‘The community of Minard in MId Argyll is celebrating the 140th birthday of their school. The children themselves have been planning the celebrations and researching the school’s history.
Two priceless resources (images below) borrowed from Argyll and Bute Council archives are the log books, which date from the first day of the school and include the first entries written by the Headteacher who was in post in 1871.
The school is planning a party on the 7th October and is keen to hear from anyone who has attended or has connections with the school.
If thisa is you, please contact the school:
- by phone on: 01546 886636
- by email at: enquiries@minard.argyll-bute.sch.uk
Although the school’s anniversary party is in October, the celebrations are planned to run throughout the year. One idea in the offing is a tree planting in the Spring of 2012.
The community’s celebration of its school is also a statement of the school’s importance to its community. This little village school received one of the best HMIE reports on any prinary school in Scotland and was personally congratulated by the Chief Executive of the council – yet found itself under repeated threats of closure in the past year.
Inventive and resourceful campaigners, a constant feature of the various demonstrations at Council HQ in Lochgilphead – from parent councils and community representatives against the proposed closure programnes – was the march on Kilmory by the Minard brigade, bright-faced, well armed with telling banners and sandwich boards and carrying a useful loud hailer.
The year-long anniversary commemoration is a reminder of the bond between community and school and the collective determination to protect and grow this idyllic and demonstrably successful school.
Setting about this so energetically in what might be used as a fallow year while the new Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education deliberates, is an example of which other schools similarly reprieved from closure for the time being might care to take note.
Happy 140th Birthday today (2nd October)……may there be many more birthdays to follow!!!
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Funny how our forefathers saw the need for a school in every village but a century later our council in its wisdom sees no such need. Anyone else have the sense of us going backwards?
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I do.
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Happy Birthday Minard!
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I very much hope that in 2151 the pupils of Minard Primary are finding pictures of this celebration in the school archives.
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Aw c’mon doc! I’m just back and here you are still posting rubbish.
The reason our “forefathers saw the need for a school in every village*” had much more to do with transport (or to be more precise the lack of it) than it had to do with any philosophical/rural approach to education provision.
Or doc – if you are anywhere near being serious are you actually soooooooooooo stupid you would advocate re-opening the shed-load of schools that have already been closed in villages all over Argyll? (and if not why not?) Appoint another 30/40 headteachers and associated staff? Take away pupils from under-occupied expensive rural schools and put them into even more under-occupied and even more expensive rural schools? Re-build all village schools????
Or is this where you sober up and say you were only joshing??
*Honestly, it’s like Groundhog Day coming back on here….
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I think the ground hog day comes from your obvious antipathy to rural schools.
Transport is obviously an issue and is likely to become increasingly so as fuel prices rise ever upward. The internal combustion engine has indeed allowed children to be driven much further than was the case a hundred years ago but is this a good thing? Surely it is much better that children walk or cycle to a local school? Healthier for them, better for the environment.
There have however, been population changes – more people live in cities now than did one hundred years ago but there is evidence of this trend beginning to reverse as well. So some areas that could support a school in the past have lost the capability to do so. We have to be careful to distinguish between areas that have permanently lost the capacity to support a school and those which are just in the low point of a cycle. Equally (and encouragingly) we have areas like Kilmelfort that have a growing population and maybe it is time to think that they should have a new school?
I was looking at an old photo of Barcaldine primary from I think the 1930′s. the interesting point was that there were very similar numbers of children at the school then as there is now so clearly not all areas have suffered rural depopulation.
There has indeed been a large loss of schools in Argyll, It would be an interesting exercise to look at where these schools were, how many were within easy travelling distance of other schools and what effect the school closures had on the local population.
As to me still posting rubbish I would point out that my success in predicting the outcome of the schools closure fiasco has been considerably better than yours and at least I evidence my arguments.
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Anybody know how many pupils/staff there were in Minard 140 years ago?
And, how many there are today?
