Proposed Closure of Corrie Primary School, Isle of Arran

The motion

That the Parliament notes with concern the decision of North Ayrshire Council to begin a formal consultation process in January 2008 with a view to closing Corrie Primary School and the adjacent nursery, the only purpose-built one on the island of Arran, in summer 2008; acknowledges that Corrie Primary School is a high performing school with 100% attendance levels and placing requests and which only this year had an excellent HM Inspectorate of Education report; is aware that Corrie Primary School has been at the heart of Corrie for over 120 years and is central to village life; appreciates the commitment of parents, staff and pupils who together raised over £11,000 to build and install an adventure playground, opened on 20 August 2007; is disappointed that the decision to open a consultation was based on erroneous information which grossly overstated the capacity of Corrie Primary School while underestimating actual pupil numbers; believes that the closure of Corrie School will have a devastating impact on the morale of pupils, parents and staff, some of whom will lose their employment, and have a severe impact on the viability of Corrie itself and the ability of the village to attract young families with children; realises that Arran Homes and the Housing Initiative for Arran Residents plan to build from 24 to 27 homes in Corrie over the next year or two, including family homes that will attract families and boost the roll of Corrie Primary School if it survives; recognises that transferring to the nearest school to Corrie, Brodick Primary, would mean children travelling 10 to 16 miles per day to and from school; appreciates that Corrie Primary School has received considerable investment from North Ayrshire Council in recent years, including this year, which will be wasted if the school closes; understands that there is genuine fear on Arran that, should Corrie Primary School close then others may follow in its wake, and is worried that the closure of such an excellent school as Corrie Primary would send out the wrong message to the rest of Scotland’s 431 primary schools with rolls of 50 or less, where one third of head teachers, according to the recent Scottish Government study “Leadership in Small Scottish Primary Schools”, already fear for the future of their school.


No recorded vote on this motion. Most motions are never debated, and many that are debated are agreed without a division. Vote records are published from 2011.

SNP 30 Con 3 Lab 1 Green 1

Party shown is each supporter’s party when the motion was published.

No contribution in the Official Report cites S3M-00892 by reference.