A DELEGATION from Moray Council’s education service will meet service families at RAF Leuchars tomorrow (Thursday) ahead of their move to RAF Lossiemouth later this year.
Children of RAF personnel currently based at Leuchars – which is due to close as part of the MoD’s 2012 defence review – will begin to enrol in schools in Elgin and Lossiemouth when squadrons of Typhoon aircraft begin transferring to the Moray air base in the summer.
This is the second time the Moray area has geared up to receive new families moving in to the area, having successfully welcomed personnel from the Cambridge base of 39 Engineer Regiment to their new home at former RAF Kinloss two years ago.
Tonight’s meeting in the community centre at the Fife air station will include a presentation by Lindsey Stanley, business support team manager for Moray’s education service.
She will be accompanied by David Barnett, head teacher at Elgin Academy, and Linda Brown, head at Lossiemouth High, as well as Kathleen Blacklaw, head teacher at Bishopmill Primary; Hazel Sly, acting deputy head at Seafield Primary; Stephanie Gibson, head at St Gerardine’s Primary, and Madeline McCutcheon, head at Hythehill Primary.
On Friday the delegation will visit secondary and primary schools in the Leuchars area to begin enrolling pupils ahead of their move.
It is anticipated that around 100 service children will enrol for the start of the new school session in August, with more to follow as the transfer of the Typhoon fleet progresses.
Education officials from Fife Council visited schools in Elgin and Lossiemouth before Christmas as part of the preparations for the move by pupils and their families.
Two years ago, education officials from Moray travelled to Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire to meet Army families preparing to relocate to the former RAF Kinloss.
That exercise and other welcoming gestures by the local authority is now held up by the MoD as best practice, and proved extremely valuable in helping familiarise parents with the Scottish education system, curriculum issues and extracurricular facilities and activities.
Mrs Stanley said tonight’s meeting would provide parents with an introduction to local schools and to educational provision in Moray, with members of the delegation available to answer questions.
“We hope it will help make the transition smoother for parents and the children who will be enrolling in our schools,” she said.
“It will also provide an opportunity for parents to raise any questions or issues they may have and for them to meet the head teachers from the schools where their children are likely to enrol.”
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Contact: peter jones
Phone: 07974191318
Email: peter.jones@moray.gov.uk
Website: http://www.moray.gov.uk