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Simon, help, I can’t see the bit where Dr McKenzie says he wants to re-open schools. And it’s important because if he really said that it proves he’s insane and you were right all along. Why haven’t I seen it before? I bow to your superior wisdom and I’m off to pack. Glasgow here we come!
Or do you want folk to stay here and pay through the nose for services they don’t get and the odd lecture from an arrogant council apostle?
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ha ha at last got a bite from ‘Simon’…my life is complete
…..he is so predictable….I knew as soon as I reopened this posting he’d pop up:-) and as it is my birthday today….a fitting pressie!!! Now off to start baking cakes for the school AND COMMUNITY celebration! 
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Happy birthday Izzie – many happy returns to you – and I do hope you have a great time. I hope all of the kids in Minard have a great time also with their school’s birthday celebrations as well.
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Thank you Simon…..see you do have a heart
! I might even give you a piece of cake….because ‘you can never have too much cake!) 
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Anne – the logical consequence of “the need for a school in every village” would suggest that in Argyll some would have to be re-opened or rebuilt. Of course maybe you were just being deliberately obtuse as even the doc could follow that – see his Kilmelfort point above.
I’m interested in your ‘paying for service they don’t get’ approach. Maybe you could spell out exactly what you mean by that?
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Simon,
People in rural areas tend to accept that they have to go a greater distance to access services but if we’re discussing inequity then,to be fair, we have to look at the pros and the cons. Transport is an issue for the poor, elderly and infirm so they are particularly cut off. Others have to pay the cost of transport. In the end what some of them will be paying their council tax for is a crumbling road half a mile from their house and a bin collection, also half a mile from their house, every two weeks. The only other service they may use is social services but by definition a village is a close, supportive environment and use of these services is scant.
Town dwellers will be able to access the full range of services for exactly the same payment. If you don’t get water and sewerage from the main supply, you don’t pay water rates. What’s different about schools, particularly when you consider that the issue is not just about a school but also local jobs and a community hub?
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Lizzie, no problems – it’s nice to be nice.
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Anne, accpeting for a moment your generalisations about rural life – you do seem to emnphaise that the school is also about “local jobs”*. Do you think most school staff stay in the village where their school is located? Or, do they just drive in and drive away again at the end of the school day contributing nothing to the local economy?
* You did also mention the value of a school as a “community hub” as well but I just don’t accept an under-occupied expensive primary schools for a handful of kids can ever be described as a “communinty hub” – so there is probably not much point in debating this. Unless of course you have other ideas…..
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Simon, Most of the staff at our local school live in the village, including the Head Teacher. The same school can turn the entire village out for a play or a fete and its events are a big part of the life of the village.
I know these same facts to be true of other schools since the closure fiasco gave me the opportunity to get to know other communities and I sometimes attend their events too now. The exact details of every school will be different but a balanced view would accept that the schools and GP surgeries are often the only source of employment outwith agriculture. Indeed the Council quoted from a study done in the Western Isles that confirmed this.
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Have I entered the Twilight Zone? Simon being nice? Ok, I reckon he was at some sort of Clinic LOL
Anyways…. its like this. If I am having heart surgery, I would like the surgeon to have experience and knowledge of heart surgery. If you want a serious opinion about the complexities of rural life and the delicate balance of small communities, listen to someone with experience and knowledge. Simon obviously has neither.
In fact, when it comes to schools, other than his own education, he quite easily could have no experience or knowledge of its provision or as a parent.
However, nice having you back trying to wind everyone up. Notice he has given up trying to do so with me?
Wonder why?
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Anne, happy to hear that most of the staff at your local school live in your village(where is that exactly?).
However, despite your bland assurance “I know these same facts to be true of other schools” I remain unconvinced.
What exactly is the position in the other schools like Luss, Barcaldine, Toward, Ardchattan etc?? Do most of the staff at these schools stay in the village?
And, I’m still waiting for a response to my earleier questions – Anybody know how many pupils/staff there were in Minard 140 years ago? And, how many there are today?
