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Consultation on school review guidelines to be begin in June

Staff and parents are among those to be asked for their views on five key guidelines that would be used in connection with the future review of primary schools in Aberdeenshire.

Following detailed discussion by Aberdeenshire Council’s Education, Learning and Leisure Committee on Thursday (Thu, May 19), it was agreed that the consultation should get underway in June and run until October.

The move is part of wider discussions about the possibility of some rationalisation of the primary school estate, and to ensure consistency in any individual reviews of schools.

The five key guidelines relate to educational, economic and practical considerations, suggesting that:

• No individual child should have to be educated in a school with fewer than three children within two class levels of them

• The viability of schools with rolls of 19 pupils or less, or at risk of falling below 19, should be the examined in conjunction with parents and staff

• In considering any possible merger, no individual child should be expected to undertake a home-to-school journey of more than 45 minutes

• Any school building whose condition is rated as ‘D’ (bad) should be reviewed

• Any town school operating at below 66% capacity within a town whose primary schools are operating at less than 75% capacity overall should be examined in order to identify whether merger proposals should be brought forward

A report before councillors provided a variety of information on the estate, including the condition of buildings, capacity figures, and estimated costs of running each school on an annual basis.

It also highlighted the challenges that can be faced by schools with exceptionally small rolls in providing the social and educational opportunities available in larger schools.

Opening the discussions, committee chair Cllr Richard Stroud said: “This is about us being open and transparent about how we’re wishing to take this forward and so we are very clear as to the basis on which we’re making judgment.

“It’s never an easy process, but having clearly established criteria or parameters about how we want to proceed with this is very important.”

Committee vice-chair Cllr Isobel Davidson said it was good practice to review the school estate, regardless of financial pressures, adding it was important to ensure the estate is fit for purpose.

Cllr Moira Ingleby welcomed the ‘clarity and frankness’ of the report, while other committee members discussed broad estimates as to how many schools could be considered for review under the criteria.

A call by Cllr Martin Ford to broaden the consultation to examine alternatives for budget reductions was not supported.

No individual schools are currently outlined for review, nor has a figure been set for the number of schools that may be reviewed.

The committee agreed that a report should come back for consideration in October, outlining the outcome of the consultation and with details of a small number of schools for initial examination under the proposed arrangements.

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