Fisherford School

Aberdeenshire Council are consulting on the closure of Fisherford School. The consultation period will run from 5 February until 29 March 2024.

Aberdeenshire Council proposes to discontinue education at Fisherford School which is currently mothballed and:

• re-assign its catchment area to Auchterless School or 
• re-assign its catchment area to Rayne North School or 
• split the catchment area between Auchterless School and Rayne North School.

This consultation is being undertaken in accordance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. The Act requires that changes to the school estate, including the proposed closure of a school is subject to rigorous statutory consultation. 

Following the consultation period all comments received will be analysed, along with any written responses and emails received regarding the proposal. 

A public meeting will be held to discuss this proposal on 6 March 2024 at 6.00 pm at Turriff Primary School, Meadowbank Road, Turriff AB53 4WB.

We want to get your views on the changes to Fisherford School and the three options being proposed for the current catchment area of the school. These options are detailed in the survey and in the consultation document. A copy of the consultation proposal document can be found here: http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/schools/school-info/education-consultations/

This survey will be open until 4pm Friday 29 March 2024.

In May 2021 a decision was made to temporarily mothball Fisherford School from August 2021. Mothballing is the temporary closure of a school which does not, in itself, lead to statutory consultation. 

As there were no approaches made to Aberdeenshire Council for any new pupils to enrol at the school from August 2021, the school was mothballed for a further 2022/23 academic year.

The Primary 1 admission period for Aberdeenshire Schools took place in the week commencing 16 January 2023, but no applications were received. The deadline for submitting placing requests for August 2023 was 15 March 2023 and no applications were received for pupils wishing to attend Fisherford School.

Education & Children’s Services Committee approved an options appraisal on the future of the school.

One of the options identified as part of the appraisal could be to close the school. If this is considered to be the only viable option for the school, then Aberdeenshire Council must undertake a statutory consultation under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. If closure was the only viable option, there would be extensive consultation with the Fisherford community and Formartine Area Committee.

It is important to ensure all other alternatives have been identified and robustly considered prior to undertaking any statutory consultation on this matter. Therefore, we would like to give you an opportunity to provide any further alternatives to closure. 

Any further suggestions can also be provided in the last question of this survey, as well as emailed to LearningEstates@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or posted to Aberdeenshire Council, Gordon House, Blackhall Road, Inverurie, AB51 3WA. 

We would be grateful if you could complete this short survey indicating your view on the future of Fisherford School. This will allow officers to explore all possible options for the school.  

The survey will be open until Friday 14 July 2023 and any alternatives to closure should also be submitted to Aberdeenshire Council by this date.

Map 1 - Fisherford Catchment Area map