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Simon, I make it a habit not to reveal my location to people who may have “issues”, but there may be some clue in the fact that I don’t stay in Luss, Barcaldine, Toward, Ardchattan or Minard, and none of them are schools in would be convenient for me to attend a BBQ at. Perhaps you’d best refer your questions to them directly.
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I find it quite droll that “Simon” insinuates that everyone who happens to have a different viewpoint from “him” is in someway thick.
My original point was that 100 years ago we seemed to be able to afford to have a school in every village but now people like “Simon” tell us that this is unaffordable and indeed that pretty much all rural education should be abandoned as profligate and even elitist. This abandonment of provision in rural areas is a retrograde step. This was my substantial point (which “Simon” seems to have willfully misunderstood). The unspoken question was how can we arrest this rot and reverse the trend?
As to new rural schools, yes these are needed. One of COSLA’s questions for the Commission was how can councils afford to build new rural schools where demand appears and how can they upgrade existing ones. Note the question is how can this be done rather than just slagging off those people who believe we need rural schools (which is the majority view in any case).
I suspect that possibly the majority of rural schools in Scotland were not originally paid for by councils – at least those built before WW2. A great many were gifted to the council by local landowners and industries such as the Forestry Commission(who for example appear to have paid for Barcaldine school to service the families of forestry workers in the village – they also built affordable housing in Barcaldine for their workers). Thus, much of the original school estate was probably not funded by councils.
In Argyll there have been a number of new rural schools built(Lochnell and Taynuilt are good examples)but the more interesting question is how can new schools be built in villages such as Kilmelfort which have a rising population but not one that is as large as say Benderloch and when should this be done? When there are 10 pupils or twenty? Also how can new school buildings be provided for in small villages with existing schools but where the original building is no longer felt fit for purpose? These are sensible questions and councils are right to ask them of the Government. It will be interesting to see what the Commission comes up with in response.
“Simon” clearly believes that rural schooling is an unaffordable anachronism. I beg to differ and would remind him that in Argyll the Scottish Government already provide ABC with sufficient extra money to cover the additional costs associated with supporting rural schooling in Argyll. What then is his rationale for wanting these schools closed? Just who is reality being thick here?
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Ok, no brainer – I can comment for Luss. Our HT does not live in the village, but not far from it. The school has over the last nearly 300 years employed local people in a range of posts.
However, you now get into the whole affordable housing issue which dominates many of the survival issues in rural communities. Luss perhaps is a prime example of how this can get held up by bureacracy.
Luss, falls within the National Park. Its taken 10 years for the NP to get its local plan together. People are desperate to buy houses in Luss. Some to live in, some to hire out as yet more holiday homes. To get any homes built, first you must get complete agreement on every single detail between the NP, A&BC, Luss Estates and the Community through the Community Council and Development Trust. Getting that many people to agree on anything is a massive undertaking. Especially as there is much debate on whether it is financially beneficial for the investors in this scheme to build “affordable” housing.
In a nutshell, its a flippin nightmare. Meanwhile, the community is dying off as there are no family sized houses becoming available in an affordable price range and the community and school is slowly being rundown.
Don’t get me wrong, we are by no means the worst off. But imagine if Luss wasn’t a living village. No-one to take care of it, have all the lovely quaint wee cottages with well kept blooming gardens. 750,000 visitors who currently come to Luss each year just to see that and its prime location on the Loch. Would the place be crawling with those visitors and wedding parties all the time if Luss lost its community? Imagine the amount of revenue that would be lost all over the area if that were the case.
Catastrophic.
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For Crazy. Well said. Once again pointing out the obvious necessity for ABC to learn and use joined up thinking. School and jobs but no affordable housing puts great strain on a small community; as does housing and jobs but no school and as does School and housing but no available work. The key factor is for ABC to have a “How can we make this happen?” attitude, not “there’s no jobs, or no school or no affordable housing, lets get everyone to move into the few towns.”
