Director of Education recommends that Channelkirk stay open
Thursday, December 1 2005
Today, Thursday 1st December, Glenn Rodger, Scottish Borders Council's Director of Education, published his report on the outcome of the consultation on Channelkirk Primary School at Oxton, and is recommending that, at next week's Council meeting, the decision is taken to keep the school open.
Speaking about the recommendation, Councillor Valerie Robson, Joint Executive Spokesperson for Education, said, "The Director has done exactly what he has said he would do and, in accordance with Education Executive's decision in September, he has conducted a fair, robust, and thorough consultation which was extended beyond the requirements of the statutory process. He has listened to parents and the community and balanced their views against his duty to improve the operational efficiency of the service. I am in no doubt that the Council will uphold his recommendation and make the right decision next week."
The deciding factors behind this recommendation are very specific to Channelkirk and are linked to the school's size, the sustainable nature of the school roll and the impact of transporting so many children.
Councillor Andrew Farquhar, Joint Executive Education Spokesperson with Councillor Robson, added, "Channelkirk school holds a unique and special place in the life of this community and we are confident that the community will work with the Department to ensure that the proud tradition of over 350 years of education in Oxton will continue. I know we have all been moved by some of the powerful personal submissions received from parents and the community. The sense of community in Oxton is tangible and impressive."
"Consultations on closures are not undertaken lightly. There are difficulties for everyone involved and at times passions overspill and a number of charges have been made against the Council team. While it may be understandable, it is not acceptable and I hope that the community will now accept that the Department has acted with integrity and responsibility throughout."
Throughout the consultation the school's Action Group has claimed that the consultation process was flawed, but this has now been soundly refuted by Scotland's leading advocate on Scottish Education Law. SBC Chief Executive David Hume took the unusual step of asking Scottish Advocate Janys Scott, a practising advocate and the author of the definitive text book on Education Law, to review the consultation process. Mrs Scott's legal Opinion is clear and unambiguous that "this was an effective and adequate process and presents no basis for legal challenge".
Councillor Robson concluded, "Both Councillor Farquhar myself are wholly supportive of COSLA's call that the Scottish Executive must produce a firm policy for Scotland's rural schools. Rather than being all things to all people, we need a policy that gives real guidance in balancing the competing objectives of sustaining small schools and the imperative to save costs and be more efficient."
* Channelkirk Primary School has a number of serious deficiencies with its building and relies on temporary units. It has always been acknowledged that this has not impacted upon the attainment levels of its pupils who consistently achieve excellent results.
* At Lauder, five miles south of Channelkirk, Scottish Borders Council authorised the replacement of the existing Lauder Primary School. This school is being funded through the Council's traditional capital programme.
* The new Lauder school will cost around £6 million and with this scale of investment the Director of Education had a duty to explore, through a statutory consultation, the opportunity to merge the schools. The potential benefits were two-fold: the provision of a much better educational environment for both the Lauder and Channelkirk children and the opportunity to make significant revenue savings that would help improve the efficiency of the whole schools' service in the Borders.
* Two other options were also to be considered in the consultation: changing the age profile of the school, with transfer of the P6 and P7 children to the new school at Lauder and alternative management arrangement. This would change the status of Channelkirk to make it part of the Lauder school for management purposes.
* To consider these options a statutory consultation process was undertaken and the process was extended in both timescale
and in scope to enable the views of the community to be considered.
* The parents and community were, with only very few exceptions, opposed to each of the options for change and want to maintain
the status quo.
* There is, however, the potential for considerable revenue savings, if the merger option is agreed, of at least £104,129, with lower but still significant savings if either of the other two options was pursued.
* The Action Group presented statements in its submissions that challenged the basis for consultation, the financial basis for closure and put forward other arguments in opposition to each of the consultation options.
* The Department agrees that some of the Action Group's points are correct but many claims are overly simplistic or wrong.
* An independent leading Advocate has reviewed the consultation material and given an Opinion that, far from flawed, the consultation process was 'effective and adequate'.
* There is, however, no doubt that closure would have an immediate and negative effect on the community.
* The views of the community have been carefully considered. Their views, together with the school's size, the sustainable nature of the school roll and the impact of transporting so many children has in this instance persuaded the Department that closure should not be pursued. The school will not face a further consultation on closure for five years.
* While options 2 and 3 do offer potential benefits to older pupils and would improve the financial efficiency of the service, they will not be pursued at this time. As however the P6 and P7 pupils from Channelkirk can be integrated into a proposed 10-classroom school at Lauder without additional cost, the Department will reconsider this once the new school is built if the School Board or individual parents request it. This option and alternative management arrangements will be explored through future Small Schools Review.
* This recommendation reflects a range of factors that are specific to Channelkirk. The changing demographic pattern across the Borders (and Scotland as a whole) coupled with the need to improve the financial efficiency of the service will, however, inevitably mean that the exploration of school closures will continue.
* Future consultation will look at the provision of schools for the Borders as a whole, including the pattern of primary school provision in larger towns as well as in rural settings.
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