Strone Primary School - Mothballing
Argyll and Bute Council · 28 August 2025
Back to Community Services Committee — 28 August 2025 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE EDUCATION 28TH AUGUST 2025 STRONE PRIMARY SCHOOL - MOTHBALLING 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The purpose of this report is to update the Community Services Committee on the current situation of Strone Primary School. The report proposes a number of measures under which the Education Service can monitor the position of the school over the forthcoming year. 1.2 It is recommended that the Community Services Committee agree that: a) Strone Primary School is mothballed on a temporary basis and that the building be retained for one year on a care and maintenance basis. b) Officers will conduct a review of the school’s mothballing ahead of the Committee’s August 2026 meeting, at which members can decide on a continued period of mothballing; or request that officers commence a preliminary exercise to examine the future options for Strone Primary School. c) If requested, the community to have pre-arranged access to the building to promote community functions during the period of mothballing.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE EDUCATION 28TH AUGUST 2025 STRONE PRIMARY SCHOOL - MOTHBALLING 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 Strone Primary School has been part of a shared Headship arrangement with Strachur Primary School since December 2024. This decision was made following the long-term absence of the substantive Head Teacher and was supported by parents after engagement sessions facilitated by the Education Service. 2.2 From session 2023/2024, the school roll began to decline, largely due to parents exercising their right to request placements at other local schools. This was primarily motivated by a desire for their children to be part of larger social and peer groupings. 2.3 At the end of session 2024/2025, there were six pupils enrolled at Strone Primary School. Four of these pupils were in Primary 7 and would be transitioning to High School at the start of the new school session. Of the two remaining pupils, one family chose to submit a placing request for another local school due to the very small number of pupils. The family of the final remaining pupil, while supportive of small rural schools, ultimately felt that a single-child school environment was not in the best interest of their child’s educational experience, and they too submitted a placing request to another local school. 2.4 As a result of these developments, the school roll at Strone Primary School will be zero for the 2025/2026 school session. Furthermore, no Primary 1 enrolments are anticipated for the 2026/2027 session. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 It is recommended that Community Services Committee agree that: a) Strone Primary School is mothballed on a temporary basis and that the building be retained for one year on a care and maintenance basis.
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b) Officers will conduct a review of the school’s mothballing ahead of the Committee’s August 2026 meeting, at which members can decide on a continued period of mothballing; or request that officers commence a preliminary exercise to examine the future options for Strone Primary School. c) If requested, the community to have pre-arranged access to the building to promote community functions during the period of mothballing. 4.0 DETAIL 4.1 The school roll at Strone Primary School has been falling over a number of years. It declined rapidly over a brief period of time during the second half of the 2024-2025 school session, due to families exercising parental choice and making placing requests to other local primary schools. 4.2 From April 2025, there were six pupils enrolled to attend Strone Primary School. Four pupils were Primary 7 completing their final year at Primary school and preparing to transition to High School at Dunoon Grammar for the 2025-2026 school session. 4.3 Of the two remaining families, one family chose to submit a placing request for their child to attend another local school due to the very small number of pupils predicted for the 2025-2026 school session. The family of the final remaining pupil, while supportive of small rural schools, ultimately felt that a single-child school environment was not in the best interest of their child’s educational experience, and they too submitted a placing request to another local school. 4.4 As of August 2025, for the start of the 2025-2026 school session, there are zero pupils enrolled at Strone Primary School. Pupils from families residing within the Strone Primary School catchment area currently attend Sandbank, Dunoon and Kirn Primary Schools on parental request placing requests. There are also zero Primary 1 pupils projected to register to attend Strone Primary in session 2026- 2027. 4.4 It is proposed that the Strone Primary School building be retained for one year on a care and maintenance basis whilst the school is mothballed. 4.5 If there are no registered pupils for the commencement of session 2026/2027, it may be necessary at that point to undertake a preliminary assessment of options regarding the future of the School by way of an Options Appraisal, in accordance with the preliminary requirements of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (the 2010 Act). Should the school be subsequently considered for formal closure, a statutory consultation process in accordance with the 2010 Act will be necessary. 4.6 All members of staff from Strone Primary School have been redeployed into other posts within the Authority.
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4.7 The mothballing of a school is a temporary closure. It does not require a statutory consultation to be carried out as it is an informal non-statutory measure. It is appropriate where the Authority considers that a school is not presently viable, but do not wish to close it immediately in order to assess the prospects of the number of pupils in the area increasing to the extent that the school should be re-opened in the future. 4.8 The Scottish Government’s Statutory Guidance on the 2010 Act stresses that this flexibility to close a school for a temporary period is not used to undermine the requirements of the 2010 Act to consult on all closure proposals. Mothballing is only appropriate for a temporary period, should be subject to at least an annual review and, in most cases, should last no more than three years in total. 4.9 As zero pupils are enrolled to attend Strone Primary School from August 2025, it is recommended that the school is mothballed on a temporary basis until August 2026. At which point members will decide on whether to continue to mothball the school or begin the pre-consultation process in line with the 2010 Act. 4.10 In the intervening period of mothballing, officers intend to monitor the situation and gather information in relation to the preliminary requirements with regard to possible rural school closures under the 2010 Act. In particular, this process will look to identify and assess the various options that are available regarding the future of Strone Primary School. 4.11 In the event of school age pupils moving to live in the catchment area for Strone Primary School and seeking to attend the school, the present situation is that the school may require to re-open at the next appropriate session if a sufficient level of demand for the school can be demonstrated and if staff can be recruited. 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 It is proposed that Members agree to the temporary mothballing of Strone Primary School until August 2026, at which point the Committee will receive a further report reviewing the mothballing and either inviting them to decide on a continued period of mothballing; or for the Education Service to begin gathering the necessary information to carry out the exercise of assessing the options for the future of Strone Primary School, in accordance with the preliminary requirements of the 2010 Act. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy - none 6.2 Financial – If the mothballing of the school is agreed, there will be costs associated with the upkeep and maintenance of the school premises.
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6.3 Legal – The provisions of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 will subsequently apply if the Authority later decide to formulate a proposal under that Act in order to determine the future of Strone Primary School. 6.4 HR - none 6.5 Customer Service– none at present 6.6 Risk – none at present 6.7 Climate Change – none at present 6.8 Fairer Scotland Duty - none 6.9 Equalities - protected characteristics – none at present 6.10 Consumer Duty – none at present 6.11 Island Communities - none at present 6.12 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing – Under the UNCRC legislation we are required to act in the best interests of the child. Priority has been given to maintaining the right to education (Article 28). Douglas Hendry Executive Director with responsibility for Education Councillor Audrey Forrest Policy Lead for Education 5th August 2025 For further information contact: Jennifer Crocket Chief Education Officer/Head of Education – Wellbeing, Inclusion and Achievement Jennifer.Crocket@argyll-bute.gov.uk Wendy Brownlie Head of Education – Performance and Improvement Wendy.Brownlie@argyll-bute.gov.uk