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Hi Crazy, well put response. Obviously Luss, like everywhere else, has it own unique features that make living there harder/easier whatever.
However, you say the headteacher doesn’t live in the village – whatabout the others? Looking at the online info there is the Teacher P4-7, Teacher, Classroom Assistant, Music Teacher,Janitor and the Dinner Lady.
Do they live in the village?
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doc, nobody is saying you are thick. Obstinate and self-opininated yes – but not thick.
“My original point was that 100 years ago we seemed to be able to afford to have a school in every village”. Ah – the ‘Good Old Days’….However, nostalgia is not what it was and in those days it was one teacher and a part time jannie/cleaner. No expensive school transport either as pupils were expected to walk to and from school.
Changed days. Maybe as an example of why some rural schools cost over the odds you should look for example at Luss primary school that has according to it’s latest on-line info book – Luss has ten pupils (maximum roll 44) and those ten now require seven staff.
What are the corresponding figures for your school?
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If you are saying that I am obstinate in defense of rural schools and rural life then I’ll take that as a compliment. Self opinionated? Isn’t everybody (unless you are a sheep).
I’m not being nostalgic (I for one am quite glad we no longer have rickets, diphtheria and smallpox as we did 100 years ago) I am merely pointing out that 100 years ago our forefathers seemed to have managed a more generous provision for rural education than we can seem able to do today. I am pointing out that this is indicative of a negative trend (and I am hardly alone in this – hence all of the government activity on rural schools and communities). You on the other hand seem to feel that this decline is both inevitable and to be welcomed.
School transport isn’t a huge cost for rural schools providing they are provided where the children live. It is by closing schools that transport costs become a real issue. Children 100 years ago are unlikely to have walked more than 3 miles to school and the same applies today.
As to Barcaldine, we currently have (I think) 21 pupils out of a capacity of 24. We have two full time teachers (rolls of over 18 get a second teacher so that there can be two classes); we also have a part time teacher (not sure of the percentage but I’ll check). There is no janitor nor class room assistant. A music teacher sometime comes (again not sure of the percentage). Cleaning is done by one of the parents. There is also a part time administrator who is shared between us and Lochnell.
I suppose your point is that staffing levels are higher now and so more expensive which is true but then again our society is much richer than it was 100 years ago so we should be able to afford this. What is the point of being a richer society if in fact living standards fall?
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Simon, I think you were looking at another school’s website a few weeks back and it had out of date info on it. Just to update you, our HT has been trying desperately to get hold of the IT guy that changes that data and he seems to be AWOL. HT’s only have access to put on latest newsletters etc, not to change the actual wording or content on the site.
The info for Luss is very out of date. We currently have 17 pupils and 1.85FTE teaching staff (including HT). Our janitor/dinner lady/cleaner (one person, who lives not far from HT) took advantage of the redundancy package that the council offered and left us in June. Those posts are still to be filled and are currently covered by a temp.
Not sure where 7 members of staff come from, there has never been 7 in the time my children have attended.
On that old chestnut of capacity… even Sneddon admits the calculation that is based on is out of date – in fact over 40 years out of date and will be getting scrapped. When there is a new calculation for that, then lets argue.
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Am I missing something or is there more than one ‘Simon’?
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Hi Crazy, “Not sure where the 7 members of staff come from” – I got them here in the 2010 school handbook.- http://www.luss.argyll-bute.sch.uk/media/pdf/HANDBK10.DOC
So Crazy – to get back to the salient point – does anybody who actually works in Luss PS actually live in Luss?
Robert – in response to your question – you’re missing something….
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Visiting Music Teacher was cut over a year ago by the department.
I see how you are coming up with the 7 posts now though. Cleaner, janitor, dinner lady – these are not fulltime posts and in fact might well be only for 1 hour per day (if that) and up to now certainly have been done by one person (wearing 3 hats). Classroom assistant is a bit more of a complicated argument as then you get into kids with additional needs etc and this would not change no matter what school they were in, so I won’t go into that however for the record, that is not a full-time post either.
