Falkirk Council: Reprieve for Blackness Primary

Members of Blackness Primary School’s parent council spoke to every household in the small community to find out how many local pre-school children would eventually become pupils at the school, Falkirk councillors heard on Tuesday.

Dr Juliet Graham and Jann Fairley told members of the education, children and young people’s executive that their efforts revealed that the school roll is set to rise steadily over the next few years and will reach 21 pupils by 2026.

Falkirk Council’s policy is to consult on mothballing schools when the number of pupils from the catchment area falls below ten.

When the consultation began, Blackness Primary had eight pupils – though that number is now nine – and four of them were not from the catchment area.

However, the consultation met with fierce resistance, with 81 per cent of those who responded firmly against the plan.

When asked how they had discovered the information on pupil numbers, Dr Juliet Graham, chair of the parent council, said: “By putting our feet to the pavement and going round every house in Blackness.”

Dr Graham also told councillors that her six-year-old daughter is neuro-diverse and “her social, emotional and educational needs are best served within the smaller, nurturing environment of Blackness Primary School”.

Dr Graham and Jann Fairley, who led the opposition to the closure, told members that they were unhappy with the original report to councillors, which they considered to be unbalanced. They said that not enough attention had been given to the benefits of smaller schools or to Blackness Primary’s role in the community.

Falkirk Council pays £5280 for the use of the community hall, which is adjacent to the school but is not owned by the council, and the parent council believes that without those funds the hall would also close.

The parents were also concerned that the mothballing proposals were being driven by a need to save cash, as the report suggests that closing the school could save the council around £171,000 a year.

The current 2022/23 budgeted operating cost of Blackness PS is £31,697 per pupil per annum, excluding transport costs, while the average cost per primary school pupil in Falkirk is £5606 per annum.

Gary Greenhorn, head of planning and resources, said the council cannot know accurately how many children will be attending a school unless they register with the council.

Councillors agreed that the school should remain open for the 2023/24 session and the position be reviewed again in March 2024 when the total number of catchment pupil enrolments for the 2024/25 session is known.