SBC agrees to mothball rural primary school with one pupil

Fountainhall Primary School is a non-denominational school, with capacity for 50 pupils, located in the very small village of Fountainhall in the north-west of the Borders on the Gala Water.

A report presented to Scottish Borders Council recommending that the school be mothballed for one year was approved by members.

The move comes after the number of pupils attending fell from 24 in 2020/21 to just a single pupil enrolled for the new school term starting in August.

Galashiels SNP councillor Fay Sinclair expressed regret that the school was to be closed, but said: “This isn’t something that is being done lightly but we need to look at the facts in front of us.

“Unfortunately, there is not a single child who lives in Fountainhall that is registered to attend this school.

“The experience that there would be for one child, or even two children, without peers of their own age to build social relationships with, to develop that collaborative learning being part of a group, I don’t believe would be delivering the best educational opportunities for those children.”

Councillor Julie Pirone, executive member for Education, Youth Development and Lifelong Learning, issued a plea to rural communities and planners, saying: “We need our communities to play a role here too. Sometimes we don’t stop and join the dots in small communities and ensure we find ways to support those communities in the long term.

“This means we do really need to allow some sustainable development in those small communities. Stopping every single housing development has and does have a dramatic effect on our schools and the rolls that we are seeing.

“So I would urge everyone who is in rural communities who seeing planning applications to have that also at the forefront of their mind when they are considering to object or support an application and I extend that to our planners too.”

It is proposed that the catchment area for the school is temporarily rezoned to Heriot Primary School.

A report to council stated: “There are strong educational benefits for this proposal as the schools currently share a head teacher and the schools are partnered along with close links to Stow and Clovenfords School.

“The pupil/s at the school will have already developed friendship/peer groups and strong ties to staff and Heriot through their partnership and shared headteacher.

“Officers imagine that any Fountainhall catchment families or families who may move to the area within the mothball period, may have a strong preference for Heriot as they may find that the school shares a family school ethos to ensure the experience of a much smaller, rural school.”

Members were told that the closure would result in a net saving of £93k a year.