At the moment, no. No staff currently live in the village, but not because they don’t want to, but because there isn’t the available housing (see above post) and with the vacancies to be filled and knowing how many locals have put in for them, this answer could well change in the near future.
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Simon
Where in that document did you get the information that Luss has 10 pupils. It appears to say 19 when I read it. Also you overlook the fact that it doesn’t state whether the staff are part time or full time.
I see CSB has already put the actual situation across however, in general, if you are going to claim info as facts then you can obviously be excused if the document you take the facts from is incorrect but it is harder to excuse if you don’t actually read the document properly.
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Integrity – “It appears to say 19 when I read it ” You are quite corresct – it is 19. A ‘gh’ typo on my part I’m afraid. Apologies. There was no intention to mislead on my part and I’m happy to be corrected.
Thanks Crazy – remember my original question was in relation to Anne’s claim along the lines of ‘that in most rural schools most staff live in the village’. Regardless of pupil numbers that is clearly not the case in Luss – although in some instances at least there may be good reasons for that. Thanks.
What about the other rural schools? Do most of the PS staff live in the village??
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The majority of the staff in my kids’ school either live in the local village or the neighbouring village a couple of miles away. The headteacher lives a little further away (about 20 minutes drive).
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Simon, you misquote me. What I actually said was:
“Most of the staff at our local school live in the village, including the Head Teacher.”
“I know these same facts to be true of other schools …”
I also mentioned a study from the Western Isles, (mis)quoted by Argyll & Bute Council, which confirmed that schools were a source of local employment.
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Anne, I wasn’t trying to quote you word for word that’s why I said “along the lines of”.
That said however, looking at your word for word claim that “Most of the staff at our local school live in the village, including the Head Teacher.” And, “I know these same facts to be true of other schools” I have to say that so far at least this is NOT being supported by the posters on here.
For example, according to Crazy no one employed at Luss school lives in the village, and, according to Integrity (the name of the school is not mentioned) whilst the majority of staff live either in the village or a couple of miles away in the neighbouring village the headteacher lives about 20 mins away by car.
I would be interested to hear from others about where the staff employed in their schools live.
On a final note tonight Anne I don’t think it would have taken a study or a genius to recognise that schools – and indeed all public services – are a source of employment in rural areas. Interesting therefore that For Argyll has argued long and hard for a reduction in public sector in Argyll….
G’night.
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Simon, There were 26 schools up for closure. You’ve heard about two. I know the staff details of four and I’ve read the western isles research. I think I’m ahead of you so far but thank you for raising it as an issue. I’ll be sure to gather more info now.
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Anne, “thank you for raising it as an issue” no problem and no thanks necessary either as it was actually you Anne that raised it as an issue.
I memrely queried your unsupoported claim around local jobs but you assured me that most of the staff in your school including the HT stayed in the village and that you knew “these same facts to be true of other schools”.
Turns out now that you were basing your claim on your knowledge of only four schools out of the 26 originally up for clousre.
When you gather more info Anne could you perhaps come back on here and share this with us? I’d be especially interested to know on a school-by-school basis just how many staff stay in the village where their school is located.
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Simon, I will of course share any info that I get. In the meantime I’ll continue to rely on the verdict of those qualified researchers who produced the western isles report and concluded that schools provided local jobs.
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Anne, you seem to be setting great store on this Western Isles Research – but I’m not clear what you mean when you say “provided local jobs”? Can I ask you how they define local? – The village? The Township? The wider area? The Western Isles? The Outer Hebrides? The Highlands and Islands?
And, did these schools provide local jobs for local people? Or did they provide these higher paid jobs for more white settlers and incomers?
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“And, did these schools provide local jobs for local people? Or did they provide these higher paid jobs for more white settlers and incomers?”
