New £36.2million Aberdeen school won't have enough pupils to fill classrooms

The new multi-million pound Riverbank School in Aberdeen will finally welcome pupils next year but it is expected to have eight classrooms lying empty.

When plans for the replacement Tillydrone facility were being drawn up back in 2017, the school was creeping towards its full capacity of 420.

Predicted pupil rolls suggested this number would continue to rise rapidly and it was expected to have more than 500 youngsters by 2022. To accommodate this jump in pupils, the £36.2million school was designed to hold 651 children.

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But since then, the school roll at Riverbank has fallen “significantly” year on year, believed to be due to “changing demographics” within the Tillydrone community.

Council officers have been busy finding potential uses for the empty rooms to allow the building to be used as much as possible – and to minimise any unnecessary costs. Four of the unused classes will be used to house the Autism Outreach service that currently operates from the Ashgrove Children’s Centre.

This would see a new Early Intervention Space run from Riverbank that would provide specialist support to pupils with additional support needs from schools around the city. The unit will run for a two year trial period and is expected to open from August 2025.

Youngsters will stay at their own school but visit Tillydrone to get extra specialised help and support. Under the plan, one room would be used as an office space for staff while the other three would be used to assist pupils.

The classrooms are also next to a secure garden area that will act as a safe outdoor learning space for the children. Ten pupils will be cared for to start with as staff test and evaluate how successful the relocated service is.

Meanwhile, the four remaining classrooms are expected to stay empty so they can be used by the school at short notice if needed. Members of Aberdeen City Council’s education and children’s services committee were asked to rubber stamp the proposal earlier today.

Councillor Kate Blake questioned why a number of pupils within the Riverbank catchment don’t go to the school. She asked if education bosses knew why this was the case and why parents aren’t choosing to send their kids to the Tillydrone facility.

Children and family services director Eleanor Sheppard said it was a “complex matter”. “Parents make choices for lots of different reasons, including where other family members live or where they may have lived previously,” she explained.

“We do know that quite often there is a new school effect which can see schools quite quickly get a lot larger once operational. So it would be reasonable to suspect that will happen again in the case of Riverbank.”

Tillydrone councillor Ross Grant praised the proposal and said it was welcomed by those in the area. “The headteacher, parents and school community are happy with the option so it is a job well done,” he stated.