Logie Coldstone School

Primary Provision Logie Coldstone School

Small schools are a valued integral part of rural communities, however, due to declining population particularly in these areas, the viability of these schools is impacted.

Aberdeenshire Council officers continually monitor school rolls (pupil numbers) across all schools. Logie Coldstone School has a falling roll. The school roll from August 2025 is expected to be five pupils with no primary one age children in the catchment area due to enrol for the 2025/2026 session. This expected roll for August 2025 prompted a set of discussions with the Head Teacher, staff and parents/carers of children at Logie Coldstone School regarding a possible merger with Tarland School. Parents were keen to learn more about the option of a period of mothballing rather than moving straight to a statutory consultation for merger. Their reasons included allowing time for possible new enrolments.

The term mothballing is used according to the Scottish Government guidance to refer to a temporary decision to close a school where the roll has fallen very low. When a school roll becomes very low with few families enrolled, the educational benefits and social wellbeing for the pupils must be considered. The decision to mothball a school is made by the Director of Education and Children’s Services in consultation with the Education and Children’s Services Leadership Team.

Officers were clear that the evidence held does not show an increase in pupil numbers, therefore would not recommend mothballing at this time but would recommend undertaking a statutory consultation to merge Logie Coldstone with Tarland School. A statutory consultation would be carried out under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

All remaining families indicated their preference for mothballing rather than undertaking a statutory consultation to merge with Tarland School at this time.

Therefore, Logie Coldstone School will be mothballed from August 2025. This is to protect the educational benefits and social wellbeing of the pupils. School transport will be provided to Tarland School and transition visits for pupils will be arranged during Term 4.

If the Primary One enrolment period in January 2026 does not generate enough children to increase the roll to a viable number, officers will progress to a formal statutory consultation for merger with Tarland.

Officers from Education and Children’s Services will be available at Logie Coldstone Hall from 2.00pm until 5.00pm on Thursday 30 January 2025 if anyone wishes to drop in to discuss the situation and ask any questions about the process going forward.

There are useful links and documents on this project page regarding the Schools Consultation Act, Place and Wellbeing Assessment Process.

Please follow this link to view additional policy documents on our Engage Learning Estates Hub Page:

https://engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/hub-page/ecs-learning-estates