Why should this matter? I’m also not convinced by your vocabulary – the term “white settler” is hardly PC. Both jobs and people moving to the Western isles are to be welcomed regardless of source or you about to reveal yourself as racist as well as misguided “Simon”?
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Anything but racist doc. All I’m doing is aking Anne to explain what ‘local’ means as she keeps repeating some western isles research that she says shows “schools provided ‘local’ jobs”. What does ‘local’ jobs mean in this context?
BTW doc – when someone disagrees with your view of the world – that doesn’t make them “misguided”, except maybe in your own head…..
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Forgive me Simon – I have no wish to encourage you further on this school debate, but I’m fascinated by your advice that: ‘when someone disagrees with your view of the world – that doesn’t make them “misguided”, except maybe in your own head’ This isn’t supported by your own previous use of words rather more blunt than ‘misguided’ – when referring to people whose views you find disagreeable – so maybe this is evidence of a new, reformed Simon.
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I see we have THAT Simon back. Actually, while I was out I had a think about how you operate. Take this latest debate about local jobs. What you do is bluff that you’re right and then goad other people to prove themselves. You see no obligation whatsoever to prove your own point of view.
It would seem more reasonable as a start point that dinner ladies and cleaners don’t earn so much that it’s worth a 50 mile round trip to get the work so we can easily assume that most of them would come from in or around the local community. Teachers can afford to travel a bit further, but we could also assume there would be a limit to how far they’d want to travel on the dirt tracks that pass for roads in many rural areas. So lets flip it round Simon.
How many schools do you know of where the staff come from outside the community? And would you also clarify exactly what you mean by “local” bearing in mind that villagers regard their towns as something they also have a vested interest in.
It would be a bonus if you could explain what constitutes an incomer too. I came here from Glasgow, but have relatives in Argyll and can trace my family back to the Magnus Cowan celebrated on the Inveraray cross. What does that make me as opposed to the Ayrshire settlers who came in the 18th and 19th centuries, or indeed the Irish settlers who came in the 5th? Or could we just say that 10,000 years ago Scotland was under a mile of ice and we are all, including you, fairly recently arrived? Given that India has a 60,000 year old written history that makes us just bairns.
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“Simon” you have written enough on here for most folk to accept that you are seriously misguided in relation to rural schools.
I also think you have let part of your mask slip by talking about “white settlers”. This is an entirely pejorative term which is likely to offend a considerable number of readers here. If Anne had used that term she would have been in all sorts of trouble.
With regard to the Western Isles report why don’t you just read it for yourself?
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Many if not most of the village schools in Argyll had schoolhouses either attached or associated with them. However council policy in recent decades towards these houses has been to either sell them off or allow them to fall into an uninhabitable state of disrepair.
This is doubtless a contributory factor in the tendency for teaching staff to have to travel in to work from outwith the villages they serve.
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Anne -how I operate????
What you do Anne is to make fatuous statements that seem to support your case but when challenged – you either refuse to answer, deflect of in this instance, a newer tactic, you ask me the same question I’ve been asking you for hours!!! You really couldn’t make this up! They are going to tear you to ribbons on the Commission if you behave like this
doc – Western Isle report – I would actually like to read it – I’ve tried googling western isles research schools employment – with no success. Do you know the name of the report?
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http://www.cne-siar.gov.uk/factfile/population/documents/OHMSStudy.pdf
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Crazy – thank you. That’s kind of you and it’s much appreciated.
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Sook!
Your welcome
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Simon, fret not. There’s no-one like you on the Commission – they’re reasonable, well-mannered grown-ups – and, as stated in its remit, all its work will be evidence based so there’s no room for the unproven assertions you like to start fights about.
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Oh believe me I’m not fretting Anne.
I think any fair-minded person re-reading these posts would agree that the “unproven assertions” on this thread are ALL yours. You keep posting your unsubstantiated assertions and I’ll keep pressing you
Crazy – a most interesting report – still haven’t found Anne’s claim that “the western isles report…concluded that schools provided local jobs” – given her track records maybe that’s not surprising – but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt as I’ve not finished reading yet.
