents and staff informed at every stage.

7. How long will they go on for?

Given the scale and ambition of the project we imagine it could take several years to complete. However, we envisage being able to use the building well before then as we will be looking to redevelop it in discrete stages.

8. The school has been talking about opening a nursery. Does this mean the nursery is not happening, or that it will be accommodated on the city centre site?

The High School is finalising proposals for a nursery independently of and in parallel with the proposals for the PO Building. It is highly unlikely that the Post Office building will be suitable for a nursery. We recently conducted a questionnaire with current and prospective parents, and staff. We are planning to provide feedback on progress made in the next few weeks.

Dr John D Halliday

Rector

22 January 2013