Notice of Decision by Falkirk Council to Close Bothkennar Primary School
On Tuesday 1st June 2021, the Education, Children and Young People Executive made the decision to permanently close Bothkennar Primary School.
This followed consideration of all responses received during a statutory consultation with parents, staff, pupils, the local community and other interested parties, in accordance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, earlier this year. Full details of the proposal, the response to this consultation and the associated report from Education Scotland can be viewed in the Consultation Report.
Bothkennar Primary School was temporarily closed (mothballed) in August 2019 after the school roll had fallen to 4 pupils having been declining over a number of years. Beancross Primary School became the catchment school for primary pupils living in this area and this will remain the case following the decision to permanently close the school.
86% of respondents to the consultation were in support of the proposal to close the school and the Education, Children and Young People Executive made the decision to close the school in line with the reasons stated in the Proposal Document.
Following the school’s closure, the local community will have the opportunity to influence future use of the site/building during the community conversations that are now underway.
Following the Council’s decision to close the school, there is a requirement to notify Scottish Ministers. All stakeholders have a further opportunity to make representations to Scottish Ministers either in support or against the closure within 3 weeks of the Council’s decision (by Tuesday 22nd June 2021). Scottish Ministers then have a further 5 weeks to decide whether to “call-in” the decision and refer to the School Closure Review Panel for further consideration. Further information on this process can be found on the Scottish Government Website.
Any further representations on the closure decision should be sent by email to schoolclosure@gov.scot or by post to The Scottish Government, School Infrastructure Unit, 2A (South), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ. The deadline for further representations is 22nd June 2021.
During school session 2018/2019, following a consultation with affected parents and the school community, it was agreed that Bothkennar Primary School would be mothballed, subject to an annual review of demand for pupil places, and that Beancross Primary School would become the proxy catchment school for the area.
Two years on, the primary age population in the Bothkennar Primary School Catchment area has declined further, with no prospect of this trend changing in the foreseeable future. For this reason, it is now proposed that the school is permanently closed.
The school has been "mothballed" since August 2019 and there are no plans to re-open it to pupils in the near future. It is now proposed that the school is closed permanently.
Before any final decision can be taken on a permanent school closure proposal a formal consultation is required in accordance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.
In accordance with the legislation, we are seeking the views of all interested parties that would be affected by the permanent closure of Bothkennar Primary School in Skinflats.
A copy of the Proposal Document can be found at the bottom of this page.
For further information on how the information you provide will be used, please read our privacy notice.
Clicking on the "agree" button below indicates that:
Education Scotland will receive details of consultation responses and the public meeting and will provide Children’s Services with a report after the consultation.
Children’s Services will then prepare a consultation report which will be published on the council website. All respondents to this consultation will be notified when it is available.
The consultation report will be discussed by councillors at the Education, Children and Young People Executive later in the year where they will decide on the matter.
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