Interesting about inward migrants the ‘empty nesters’ buying local property to the extent that local young people can’t compete (is this the same in Luss?). The resulting drop in the school rolls coupled with the demographic time-bomb projections are scary and all too similar to the situation here in Argyll and Bute.
I agree 100% with doc when he said it “Both jobs and people moving to the Western isles are to be welcomed” but I recognise also that inward migration brings with it other issues that subsequently have to be addressed. I therefore found the account of (albeit minor) drink-fuelled anti-English disorder particlularly disappointing.
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For some reason this post won’t work – I think it was too long – I will try and break it down into smaller ones
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Simon
Page 24 of the CNES report states ‘The drivers of change in population are complex and often inter-connected. While
migration decisions are complex, existing literature has highlighted in particular education, employment and housing as drivers of migration. In the Outer Hebrides changes in migration patterns are closely linked with changes
to the economy at a national and local level. Most stakeholders and researchers agree that the key drivers of out-migration over the past 20 to 30 years have been:
1. Declining employment in traditional industries;
2. Limited local employment opportunities;
3. Increasing numbers of young people going into Further and Higher Education
4. Limited range of training and education opportunities in the Islands.
To a certain extent these trends are being experienced in many rural areas. However the peripherality of the Outer Hebrides means that these factors are impacting more severely and rapidly than in less isolated communities.
The important bullet point for the purpose of this thread being ‘limited local employment opportunities’
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SECOND POST
Maybe a better report for this thread is ‘Factors Influencing Rural Migration Decisions in Scotland: An Analysis of the Evidence’ which states:
“The factors encouraging families to leave rural areas are: a lack of affordable housing; the perception that rural areas do not offer a desirable economic and/or social lifestyle (e.g. in terms of social networks and/or earning power); and a lack of accessible shops, schools and services.” (page 3)
“Table 1 Encouragers and enablers motivating individuals to move into rural areas – Family considerations – The availability of high quality childcare, nursery and school provision, and appropriate access to it.” (page 6)
“Families The main ‘push’ (i.e. reasons families leave) factors identified by the literature as affecting rural families are: Schools. The closure of local schools is also identified as an issue by the 2004 study of migration in North Lewis and Roxburgh ” (Note Schools was one of four factors, the other three being ‘housing’, ‘shops’, absence of services such as medical and child care and a lack of lifestyle choices) (pages 23&24)
“The main pull factors identified as attracting families to rural areas include: The perception that certain rural areas provide an ideal environment for bringing up children. Study participants often considered rural areas to offer plenty of freedom, safety, a high standard of primary education, and a strong and supportive community.” (pages 30 & 31)
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FINAL POST
Page 53 of this report even cross references to the ‘Outer Hebrides Migration Study’ when it states:
“One source highlights the need to maintain and promote high quality schooling across rural Scotland, particularly in terms of facilities and teaching standards. This is a large-scale, mixed methods study of population change in the Outer Hebrides (published in 2007). This study adds that such improvements could help attract young families into rural areas and promote the image of rural areas as being family friendly”
Bizarrely ABC quoted both these reports saying that “Studies of the sustainability of rural communities do not generally see the existence of a school as being of comparable importance to local employment opportunities, the availability of housing, private sector led economic diversity or clean energy. None of these issues are affected by the proposal.”
The authors, when contacted did not agree. The author of the Western Isles study saying
Overall I feel that using this report as a basis for concluding that schools are less important in sustaining rural communities is wholly unjustified. The report clearly states that business, jobs and housing are the factors that will help to sustain local communities and that retaining primary school rolls is an explicit desirable outcome of doing so.
And of the other report saying
“My research did not recommend the closure of rural primary schools. It highlighted the importance of rural schools in enhancing the social and economic sustainability of some areas.”
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